Preferred Practices

  • When meeting, short of emergencies, please
    • arrive on time
      • if running late, send notice as soon as you know you will be late, and not after you are already late.
    • do not leave early unless this was discussed well before the meeting started.
    • (If known in advance, your late arrival/early departure can be used to plan accordingly, so that others can still be productive.)
  • When emailing
    • Use a descriptive, updated subject line, that follows requested formatting instructions if provided
    • Start with the most urgent task that you are requesting, along with the actual deadline by which it must be completed
      • If you have a “preferred” deadline that is not the real deadline, state why you “prefer it”, but know that
        • the request may be refused
        • your preferred deadline may not be met if the request is accepted
    • Include all required material to complete the task, and resend material in reminder emails.
  • When sending a file, ensure your filename includes
    • At least your last name (followed by first name if desired, but not just first name)
    • A word or two describing the file content
    • Date in this format yyyy_Mon_day_TimeIfMultiplePerDay
    • Use underscores ‘_’ and/or a single capital letter to delineate words
      • E.g., Smith_proposal_draft_2021_Mar_15_8am, or SmithJayProposalDraft_2021Mar15_8am
  • (Files should be named to benefit recipient)
  • When sending a slide deck, do NOT
    • Cut and paste or write full sentences / paragraphs as bullets
      • (Slide decks should convey required information with minimal reading)
    • Include words that add no meaning, e.g., ‘a’, ‘the’, ‘it’…
      • (See above)
  • When sending a slide deck, DO
    • Ensure all bullets are parallel in structure and content, e.g., all start with verb (like here)
    • Replace unneeded “big” word with simplest word that conveys same content
    • Use minimum font size of 24 for content
    • Use minimum font size of 16 for slide number and citations
    • Show slide number on each slide
    • Show total number of slides on at least first side, e.g., 1/12
  • When sending a text document, do NOT
    • Use font smaller than 12 point in single-column text, or 10 point in double-column text
    • Allow sentences to exceed 1.5 lines in single-column document or 3 lines in double-column document
    • Allow sentences to have more than 3 prepositions
    • Use empty phrases like “It was found that …” or “Researchers found that” (instead, say who found)
  • When sending a document, DO
    • Use a descriptive title (not “my project”)
    • Break information into chunks
      • Make liberal use of section headings, i.e., at least every 2-3 short paragraphs
      • Break paragraphs up such that first sentence accurately describes content of entire paragraph
    • Write as clearly and concisely as possible
      • Avoid use of passive voice unless it enables more concise writing
      • Hyphenate all multiple-adjective words (as I have here)
      • When in doubt, add comma if it helps clarify sentence (as I have here)
    • References
      • Cite references using Lastname (year) in text
      • List references alphabetically at end of document
      • Use following, concise formatting style, noting:
        • no extraneous punctuation in authors’ names
        • no use of standard labels “Volume”, “Number” and “Pages” for the corresponding information.
        • DOI information is welcome when available
          • Shu LH, Duflou J, Herrmann C, Sakao T, Shimomura Y, De Bock Y, Srivastava J (2017) Design for reduced resource consumption during the use phase of products, CIRP Annals, 66/2:635-658. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cirp.2017.06.001