Chapter 4 Communication

4.1 Slack

Slack provides an efficient way to send messages out to the group, share documents, and solicit help or tips. When posting messages or looking for updates, check the appropriate channel:

#general for lab announcements
#goodreads for sharing links to lab-relevant papers and discussing them
#jobs-careers for relevant job annoucements or information related to careers more broadly
#office-space for claiming use of the annex
#random for non-work-related chatting that is best kept out of the work-related channels.

For specific projects, create or join a closed channel for that project and use that channel to communicate about details. Try to keep each channel on topic, so that people can subscribe only to the channels that concern them. For messages to one person or a small group, use direct messages. If it’s an emergency and we (Sara or David) are not responding on Slack, e-mail them.

Full-time lab members should install Slack on their computers and/or phones. Part-time lab members should also check Slack regularly. You should of course feel free to ignore Slack on evenings and weekends – and we probably will, too!

4.2 Email

In general, we would prefer to keep communication to a central location, so defer to Slack whenever possible. Email, however, may be appropriate when including people outside of the lab or forwarding emails from outside sources. Please use our official work emails.

4.3 Response time

We’re committed to responding to your messages within one business day. If 24 hours have gone by without an acknowledgement of your message, then it is an appropriate time to send us a follow-up “just checking in!” message. As a general rule, we do not expect you to be checking messages (email or Slack) over the weekend and after business hours, and we do not promise to be checking messages during those times as well.

4.4 Phone

Texting is used for urgent matters or in cases when immediate communication is necessary. The latter includes trying to coordinate a meet-up at a conference, and other such frivolities. Phone calls are useful ways of holding remote meetings, if the Internet is unreliable. Note that neither Sara nor David have official campus phone numbers.