How We Communicate
Our primary communication tool is Slack. Day-to-day lab communication — sharing results, asking questions, posting interesting papers, coordinating logistics — all happens there. Email is mostly for communicating with people outside the lab (collaborators, departments, etc.), and I'll rarely email you about lab stuff.
A few norms worth making explicit:
Reaching me. You can always message me on Slack, and if my door is open, come on in. I try to be responsive on Slack during the workday, but I'm not always glued to it — if something is time-sensitive, don't hesitate to message me again or stop by. If you send me something that requires a longer or more thoughtful response, it might take me a bit to get back to you, but I will. If I haven't responded and you need an answer, please nudge me — I won't be annoyed, I'll be grateful.
Sharing results between meetings. When you share plots or results on Slack, please include some interpretation with them. Don't just drop a figure — point out what you notice, what you think it means, and what you're thinking of doing next. A few sentences of context turns a plot into a conversation. (More on this in the meetings page.)
Off-hours messages. I will sometimes message at evenings, or on weekends. Please do not think this means I expect you to act on, or even read, the message until the next workday unless it's specifically designated as urgent/time sensitive. It only means that I thought of something relevant to your project and didn't want to forget. If you'd prefer I not message you outside of working hours (unless urgent), please let me know and I'll schedule these for the next workday. (See also: Hours & Remote Work.)
Slack channels. We have a few channels worth knowing about:
- #all-levenstein-lab — lab announcements, logistics, and anything important for everyone to see
- #papers — interesting papers you come across. Post freely here! Even if you've only read the abstract, sharing papers helps everyone stay aware of what's happening in the field. This channel also feeds our journal club paper selection.
- #lab-meeting — coordination and scheduling for lab meeting (the schedule spreadsheet is pinned here)
- #lab-handbook — discussion about development and changes to this handbook
- #code / #gen-ai-tools — sharing coding tips, tools, and AI/LLM resources (see also: GenAI guidelines)
- #lunch — coordinating lunch plans
- #seminars-events — upcoming seminars, talks, and events worth attending
A general note on asking questions. There is no such thing as a dumb question in this lab. If you're stuck, confused, or just want to think something through with someone, ask. Ask me, ask your labmates, post in Slack. One of the things I value most about being in a lab is that we can think together — and that only works if people are willing to say "I don't understand this" or "can someone help me think through this?"