4. Working Together

In person

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I expect you to be in the lab in person at least three days a week. If you need more flexibility, just tell me; that’s a conversation we should have. Three days matters because you want to engage with other people, and other people have other ideas. One of the most valuable things you’ll get out of your training is the people you meet.

Our shared in-person days are Wednesday and Thursday, so everyone overlaps. I also encourage you to set aside one day a week to catch up with people over coffee or lunch and learn what others are working on. Talking with people is a real part of doing research.

Maker time and people time

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Paul Graham’s essay on the maker’s schedule and the manager’s schedule argues that a single meeting can ruin a whole day of focused work. I mostly believe it. Part of your training is learning when to be around people and when to protect quiet time for focused work, and I try to do the same outside our shared days. When you do have meetings, try to stack them on the same day.

Hours and communication

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Treat this like a job: work during the week, roughly 9 to 5. Tell people your communication preferences.

Day-to-day communication happens on Zulip. Use public channels and topics when others might benefit from the answer, since a question you have is often one someone else has too. Zulip is asynchronous, and no one is expected to reply outside working hours.

Meetings

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We have a group meeting every week, and it’s the one recurring event to prioritize. We typically do 5-minute personal updates, and sometimes someone gives a longer talk (20 to 25 minutes plus discussion). It’s a good place to practice an upcoming conference talk or Research Committee Meeting (RCM) presentation. Once a quarter we take a meeting-free week for uninterrupted work, announced at the start of each term and planned around major deadlines.

Sprints and hackathons

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I recommend them. Small, dedicated blocks of time working with other people are a really good way to learn a problem space quickly. Keep them to a single day, and don’t over-invest in how they’re judged.

External collaborations

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Align early on what success looks like and how data ownership works; a shared kickoff doc helps. Deadlines carry more weight with external collaborators, so if plans change or a timeline slips, let people know well in advance. Collaborations are also a great way to meet people in neighbouring fields and travel to visit other labs.