Communication and Collaboration

Regular communication is key to ensuring that you get the most out of your undergraduate or graduate research experience so you can get early feedback on ideas, strategize with others, and build professional relationships that can support you during your degree and beyond. It is better to err on the side of more communication than less and our lab has several options, outlined below. Across all, some helpful tips are:

• Check that all appropriate people included, either tagged (in Slack or Github) or as recipients (in email).
• Include descriptive titles.
• Keep messages focused on a single topic when possible as this makes it easier to search for the information later. This may mean sending multiple messages back-to-back.
• Clearly state questions, action items, and deadlines, where applicable.
• Include hyperlinks whenever possible (e.g., relevant websites, shared docs, Github) as it makes it easier for recipients to review the correct information. The easier you make it to answer your question, the faster and better answer you are likely to receive.
• Proofread for clarity and professionalism. Confirming that the writing is clear makes it more likely the recipient(s) will understand the message and provide you with the information you are looking for (small misunderstandings create inefficiencies in communication).

Slack

Slack is the primary lab communication space as it allows the entire lab and affiliated researchers to share information. While you should generally be responsive during work hours, your are encouraged to set your notification preferences to limit disruptions outside of work hours. However, note that at the time of this writing, we use the free version of Slack, which does not preserve messages beyond 90 days.

Slack best practices:

• Include tags where appropriate to draw attention to the relevant people.
• Reply to individual posts as a thread so it is clear what the response goes to.
• Post to public channels so all can weigh in and see the answers whenever appropriate (others probably have the same question!).
• Acknowledge you have read a message (either a reply or emoji reaction is fine).
• Don’t be shy about frequent posting or sharing interesting things - more regular sharing helps build community!

Github issues and projects

FIXIT: @althea to add

Email

Email is the preferred communication method for official business (e.g., communicating about funding, degrees, time off, etc.) because it can be referred back to beyond the 90-day limit of Slack. Additionally, email is preferred for communication about projects and papers with external collaborators.

A few tips for email best practices:

• Include a descriptive subject line (this makes searching easier in the future).
• Keep each email focused on one specific subject - this helps avoid email threads from containing multiple separate conversations, which can become confusing and difficult to search for in the future.
• Include hyperlinks wherever relevant/possible (especially to docs you want feedback on). This makes it easier for the recipients to access the information. It it is a doc, make sure the recipient has access to the doc.
• Be clear about any action items. Lists are often helpful.
• Include deadlines. While the deadlines need to be reasonable, it is important so your busy collaborators can build your request into their workflow.
• Include your name at the end of the message so it is clear where the message ends.
• Reply to emails you receive in a timely fashion, even if only to say you need a bit longer to provide a full response.
• Set an out of office message if you will be away or checking email less frequently than usual with a date you will return so recipients know when to expect a response by (and therefore, when to follow up, if needed).

Example email

Google drive

We maintain a lab Google drive for sharing internal documents, including drafts of papers. While students may use the platform of their choice for writing, Google docs generally remain the easiest for a range of collaborators to engage with, particularly if you anticipate receiving feedback from multiple individuals simultaneously (merging divergent drafts is no fun!). Just be sure to set the sharing settings so that all recipients have editing permission or change the setting so that anyone with a link can edit (as long as there is not sensitive information). It is also a good idea to remind collaborators to be in suggesting/reviewing mode and to save a copy before collaborators edit it in case someone forgets.

Individual meetings

Each graduate student will start with a weekly individual meeting to provide progress updates and talk through outstanding issues. As the student progresses through their degree, they may choose to have less frequent meetings if adequate progress is being made. Individual meetings should be led by the student.

To make the most of the time, it is helpful to:

• Send (via email or Slack) any documents that should be reviewed at least 24 hours in advance (longer is better if the doc is longer).
• Create an agenda for the meeting with a list of updates, discussion points, and action items for each project:
  • Updates should detail the current status of projects and what has been accomplished since the last meeting.
  • Discussion points should be the main focus of the meeting. These should be specific questions or issues that are best resolved through an in person discussion. These are often related to conceptual issues, generating ideas, and sketching out solutions rather. You can of course include quick questions, but these can often be answered outside of the meeting via Slack (i.e., you don’t need to wait until a weekly meeting to have them answered).
  • Action items - these will likely emerge from the meeting, but it is good to include points here that you already know of because we can then review those along with any action items/next steps that emerged from the discussion to prioritize them.

Regardless of whether your meeting is within the lab or not, a bit of preparation ahead of the meeting will ensure it is productive. This is critical for ensuring that you get out of the meeting what you need and that you keep the other meeting attendees engaged with the work.

To ensure students are meeting their longer term goals, they will complete a student goals form at the beginning of their degree and we will review this form annually.

Additionally, the SAFS undergraduate and graduate programs each have their own progress forms to ensure students remain on track with their degree. Be sure to review the SAFS Forms, Guidelines & Handbooks.

Lab meetings

Weekly lab meetings serve as an opportunity for the entire research group to discuss new papers, learn new topics together, discuss professional development issues, present ideas for feedback, and practice presentations. Once the lab is a sufficient size, we will hold regular lab meetings. The exact mix will depend on lab needs and interests.

Lab meetings are not mandatory for lab members (though attendance is generally expected for graduate students). We will set the lab meeting time before the beginning of each quarter. Note that it may not be possible to accommodate all students’ schedules.

Outreach and media

Engaging in science outreach and communication is encouraged, but it is important to distinguish activities you take part in as an individual from those where you are representing the lab as a whole. If there is an opportunity where you might be representing the lab as a whole (including using the lab name as your affiliation or the lab logo), this must be discussed in advance and approved. You are always encouraged to discuss potential individual outreach and media opportunities as well to strategize and can talk with the SAFS Communication Manager, Niamh Owen-McLaughlin. If you are interested in developing science communication skills, the following resources may be of interest:

• UW - College of the Environment hosts a range of communications and outreach trainings and resources.
• COMPASS - hosts workshops and training events, and provides a useful message box tool.
• AAAS Communication Toolkit - A great starting point for learning about a range of aspects of science communication on your own.