The challenge for lab members is to learn how to expose the weak points in the science and experimental detail without attacking the speaker personally. Sarcasm and condescension have no place in a lab meeting. Even a little of this will cause people to become taciturn and poison the cooperative atmosphere of a laboratory, enormously reducing its effectiveness and productivity. The principal investigator and senior people in the lab group serve as role models for group meeting behavior, setting the standards not only for rigor and ethics but also for manners. The details of lab meeting organization are variable among labs, although several concepts recur.
Food is crucial.
Blood sugar and creativity must surely be associated. The time period reserved for lab meetings is generally one to two hours, but some presentations stimulate large group discussions which cause time limits to be ignored. Most lab meetings occur in conference rooms, but some groups meet in the lab. The lab setting allows the speaker to quickly retrieve additional data, demonstrate a unique piece of equipment or experimental arrangement, or view a computer image. Most principal investigators plan some combination of regular short progress reports and less frequent formal presentations which include literature review, research strategy, and critical evaluation of results.