10 Communication, Meetings, and Digital Body Language
Most of our work — and most of our misunderstandings — happen in writing, across channels, often asynchronously. This chapter sets our communication norms so that “where is that file?” and “who owns this task?” stop being productivity leaks, and so our written tone builds trust rather than eroding it.
10.1 Channels: one job per channel
We use several streams, each with a clear purpose. If communication styles differ across the group, we revisit these after a trial period rather than forcing one channel to do everything.
| Channel | Use it for | Don’t use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Project management tool (e.g., ClickUp / GitHub Projects) | Tasks, owners, due dates, status | Long discussions, file storage |
| RIPLRT Bench | Operational hub / workbench for day-to-day lab workflow (Section 11.3) | Code (use GitHub), sample inventory (use Aliquary), long discussions |
| GitHub Issues | Code, bugs, analysis questions, manual edits | Sensitive data, personnel matters |
| Google Drive / OneDrive | Documents, drafts, shared materials | Code (use GitHub), raw restricted data |
| Messaging channel (single primary tool) | Quick updates, human connection, “I’m stuck” | Decisions of record (move those to a tracked tool) |
| External communication, formal records | Day-to-day internal coordination | |
| Video (Zoom / Meet) | Meetings, working sessions, recorded discussions | Things better handled async in writing |
| Aliquary | Sample inventory of record: registration, freezer/box maps, barcode lookup, aliquots, freeze–thaw (Section 17.5) | Experiment narratives (use the ELN), task tracking, code, discussion |
| eLabNext (electronic lab notebook) | Experiment and assay records, protocols/SOPs — the authoritative bench/lab record of what was done | Sample inventory (use Aliquary), code and pipelines (use GitHub), task tracking (use the PM tool), document drafting (use Drive), or discussion |
Every task, decision, and document has one home. Tasks live in the project tool; code and code-discussion live in GitHub; documents live in the shared drive. When a decision happens in chat or a meeting, record it in the tracked tool. If it isn’t written down somewhere findable, it didn’t happen.
10.2 Which name represents which work
External communication must attribute work to the correct entity (Section 2.2). Getting this wrong can wrongly imply that Lynn University endorses the entire Institute, or blur a separately incorporated entity into RIPLRT.
| Context | Name to use | Handle |
|---|---|---|
| Institute-level research, mentoring, recruitment | RIPLRT Institute | @riplrt / riplrt.com |
| Work conducted within Lynn University | Educational Biomarker Discovery Lab, with the member’s Lynn affiliation | per Lynn comms norms |
| Personal commentary by the PI | personal capacity, not the Institute | (friveramariani?) |
Rules of the road:
- Never state or imply that the RIPLRT Institute is a Lynn University unit. It is a DBA of Felix E. Rivera-Mariani, PhD, LLC.
- Use the EBDL name only for Lynn-housed work.
- When in doubt about a public post, logo, or co-branding, clear it with the PI before publishing.
10.3 File naming and document hygiene
- All shared documents live in the RIPLRT shared drive (or the project repo for code). Even a first solo draft is created in the shared space — transparency and open collaboration are foundational.
- Follow the file-naming convention for each folder. Where a folder has a
READMEdescribing its naming pattern, follow it; if one is missing, ask the project lead or PI and add one. - Use ISO dates (
YYYY-MM-DD), no spaces (use_or-), and meaningful, sortable names. Example:2026-06-01_PR-sporecast_analysis-v3.pdf.
10.4 Meeting cadence
- Weekly pod check-ins keep projects moving; use the weekly agenda template.
- A recurring group huddle (“RIPLRT Wins & Roadblocks”) builds identity across members on different datasets.
- One-on-one mentoring meetings run biweekly (see Chapter 8).
- Day, time, and frequency adapt to members’ real availability; keep your availability current so scheduling is honest.
Every meeting has an agenda in advance and notes + action items after (owner + due date), stored in the tracked tool. No agenda, no meeting; no notes, no follow-through.
10.5 Digital body language
Tone is hard to read in text, and the absence of cues (face, voice, pauses) means people fill gaps with assumptions — usually negative ones. Digital body language is the set of signals our written communication sends. We are deliberate about it.
Practices we use:
- Acknowledge receipt. A quick “got it, will reply by Thursday” prevents silence from reading as dismissal.
- Match channel to weight. Hard or sensitive conversations move to a call. Bad news and conflict are not for chat threads.
- Be generous in interpretation, careful in expression. Assume good intent when reading; reduce ambiguity when writing.
- Mind asynchronous timing. A message sent at 11 PM should not imply a reply is expected at 11 PM. Use scheduled send or a “no rush” note. Respect availability and time off.
- Watch the curtness gap. Brevity that feels efficient to the sender can read as cold to the receiver. A little warmth (a greeting, a thank-you, a sign-off) is not inefficiency; it’s maintenance of trust.
- Punctuation and response time carry meaning. A one-word reply, a long delay, or a sudden formality shift all signal something. If you notice these in others, check in rather than assume; if you’re sending them, consider what they convey.
When a teammate’s messages change — terser, slower, more formal, suddenly cc’ing others — treat it as information. It often means stress, confusion, or a problem surfacing. The right move is a kind, direct check-in (“Hey, want to hop on a quick call about this?”), not a tit-for-tat escalation in writing.
10.6 No-surprises communication
The single most important communication norm at RIPLRT: no surprises.
- If a deadline is at risk, say so early and propose a renegotiation — don’t go silent and miss it.
- If an analysis isn’t working, raise it before the meeting, not in front of the room cold.
- If you’re overloaded, name it before it becomes a crisis.
Communicating a problem early is a sign of professionalism, not failure. The version of you that says “I’m going to be two days late, here’s my plan” is far more trusted than the version that misses silently and explains afterward.