It's important to me (Kirstie) that no one feels left out in the cold, or abandoned to struggle during their time in the lab.
It may not always be possible but I'd like us to meet once per week (ideally for 30 minutes, but if you need longer then I'm sure we can manage that!) to touch base and keep track of where you are.
I've developed a template for making sure that we cover certain topics every week. This document will talk you through how you set up and prepare for your weekly meeting, along with my motivation for asking these questions.
Importantly, I hope these meetings are useful for us both. Please let me know if there are any changes that you'd like to make!
Create a file in the Whitaker Lab Project Management repository called Weekly-Meetings.md inside a folder with your name (don't put a space, use a hypen to separate your first and last name(s)).
You can see an example for Isla Staden here: https://github.com/WhitakerLab/WhitakerLabProjectManagement/blob/master/Isla-Staden/Weekly-Meetings.md
Inside that file, copy the template below. It's in markdown format and you might find this cheatsheet useful for getting started.
### Date: [INSERT DATE OF MEETING]
#### Who did you help this week?
Replace this text with a one/two sentence description of who you helped this week and how.
#### Who helped you this week?
Replace this text with a one/two sentence description of who helped you this week and how.
#### What did you achieve?
* Replace this text with a bullet point list of what you achieved this week.
* It's ok if your list is only one bullet point long!
#### What did you struggle with?
* Replace this text with a bullet point list of where you struggled this week.
* It's ok if your list is only one bullet point long!
#### What would you like to work on next week?
* Replace this text with a bullet point list of what you would like to work on next week.
* It's ok if your list is only one bullet point long!
* Try to estimate how long each task will take.
#### Where do you need help from Kirstie?
* Replace this text with a bullet point list of what you need help from Kirstie on.
* It's ok if your list is only one bullet point long!
* Try to estimate how long each task will take.
#### Any other topics
This space is yours to add to as needed.
Before you meet with Kirstie each week, please copy the template within your Weekly-Meetings.md file and fill it in.
We'll keep all meetings in the same file so you can also add a "table of contents" at the top of the file to make navigating it a little easier. Please do not overwrite previous meetings! I'd like for us both to be able to look back at your responses over the course of your time in the lab and see how far you've come 😀. Please keep the most recent meetings at the top of the file and separate each meeting with a horizonal line (---).
Submit a pull request to the lab Project Management repository and assign Kirstie as a reviewer.
In your weekly meeting Kirstie and you will go over your answers and Kirstie will add in any notes or questions that come from your discussion.
Hopefully these notes will help you in planning your time the following week.
The notes are openly available as part of this GitHub repository so please also use the time in the weekly meeting to let Kirstie know if you have any concerns that you would rather discuss privately.
This last section outlines why I want you to answer these questions. If you have any suggestions on additional points to cover please let me know!
The first two questions ask you to note who you helped this week, and who helped you.
The people you name can be anyone, including Kirstie, and the action doesn't have to be work related.
The goal in asking these two question every week is to reinforce the point that science is a collaborative activity done by real humans.
We all appreciate help along the way, and if we work together we will all be happier, healthier and more successful people 🙌.
The third question, What did you achieve? is the celebration question for the week! It will often feel like you haven't achieved everything that you wanted to...but that doesn't mean you didn't achieve anything. There's something you managed to do, even if it's some deep googling to figure out a mysterious acronym, and I want to be able to say well done 🎉.
Please note that your achievements don't have to be related to work in the Whitaker lab. I'm hopign to support and mentor indepenent thinkers and doers: if you have projects that I'm not involved in but that you've had successes with, please do let me know. Partly so I can cheer you along, and partly so I have a better sense of how long work is taking you to complete. (You can imagine that if you don't tell me about work that's taking up 50% of your time, I could end up worried that you're working half as quickly as I'd imagined!)
The question What did you struggle with? is where I can hopefully help out, or at least reassure you that your struggle is just a standard process of making your way in science (remember your mandatory reading of the Illustrated Guide to a PhD!) 😕.
One of the reasons for keeping all the weekly meeting records in one file is to be able to look over the goals from the previous week and assess how far along you are. When you answer What would you like to work on next week? try to be aware of how long the work is likely to take and set yourself manageable tasks.
Please also use this question to make sure you're thinking about what you are interested in, rather than sticking with something you don't want to do! If you've pledged to finish some work then it would be great for you to finish it up, but if there are ways to pivot the focus to become more useful for us both that I'd be delighted to hear them.
When answering Where do you need help from Kirstie? please try to be as specific as possible. The input might be feedback on a piece of writing, help interpreting a result, seeking out a bug, reviewing code, explaining a section in a paper that you read, and so much more!
I hope you'll find that clear actions you need me to complete are responded to most efficiently 😁.
Please add in anything else you'd like to cover that doesn't fit in one of the previous sections here.