Changes between Version 1 and Version 2 of projects/leadership-committee/democracy/wg-concerns

Timestamp:

Jun 3, 2013, 9:08:52 PM (7 years ago)

Author:

Daniel Kahn Gillmor

Comment:

first pass sketch

projects/leadership-committee/democracy/wg-concerns

@@ -6 +6 @@
 == Structure ==
 
-=== Working Groups ===
+The main goal of this proposal is to see MF/PL structured as a set of  overlapping, empowered and engaged working groups that set organizational policy on the condition that they are transparent to and open to participation and guidance from the entire membership.
 
-=== Core ===
+ * staff -- these are members with daily or weekly work commitments to the organization.  
+ * working groups -- these are collections of members interested in and working on specific parts of the organization.  for example:
+  * i18n
+  * support-team
+  * organizational development
+  * others as needs arise... (how do members form a new working group?)
 
-=== Conflict Resolution ===
+Setting up any working group needs to include defining the scope for that WG.
+
+The term "core membership" refers to all people who are either on staff or in any working group.
+
+=== Working Group Responsibilities ===
+
+Each working group has a set of responsibilities:
+
+ * regular reportbacks to the lowdown about ongoing work
+ * maintain an easily-accessible way for members to find out what the working groups are, and how to contact them.  This allows members to interact with and guide a working group without needing to commit to full participation in it.
+ * Each working group should maintain a publicly-archived mailing list.
+
+=== Working group membership ===
+
+How does a member join a working group?
+
+Different models have different advantages, and we may not want to prescribe a single approach for all working groups.  Factors that need consideration are:
+
+ * we want to avoid working groups dominated by traditional majorities (cisgendered English-speaking white men)
+ * a careful and thoughtful WG membership process tends to create mutual commitment from all parties involved instead of fly-by-night flakiness
+ * but barriers to entry discourage participation
+ * isolated cabals are bad
+
+=== Staff membership ===
+
+open questions:
+
+ * how do we decide who is on staff?
+ * should each working group need to have a participating staff member?
+ * should each staff member need to participate in at least one working group?
+
+=== Decision Making and Conflict Resolution ===
+
+We don't currently have a clear breakdown of how decisions get made at MF/PL.  We need one.  It should include:
+
+ * What different types of decisions are being made
+ * who initiates a given type of decision
+ * who needs to be consulted
+ * who needs to approve
+ * who needs to be informed?
+
+Each working group should make decisions within its scope.
+
+There are a set of shared MF/PL guidelines that we expect all WGs to adhere to:
+
+ * respectful communication
+ * working groups need to listen to the concerns of MF/PL members who are not WG participants
+ * we strive for consensus, and presume that is the baseline for decision-making, WGs may choose their specific implementation of consensus
+
+Conflict resolution:
+
+ * we need to plan out a conflict resolution approach both between and within WGs: decision-making should be how it normally works, and conflict-resolution is for when decision-making process breaks down
 
 === Meetings ===
+
+There should be at least one annual in-person meeting for the entire core.
+
+We encourage individual working groups to schedule in-person meetings when possible.
+
+Staff has a regular weekly meeting.
+
+There should be an annual membership meeting that takes place in multiple locations simultaneously and is available over the internet where possible.
 
 == Concerns ==
@@ -26 +90 @@
 === transparency ===
 
-how can MF/PL members (and allies, and prospective members) be aware of what is happening in the organization? how does the organization engage members so that they want to know? 
+how can MF/PL members (and allies, and prospective members) be aware of what is happening in the organization? how does the organization engage members so that they ant to know? 
 
 === communications ===