Workgroup report
Workgroup for workgroups
A workgroup convened to develop guidelines for Community Workgroups
Contents
Executive summary
A Workgroup was convened to develop a policy for the establishment of community-wide workgroups whose mission is to create policy, guidelines, tools, processes, etc., that impact the whole WikiEducator community. Eight WikiEducator members signed up as participants of the workgroup.
A charter for the workgroup was completed and formerly approved. A boilerplate for charters was completed as a resource for future work groups. This work group had the advantage of observing the operations of the Community Workgroups for Style guidelines and WikiEducator Adminstrators, which aided the development and refinements of the Charter by piloting concepts and processes with these three workgroups. All tasks and communications were duly completed in accordance with the charter. The Workgroup has achieved consensus on all aspects of the policy and we have no minority opinions to report.
The Workgroup on Workgroups now requests approval and ratification by the WikiEducator Community Council at the meeting scheduled to commence on 7 September 2009.
Purpose
The purpose of this Community Workgroup is to:
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Approval of the charter
The Workgroup achieved the skills specification for members of the workgroup. Eight WikiEducator members signed up to assist with this task.
| Skills specification | Workgroup membership |
|---|---|
| At least two members of the WikiEducator Community Council: to help with consideration of what role the Council will have in forming and supporting Community Workgroups |
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| General management and leadership experience |
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| Leadership experience in open wiki communities with reference to developing guidelines, polices etc. |
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| Members with experience of working and developing educational content in WikiEducator |
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| Editing experience |
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| Geographic spread |
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Unanimous approval of the Charter was attained on 14 August 2009. An additional approval vote was cast by a WikiEducator member, but the vote is void as the member was not a signed-up participant of the Workgroup.
Outputs
The workgroup has achieved its stated outputs, inlcuding the completion of:
Completion of project tasks
| Sl No. | Activity | Action by | Start Date | End Date | Output | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Announce formation of group on WE list and invite participants | Wayne Mackintosh | 31 May 2009 | 31 May 2009 | Post to WE Google group | Initiation of WE Workgroups |
| 2 | Publish first community update | Wayne Mackintosh | 5 Jul 2009 | 5 Jul 2009 | Post to WE Google group | WE community informed on progress of WE Workgroups |
| 3 | Create a boilerplate for use by future workgroups in developing a charter | Workgroup members collectively | 1 Jun 2009 | 31 Jul 2009 | Workgroup charter boilerplate | A boilerplate format that encourages and simplifies the creation of a workgroup charter |
| 4 | Publish second community update | Wayne Mackintosh | 31 Jul 2009 | 31 Jul 2009 | Post to WE Google group | WE community informed on progress of WE Workgroups |
| 5 | Create and approve WE Workgroups charter | Workgroup members collectively | 5 Aug 2009 | 5 Aug 2009 | Charter | A working document that effectively guides the work of WE Workgroups |
| 6 | Collaborate on the creation of a policy and guidelines for Community Workgroups | Workgroup members collectively | 1 Jun 2009 | 5 Aug 2009 | Policy for Community Workgroups | A simple and effective process for the establishment of Community Workgroups |
| 7 | Invite community comment and feedback on first draft of "Policy for Community Workgroups" | Wayne Mackintosh | 5 Aug 2009 | 5 Aug 2009 | Post to WE Google group | Invitation to community members to review "Policy for Community Workgroups" |
| 8 | Review all comments and discussion items to see if they have been incorporated into the draft documents | Need at least two volunteers to do this: |
6 Aug 2009 | 10 Aug 2009 | Second draft of "Policy for Community Workgroups" | Community-wide input into first draft of "Policy for Community Workgroups" |
| 9 | Invite community comment and feedback on second draft of "Policy for Community Workgroups" | Wayne Mackintosh | 15 Aug 2009 | 15 Aug 2009 | Post to WE Google group - posted by Alison Snieckus, 16 August 2009 | Invitation to community members to review "Policy for Community Workgroups" |
| 10 | Review all comments on second draft and incorporate as required | Need at least two volunteers to do this: Alison Snieckus Wayne Mackintosh |
16 Aug 2009 | 25 Aug 2009 | Third draft of "Policy for Community Workgroups" Third draft completed 27 August 2009 |
Community-wide input into second draft of "Policy for Community Workgroups" |
| 11 | Prepare summary report of WE Workgroups' activities | Wayne Mackintosh | 26 Aug 2009 | 30 Aug 2009 | Workgroup report | Concise report of Workgroup activities, providing necessary and sufficient information for the WE Community Council's deliberations |
| 12 | Review and endorsement of "Policy for Community Workgroups" by members of WE Workgroups | Workgroup members collectively | 26 Aug 2009 | 30 Aug 2009 | Final version of "Policy for Community Workgroups" before submission to WE Community Council | A policy for Community Workgroups that has wide acceptance in the WE community |
| 13 | Prepare final submission for WE Community Council by 5 September 2009 | Workgroup members collectively | 31 Aug 2009 | 5 Sep 2009 | Final versions of "Policy for Community Workgroups" and Workgroup report | An effective process for submitting Workgroup results for consideration by WE Community Council |
Project tasks have been completed on schedule, with the exception of two advertised dates:
- The community invitation for feedback on the 2nd draft which was delayed by one day (see point 9 above).
- Review and edits of the final draft of the policy which was delayed by two days (see point 10 above).
Given that the delays were less than 48 hours and sufficient time for commentary before final submission to Council, we do not require a substantive revision to the Charter in accordance with the draft policy.
Minority opinions
The group has achieved consensus on all matters and there are no minority opinions or contentious issues to report.
Reflections on Workgroup activities
This has been a successful Workgroup that has achieved its objectives. The success of this workgroup is attributed to:
- Achievable outputs clearly specified with corresponding target dates for completion in the Charter.
- The provision of adequate time frames for completion of the alloted tasks taking the capacity requirements of the project into account.
- Dedicated members in the workgroup who have actively monitored the project pages and corresponding talk pages.
- Notifying members of the workgroup via personal email on key milestones of the project.
- The deadline of a scheduled WikiEducator Council meeting has prioritised volunteer time ensuring completion of the project.
- A candid and respectful disposition of Workgroup members to comment openly and question the progress of the project, while providing constructive suggestions on improving the outputs of the project.
- Accepting the value of an iterative development process and a willingness of Workgroup members to learn and implement the lessons from engagement from the current Workgroups.
Request for approval
The Workgroup on Community Workgroups requests the WikiEducator Community Council meeting commencing on 7 September 2009 to consider a resolution for approval of the Policy for Community Workgroups and corresponding guidelines and support resources for implementation in WikiEducator.
