To understand the question in the title, we first need to know what the difference is between synchronous and asynchronous video meetings. On the structural level, the differences are huge; on the technical level, they are explained in two sentences:
1) Synchronous video meetings work with live telephony, and participants talk to each other directly in real time, like in a real encounter.
2) Asynchronous video meetings work with recorded video messages that participants send to each other, and they can be watched whenever the recipient finds time.
This small difference has stunning consequences. In synchronous video meetings, all participants have to sit in front of their camera and screen at the same time. In an asynchronous meeting, they can react and participate autonomously.
So it is assumed that in an asynchronous video meeting, participants rarely take part at the same time. The meeting time is usually spread over several days or weeks, even months in some cases, when it is retrieved after a while.
timz.flowers is unique in its approach. We’ve made it possible for deeply interested and highly motivated people to engage in an interactive interface we describe as “flower communication”. The meeting’s organizer invites participants to a “flower” (we call each asynchronous video meeting a flower).
Despite the platform is designed for asynchronous meetings it allows people also to spontaneously meet at the same moment in time. We experienced just such a meeting when two colleagues met simultaneously in a flower—a synchronous interaction in an asynchronous environment.
What happened next was fascinating.
What Happens When Synchronous and Asynchronous Principles Collide in Video Meetings? Fireworks of Inspiration!
The result was an explosion of ideas. The presentation principle of asynchronous video conferences in timz.flowers is fractal. Every thought can become the centerpoint of many others. That’s how the synapses in our brains are structured; they build a self-similar structure.
With a flower discussion, we no longer project a conversation onto a linear timeline, as in natural encounters or in synchronous video meetings. Rather, we map the complexity of human thought patterns and discussion onto a structure similar to the human brain.
This leads to holistic inspiration where multiple threads of topics emerge simultaneously, just as our brain has to cope with multiple associations at the same time. Thus structural effects are triggered, which result in deep inspiration. Try it out; it works.
Strands of Thought Flow Easily, Like Streams of Water From a Hill
Also, other interesting effects happen. In a normal, linear conversation or synchronous video meeting, there is only one current topic thread that can be continued by a single speaker at any given moment in time. It makes no sense for two people to speak at the same time to the same audience, as this causes total confusion in natural discussions—we know this from many debates.
In a fractal meeting, several strands can grow simultaneously. The special thing about this is that each speaker is allowed to speak at the same time. Nobody interrupts them. This is because the asynchronous video meetings are based on annotations, not interruptions.
As a result, thoughts flow like streams of water from a hill in all conceivable directions, forming main and secondary strands. This principle produces valuable results much faster than the classical projection of human thought patterns onto a linear timeline, with the bandwidth for exactly one thought to be expressed at every given moment in time.
Let’s Go Sync-Async!
These effects happen principally in every flower meeting, but in “sync-async meetings”, there is another special energy that immediately inspires participants.
This special energy is preserved in the recordings. New participants can be called in later at any time, and the resulting video conference then builds on the fantastic results of the formerly “sync-async video meeting”.
We are convinced that once teams discover this method, many classic video meetings will be replaced with “sync-async meetings”. Boost your team success and integrate asynchronous video meetings!
