Communication and coordination

One benefit of the academic environment is its schedule flexibility. This means that lab members may choose to work in the early morning, evening, or weekends. That said, we do not expect lab members to respond outside of business hours (unless there are special circumstances), but please try to response to messages within 1 business day, regardless of communication platform.

Slack

• Slack is most useful for internal communication with other Berkeley team members active on Slack and for coding questions.
• Use Slack for scheduling, coding related questions, quick check ins, etc. If your Slack message exceeds 200 words, it might be time to use email.
• Use channels instead of direct messages unless you need to discuss something private so that others on a project can track decisions/issues.
• Please make an effort to respond to messages that message you (e.g., @andrew) as quickly as possible.
• If you are unusually busy (e.g., taking MCAT/GRE, taking many exams) or on vacation please alert the team in advance so we can expect you not to respond at all / as quickly as usual and also set your status in Slack (e.g., it could say "On vacation") so we know not to expect to see you online.
• Please thread messages in Slack as much as possible.

Email

• Use email for longer messages (>200 words) or messages that merit preservation. Slack is harder to search and less stable long term, so if major decisions are made are analyses or manuscript drafting, those should be preserved in email.
• Use email for communicating with outside collaborators or directors (Maya, Mark, Alan)

Notion (and other task trackers)

• Consult with your direct superviser about the task tracker software of their choice.
• If using Notion (or similiar software):
  • Create a free account
  • Your supervisor will add new cards within our shared Notion board that outline your tasks.
  • The higher a card is within your list, the higher priority it is.
  • Generally, strive to complete the tasks in your card by the date listed.
  • Use checklists to break down a task into smaller chunks. Sometimes your supervisor will write this for you, but you can also add this yourself.
  • Move your card to the "Completed" list when it is done.

Google Drives

• We mostly use Google Drive to create shared documents with longer descriptions of tasks or to draft manuscripts or analysis plans when multiple collaborators are working on document.
• Google docs or sheets are the most useful collaborative tool for outside collaborators because they don’t require an account.

Overlead

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