3  Communication and coordination

One benefit of the academic environment is its schedule flexibility and autonomy. This means that lab members may choose to work in the early morning, afternoon, evening, or weekends. Lab members should manage their own notification schedules to ensure they can maintain healthy work-life boundaries. We do not expect lab members to respond outside of normal business hours (unless there are special circumstances). Because of the nature of our work across time zones, frequent travel, and international collaborations, there are no set working hours. Team members are not expected to reply to messages outside their own working hours, even if a message arrives outside of those hours.

3.1 Microsoft Teams

  • Use Microsoft Teams for scheduling, coding related questions, quick check ins, etc. If your Teams message exceeds 200 words, it might be time to use email.
  • Use channels instead of direct messages unless you need to discuss something private.
  • Please make an effort to respond to messages that mention you (e.g., @username) as quickly as possible.
  • If you are unusually busy (e.g., preparing for QE/grant deadline, taking two exams) or on vacation please alert the team in advance so we can expect you not to respond at all / as quickly as usual. Please also set your status in Teams (e.g., it could say “On vacation”) so we know not to expect to see you online.
  • Please thread messages in Teams as much as possible.
  • When referencing a pull request, issue, commit, or file, always include a direct hyperlink to where you want your teammates to look (see Direct Hyperlinks in Internal Correspondence).
  • Don’t wait for meetings to ask questions. As soon as a question comes up, write it out in Teams. This benefits both you (by clarifying your thinking, as discussed in Chapter 23) and the team (by getting the conversation started earlier).

3.2 Email

  • Use email for longer messages (>200 words) or messages that merit preservation.
  • When discussing specific code, pull requests, or documents in emails, include direct hyperlinks so recipients do not have to search for the relevant items (see Direct Hyperlinks in Internal Correspondence).
  • Generally, strive to respond within a work day when you are directly addressed in an email. Again because we work across many timezones, this means responding within a work day in your own timezone. If you’re on vacation, you’re not expected to respond until the end of your first work day back (or possibly longer, if you’ve been out for a while and have a backlog).
  • As noted above, if you are unusually busy or on vacation please alert the team in advance and via an away message, so we can expect you not to respond at all / as quickly as usual.

3.4 Managing Notifications and Work-Life Balance

Lab members should actively manage their notification schedules, especially if they receive work email or Teams notifications on their phones.

  • Block notifications outside of work hours: We recommend configuring your devices and applications to prevent work notifications during non-work time. We all need uninterrupted rest and relaxation time in order to stay healthy and productive in the medium and long term.
  • Sending messages outside work hours: There’s no expectation to only send emails or messages during normal work hours. Feel free to send messages whenever you compose them—don’t spend effort scheduling messages for later delivery. Recipients will manage their own notification schedules, and they may be working different hours or want the information sooner.

3.5 Setting Away Status and Autoresponse Checklist

When you’ll be away from work (vacation, conference, sick leave, etc.), please help the team stay coordinated by setting appropriate away indicators:

3.6 Task Management

We use a combination of tools to track and manage project tasks:

  • GitHub Issues and Projects: For code-related tasks, feature requests, and bug tracking. Lab leadership will assign issues and organize them in GitHub Projects. Issues are prioritized within projects, and you can track your assigned tasks there.
  • Microsoft Teams & Planner: For general lab tasks and personal task management. Lab leadership may assign tasks through these tools, which integrate with Microsoft Teams. Lab members are expected to set up a Teams page for important degree requirements (QE) and projects (grant proposals, papers, etc.). Invite both Dr Morrison and Aiemjoy to the Teams page and assign them to review tasks with the deadline you need the review by. We appreciate 2 weeks’ notice for letters and larger review projects.
  • Generally, strive to complete assigned tasks by the date listed.
  • Use checklists to break down tasks into smaller chunks. Sometimes leadership will create these for you, but you can also add them yourself.
  • Update task status as you make progress so the team can stay coordinated.

