Working together

• We say that research groups should work together, but do the get the benefits of working together?

  • Working together isn’t simply delegating the supervision, but can be real close-together co-working.

• Working together can provide enough knowledge and experience to be one of the most important forms of education. TODO: percents of learning things.

• Far too often, I don’t see this working-together that happens often enough (and in enough detail) to provide good mentorship.

• Is our physical environment arranged to work together?

  • Desks right next to each other - can easily see each other’s screens without moving.

  • Low threshold to share screen/notes and discuss as things are being developed.

• Is the overall environment good for learning from each other?

  • Is everyone focused only on their own first-author papers?

  • Is teamwork celebrated?

  • Are mistakes and “show me the unfinished work” encouraged?

• Does your group have a culture of hiding their work until things are perfect (= few opportunities to learn together) or bringing people in while they are still developing?