6  Communication

The general communication/supervision structure of our lab for day-to-day activities is:

…with Dr. Lindsay typically communicating directly/frequently with graduate students and supervised Honours students, and graduate students communicating/supervising undergraduate RAs working on specific projects. We’ve in the past had a formal ‘lab manager’ position, but more typically have individual graduate students serving as ‘managers’ on the various project(s) they are involved in. Of course, Dr. Lindsay is more than willing to arrange individual meetings with undergraduate students should the need arise.

6.1 Microsoft Teams

We plan to create a lab server on communication client Microsoft Teams which allows for quick and convenient synchronous/asynchronous communication for day-to-day lab activities, along with file-sharing and audio/video meeting capability. UVic provides access to Microsoft Teams for students & employees. Lab members will be invited to our lab Teams server, where we have will have different channels for different lab projects and initiatives. Lab members should not post sensitive information on Teams (e.g., non-anonymized participant data, lab logins and passwords). Instead, Teams should be primarily used for planning meetings, coordinating data collection and posting useful resources and shared documents. If you are involved in data collection or any other time-sensitive projects, you should check Teams daily on weekdays. You are not expected to check or reply to Teams messages on weekends, holidays, or anytime you have arranged for time away from data collection.

6.2 Email

Most lab-related communication that does not pertain to day-to-day activities will occur by email, so please make sure the email address you have on file with me/other lab members is current and an account you check regularly. You should check this account daily on weekdays while you are actively involved in data collection in case of any time-sensitive issues (e.g., room booking conflicts that might require cancellation or room changes), unless you have arranged for another mode of contact with your student supervisor/colleagues on the same project (e.g., Teams). This is also where we will contact you about lab meeting scheduling and cancellations, which, although we try to avoid it, sometimes occur fairly last minute.

For messages requiring a response or informing you personally of something important (e.g., a change to your usual testing room), please try to respond or acknowledge by the next business day. In the latter case a quick “got it” is sufficient; it’s just helpful to know the message wasn’t lost in the ether. You are not expected to check or reply to lab email on weekends, holidays, or anytime you have arranged for time away from data collection.

6.2.1 Lab email (lindlab@uvic.ca)

If you are involved in data collection you will be given access to the lab email account, which is generally where research participants will contact us with questions, problems, or to let us know why they were or will be unable to make it to their scheduled session. You should check this account before and after your scheduled sessions in case there are messages relevant to you. Often this will not be clear from the subject line, so if you open a message and discover it’s not relevant to you, please make sure to mark it as unread.

When communicating with participants through this account (or via SONA), keep in mind you are representing the lab; there is no need to be overly formal, but please follow basic email etiquette and include an informative subject line, a greeting, and signature. It’s preferable to sign these messages with your own name rather than just Lindsay Lab so others using the account can keep track of who’s dealing with a particular issue.