What are some advantages and disadvantages of synchronous and asynchronous communication?

1. What are some advantages and disadvantages of asynchronous and
synchronous communication?
Over the last few decades, technology has now become an integral part of our
lives, whether we realize it or not. There are some people who aren’t familiar with the
term ‘computer mediated communication’, yet they’re experiencing the advantages and
disadvantages of it. Basically, CMC is a mode of communication that occurs between
two or more individuals through the use of electronic devices which can be divided into
two forms, synchronous communication and asynchronous communication.
Synchronous communication is a real-time communication. This form of
communication happens between two or more people who are all engaged in the
conversation and expect immediate response coming from the other person. To put it
simply, synchronous communication is a ‘live interaction’ between the people who are
involved in the conversation. A perfect example of this a conference, meeting or class
via Google Meet and/or Zoom Meet, and a video-call on Messenger, Telegram, and etc.
One of the advantages of synchronous communication is that the participant/s of the
conversation receives an immediate response coming from other individual/s involved in
that certain conversation. This form of communication is mostly used in online classes
and work from home jobs. In a new normal class, synchronous communication allows
the learners to view the content of the lesson and understand it at the same time
through the help of their professors. The same goes with synchronous communication
in workplace, where the employee/s are able to have a brainstorming session and/or
conduct team building events that would strengthen their bond and increase productivity
in workplace. Another advantage of synchronous communication is being able to
communicate with other people outside the workplace (e.g., work from home
employees) or in other time zones (e.g., BPO companies). Yet, this also becomes a
disadvantage for synchronous communication since they need to be present during that
certain time and factors like internet stability and availability can affect the attendance of
an individual.
Asynchronous communication, on the other hand, is the opposite of synchronous
communication. This form of communication doesn’t happen in real-time which means
that the individuals doesn’t expect an immediate response. Asynchronous
communication usually happens via email or text/chat messages. Since it doesn’t
require immediate response, asynchronous communication allows the individual to have
time for reflection. Asynchronous communication is beneficial for students whose mode
of learning is through modular distance learning as it allows the learners to work at their
own pace and control the pace of information. This means that the students have more
access to Internet or search engines which is somehow a disadvantage since the
teachers can’t assure whether their answers are made truly by them or was just copied
from the Internet. Moreover, since the teachers are not expecting an immediate
response or submission, students who are part of an asynchronous communication or

2. class are developing “mañana habit” because they’re confident with the fact that the
activity will not be submitted yet. As a result, those students who chooses to cram
sometimes submit a mediocre output. Alternately, when an issue or problem occurs in
workplace that needs prompt action, asynchronous communication is not ideal for
getting your messages across. Moreover, in this form of communication, nonverbal
indicators like tone of voice and hand gestures are not present. Therefore, expressing or
interpreting the message's sentiment can be challenging.
When we are talking about remote working and learning, needless to say, there
is no such thing as “a perfect way of communication”. Asynchronous and synchronous
communication both have their advantages and disadvantages. But with an appropriate
tools and a deeper understanding of where each approach is best used, one can use
both to help them communicate more effectively with their coworkers, students, and
other audiences, whether they thousand miles away from each other.