communication.Rmd

# EHA Team Communication

*How do we work together and keep a useful record of our interactions?*

-   [Slack](https://eha.slack.com/) is our office chat tool and is good for
    day-to-day communication. Slack does not have to be an instant communication
    tool - some people prefer to check it a few times a day. Check with your
    supervisor about your project/team preferences. Slack's main purpose is to
    organize our communication by *channels* specific to a topic or project. It
    is good for keeping information from one project together in a way that can
    be referenced later by new team members, rather than being lost in various
    e-mail inboxes. A channel can be linked to many other tools (Dropbox/Google
    Drive Folder, GitHub Repository), so as to have a central hub for project
    management. E-mails can be forwarded to a channel.

    Slack also has voice-calling and, critically, screen-sharing capabilities
    that are useful for pair-debugging while programming.

-   GitHub ([see below](#version-control-and-collaboration)) has a good
    issue-tracking system that accompanies each project and can be used for task
    management and general communication. This ties messages to a specific
    project and keeps a good long-term record, and can be connected to a slack
    channel or integrated with e-mail
-   Remember that your Slack and GitHub communications are part of your project
    and are likely to be seen by both internal and external collaborators.

## Install

-   Download and install [Slack](https://slack.com/downloads/osx). If you don't
    alread have an invite, get one from Noam. Join the **\#data-sci-discuss**
    and **\#journal-club** channels and any others your
    supervisor suggests or are associated with projects you are assigned to.
-   There's also a mobile Slack app for
    [iOS](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/slack-team-communication/id618783545?mt=8)
    and
    [Android](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Slack&hl=en),
    which may be helpful if you are traveling.