3.7 Shared Documents

  • We mostly use Microsoft 365 to collaborate and write internally and GoogleDocs when working with external collaborators. These documents may be linked to in GitHub Issues or other task tracking tools. Lab leadership often shares these with the whole team since tasks are overlapping, and even if a task is assigned to one person, others may have valuable insights.

3.8 UC Davis Box and SharePoint

  • Human subjects data for research studies are generally stored in UC Davis Box or SharePoint. Please check with lab leadership about whether there are special storage and transfer requirements for the datasets you are working with for each study.
  • You can access Box via your UC Davis credentials. For more information, visit UC Davis Box Support.
  • SharePoint is also used for collaborative document storage and team file sharing. Access SharePoint through your UC Davis Microsoft 365 account.

3.9 Meetings

  • Our meetings start on the hour.
  • If you are going to be late, please send a message in our Teams channel.
  • If you are regularly not able to come on the hour, notify the team and we might choose to modify the agenda order or the start time.

3.9.1 Developing Meeting Agendas

An effective meeting agenda ensures that collaborative time is productive, focused, and respectful of everyone’s schedule. Whether organizing a weekly lab meeting, a project synchronization check-in, or a one-on-one advising session, follow these guidelines when preparing agendas.

3.9.1.1 Why agendas are important

  • Clear purpose and focus: Meetings without an agenda easily drift into unstructured conversation or unfocused status updates. A written agenda clarifies the meeting’s objective before bringing people together.
  • Preparation and respect for time: Circulating an agenda in advance allows participants to review relevant materials, gather required data, and arrive ready to contribute substantive insights.
  • Accountability and action items: A structured agenda provides a natural framework for tracking decisions, assigning clear ownership for action items, and reviewing progress at subsequent meetings.

3.9.1.2 Core content: Inform, Discuss, Ask

Organize your agenda items using three distinct functional categories:

  • Inform: Brief announcements, status summaries, or project milestone updates. These items share essential context that requires little to no debate. Whenever possible, share background details asynchronously before the meeting so live time can focus on deeper discussion.
  • Discuss: Topics requiring collaborative problem-solving, methodological debate, troubleshooting, or synthesis of differing viewpoints. These items benefit most from synchronous conversation.
  • Ask: Specific requests for decisions, approvals, feedback, or resources from advisors, PIs, or team members. Clearly framing what you need (for example, “Decision on primary analysis model” or “Approval to submit abstract”) helps attendees provide decisive guidance.

3.9.1.3 Formatting and style guidelines

  • Use clear category tags: Prefix each bullet point with its category tag (such as [Inform], [Discuss], or [Ask]) so participants immediately understand their expected role for each topic.
  • Include direct links: Always include direct hyperlinks to relevant draft manuscripts, code repositories, pull requests, or data summaries rather than requiring attendees to search for materials.
  • Allocate time estimates: Assign estimated time allocations to each major agenda topic (for example, [Discuss] Simulation study edge cases (15 min)). This prevents early topics from crowding out crucial decisions scheduled at the end.
  • Distribute in advance: Share the agenda in the calendar invitation, by email, or in the relevant Microsoft Teams channel at least 24 hours before the meeting.
  • Record action items: Conclude every meeting by summarizing agreed-upon next steps, assigned owners, and target completion dates.

3.10 Conference Room Booking

The MS1C Conference Room can be booked through its Outlook calendar.

To book the room:

  1. Create a new event in Outlook Calendar
  2. Add the conference room as an attendee by typing “ms1c”
  3. Select “MS1C Conference Room” from the results
  4. Send the meeting invitation

The room will automatically accept or decline based on its availability.

To view the room’s calendar:

  1. In Outlook Calendar, click “Add Calendar”
  2. Select “Add Shared Calendar…” or use “Open Calendar…”
  3. Search for “ms1c”
  4. Select “MS1C Conference Room” to add it to your calendar view

This allows you to check the room’s availability before scheduling.

3.11 Code Review

Code review guidance has moved to its own chapter: see Collaborative Software Development.