The sync test
Meetings earn synchrony when they need real-time ambiguity resolution (decisions, conflict, creative jamming) or relationship maintenance (one-on-ones, retrospectives). Status updates, reviews, and information broadcasts do not — they are documents with deadlines. The zone spread raises the bar for "earns" accordingly.
The async formats that carry it
Written updates with a template (context, decisions needed, blockers), recorded video for anything visual, shared docs with asynchronous comment windows (24–48 hours), and decision logs. The craft is in the templates — async fails without structure, not because of distance.
The hybrid that works
The standard distributed pattern: async daily (written standups), one live weekly decision meeting rotated fairly, monthly all-hands recorded. The synchronous budget concentrates on what only synchrony does — and the fairness math applies to the few meetings that remain, at 10× the care and 1/10th the burden.