User manual for Dan

Intro

This page details processes specific to working with me. The page is intended to be helpful and to accelerate our collaboration. If there are things here that seem unclear or overbearing, please raise them so we can discuss and adapt them.

Please Call Me Dan

Please call me Dan, rather than Dr. Spakowicz, Professor, or another honorific. I want to remove barriers to sharing ideas, including the subtle or subconscious ones that titles can create. We’re all trying to shatter each other’s hypotheses as efficiently as we can, including mine, and I want to support that process however I can.

I appreciate that more hierarchical systems, especially those focused on patient care, have reasons for doing this differently. I’m not passing judgment on those practices, and I don’t want to make your life more complicated by asking you to keep track of different rules for different people in a meeting. If you slip up and use a title, don’t worry about it. The point is to make it easier to speak freely, not to give you another rule to worry about.

Flaws & Blindspots

Transparency is important, so I want to share the flaws I know I have. I am responsible for improving these, but listing them here helps you understand how to work with me effectively.

Email Communication: I struggle with email. I often miss items that should be followed up on, or I follow up so slowly that it causes significant delays.
- How to handle this: If I haven’t responded to a critical item, please do not wait silently. Bump the thread, send me a reminder, or find another way to grab my attention.
Closing Loops: I am particularly bad about following up with people who have agreed to do something. I tend to assume it will get done once discussed.
- How to handle this: Please do not rely on me to “chase” you. If you agreed to a task, please be proactive in updating me when it is finished.

Communication Protocols

Slack > Email: If I have a free minute during the day, I check Slack first, then email. If you need a quick response, Slack is your best bet. How we use Slack covers channels, coding updates, and when not to use DMs.
The “One Back-and-Forth” Rule: If a text-based exchange (Email/Slack) requires more than one back-and-forth, I would rather handle it in a face-to-face conversation.
- If a topic requires extensive chat or iteration, stop typing and put it on the agenda for our next meeting or schedule a brief chat.
Troubleshooting: Being told that something “didn’t work” without any other information drives me nuts.
- Bad: “I tried X and it didn’t work.”
- Good: “I tried X. It failed with Error Code Y. Here is the context.”

Scheduling & My Calendar

I prioritize the lab in my calendar. I will share my full calendar details with you so you can see past the generic “Busy” blocks. The practical steps—Bookings before calendar access, then sending invitations for free blocks or Focus Time—are on Scheduling meetings.

“Focus Time” = “Lab Time”: I have time automatically blocked on my calendar labeled “Focus Time.” Outsiders see this as busy, but for you, this is Available for People in the Lab time.
How to Schedule: You are always welcome to send me a calendar invitation. Look for completely free blocks first; if none exist, book over my “Focus Time” blocks.

Project Management & Execution

In academic science, many people get excited about new experiments and data, but few possess the discipline to efficiently finish a project.

Project Overhead: Every project carries a fixed amount of overhead. I will try to push this responsibility onto you as soon as I can.
- Please understand that this is not a punishment; it is a necessary step in your growth.
- How quickly this transfer happens is situational, based on your development, competing projects, and the specific collaborators involved.
Total Ownership: I want everyone in the lab to eventually manage all aspects and overhead related to their primary work. This includes not just the research, but the administration, coordination, and logistics required to keep the project moving.
Coding Sessions: If you perform a coding session, try to have an output for every period.
- This could be pushed code, an update on Slack, or a specific question about what got you stuck. The Slack post describes the same end-of-session habit.
- No output is too small.
The “Finishing” Skill: Please practice acting with urgency to complete the “less exciting” tasks needed to wrap up a manuscript and get it published. This is often the difference between a good project and a published paper.

Engagement with Literature

Staying engaged with current literature is a key aspect of what we do.

Establish a Routine: Set up a routine for yourself to read papers and check online systems/feeds.
Share on Slack: Please post things to the Slack page that you think might be relevant to others.
- Don’t: Just forward the Table of Contents of a journal when it comes out each week.
- Do: Post a paper because a specific figure is interesting, or because it provides a different way of thinking about a problem we deal with in the lab.
- Note: It is okay to share things even if they are not super directly related to our immediate work.

Authorship

I am happy to discuss authorship early and often, though I recognize it can be hard to determine in the early stages of a project.

Co-Authorship: I believe even small contributions are sufficient for co-authorship (e.g., helping out with the necropsy day of a big mouse experiment).
- Your Responsibility: Please help me identify when you have helped in this way so I don’t overlook your contribution.
First Authorship: This comes with significant additional responsibilities—most importantly, finalizing the manuscript and “dragging it across the finish line.” Do not underestimate the amount of time this takes.
Leaving the Lab: Because finalizing a paper, responding to reviews, and wrapping up takes so long, I tend not to have people be first author after they have left the lab.
- It is difficult to motivate people to do this work once they have moved on, and difficult to estimate the time required.

Training the Next Generation

Deeply embedded in our mission as academic researchers (studying the microbiome and cancer) is to train the next generation of scientists.

Provide a Window: Part of training is providing an accurate understanding of what this work looks like. I hope you will be willing to provide a window into your normal environment and share the experience with others (shadowing, etc.).
Value Over Structure: There is value in any research experience you can provide, even if it isn’t super structured or well-planned. Don’t let the lack of a “perfect curriculum” stop you from inviting a trainee to observe or participate in your work.

The “gpmtg” (Group Meeting)

My week is organized around the group meeting (gpmtg).

Attendance: Attendance is very important to me. Please prioritize this slot.
Reliability: I care deeply about reliability. For tasks that take a long time, please help me know you have things under control by mentioning them at the group meeting (e.g., “The data analysis is still underway”).
Absence: If you cannot attend, please review the announcements/updates asynchronously and add your individual update. Do not just skip it entirely.

Meetings & Agendas

Come Prepared: I love agendas. I particularly appreciate it when I walk into a meeting and the agenda is already defined.
Engagement: I love it when people are engaged. Please ask questions or voice your thoughts. If this doesn’t come naturally to you, treat it like a skill you’re developing and practice it.
Duration: Please err on the side of shorter meetings. Scheduling meetings has the booking rules, including how much time to take.