The LSST and LSSTC are releasing Slack as a tool to foster communication within and across the LSST community (project and science). This single organization will enable people in the science collaborations and the project to chat with one another without needing to log into multiple clients and organizations. Over the coming weeks we will be rolling out Slack to project teams and to science collaborations. You should expect to receive an invitation to join the LSSTC Slack community in your email.
To help you get started, there are a number of resources to learn about Slack and to explain how to name the channels you create in Slack so that people know which science working group they belong to.
For those of you already using LSST’s Hipchat , Slack can be considered a replacement for Hipchat.
A brief code of conduct for Slack
The full LSST code of conduct for its communication tools
LSST offers a variety of tools to promote effective communication between the project and the broad science community. Through these communication tools, LSST welcomes passionate, detailed, thoughtful disagreement, and discussion about ideas. This benefits the community and our work.
LSST is committed to creating an inclusive, collaborative environment and endorses guidelines regarding professional behavior, bullying, and harassment, of the American Physical Society (APS), American Astronomical Society (AAS), and the Associated Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA). We expect that participants in LSST communication tools will read and abide by these guidelines
Elements of LSST Workplace Culture
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Be Kind – LSST realizes the impact of kindness to empower individuals to act in ways that strengthen ourselves, our relationships and our communities.
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Trust – An inclusive, collaborative environment is best achieved when there is mutual trust, based upon honest behavior, throughout the community.
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Respect - Inclusive environments foster excellence by challenging us to consider a variety of viewpoints and approaches. We honor alternate viewpoints as opportunities for discussion and learning, and therefore treat others with respect, even if we disagree.
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Diverse - Valuing diversity recognizes differences between people and acknowledges that these differences are an asset, bringing strength to a community through new ideas, innovation, and creativity.
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Inclusive – By being inclusive, LSST strives to create an environment of involvement, respect, and connection that values and benefits from diverse backgrounds and perspectives.
LSST Code of Conduct
- Recognize that our project includes individuals with different communication styles. All voices must be heard to promote excellence. Share the air. Raise all voices.
- Improve the discussion – be sure your post adds to the conversation; be respectful of the topics and people discussing them; discover and contribute to discussions that are already happening.
- Be agreeable, even when you disagree - you may wish to respond to something by disagreeing with it. That’s fine. But, remember to criticize ideas, not people.
- Always be civil - Nothing sabotages a healthy conversation like rudeness:
- Don’t post anything that a reasonable person would consider offensive, abusive, or hate speech.
- Keep it clean. Don’t post anything obscene or sexually explicit.
- Respect each other. Don’t harass or grief anyone, impersonate people, or expose their private information.
These are not concrete terms with precise definitions — avoid even the appearance of any of these things. If you’re unsure, ask yourself how you would feel if your post was featured on the front page of the New York Times.