General Manual — Document 07
Communication and Conduct
Meeting expectations, communication norms, how to treat each other, and how to handle disagreement.
01 Meetings
The following standing meetings apply to all lab members unless otherwise specified. See Appendix A — Preparing for Meetings for guidance on how to show up to any meeting well.
1:1 with the PI
Weekly, 30 minutes. Every lab member has one. Come prepared.
Lab meeting
Weekly during the academic year, biweekly in summer. All lab members are expected to attend. At lab meeting, everyone is expected to come prepared to present on their own project, to listen carefully to others, to ask questions, and to propose next steps: for all projects, not only their own.
Project meetings
Held as needed, typically biweekly. Attendance is determined by project involvement. The same expectations apply: come prepared, listen, ask questions, propose next steps.
Journal club
Not currently in place, but under consideration. If you have a well-thought-out proposal for how to run this effectively, bring it to the PI.
02 Responsiveness
Different channels carry different urgency. The expected response times below apply during normal working hours.
| Channel | Response time | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 24 hours | Standard channel for non-urgent communication. | |
| Slack | 2–3 days | For lab-wide or project-specific communication. Not urgent. |
| Text | Same day | For time-sensitive but non-emergency matters. |
| Phone | Under 1 hour | For emergencies or matters requiring immediate response. |
03 Conduct and Culture
Treat each other with kindness and respect. This applies in meetings, in shared spaces, in written communication, and in conversations about colleagues who are not in the room.
Giving feedback
Feedback on work should always lead with what is working. Say what you like about something first, and then think about how it could be made stronger. The goal of feedback is to improve the work, not to demonstrate critical acuity. Frame it that way.
Shared spaces
Keep shared spaces clean, organized, and non-disruptive. Before doing something that will inevitably affect others (rearranging equipment, running noisy or odorous procedures, occupying shared resources for extended periods) ask permission. Respect the acoustic and olfactory environment of the lab as well as the physical one.
04 Conflict
Disagreements happen. When they do, the first step is to attempt to resolve things directly: ask for a 1:1 meeting with the other person and see if a resolution can be found. Take time before making hard decisions. Do not act in the heat of the moment.
If a direct conversation is not sufficient or does not feel like it is working, bring the PI in. The PI will help sort it out. This is not a failure of the process; it is part of how the lab takes care of its members.
05 Presence
The expectation is 40 hours per week, with at least four full working days in the lab. One day per week may be spent working from home, with advance notice to the PI. On that day, you are expected to be available as if you were at your desk.
Being physically present in the lab allows people to interact, builds trust and mutual camaraderie, and helps the team work together more effectively than remote work alone can. At the same time, time at home can be valuable for focus-intensive tasks like coding, writing, thinking, and figure craft. The one remote day per week is intended for these kinds of tasks.