Proposal: Combining Roles to Create a New Contributor Ladder

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While @devinmaeztri and I have been working on ways to make our current mentorMentor Someone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues. program more flexible and inclusive something interesting came to light: our current contributor journey is more like a maze than a ladder.

The Community Team has multiple areas of contribution, most of which can only be accessed through separate applications. This makes the system difficult to navigate and can result in frustrated contributors, as well as a lot of extra unnecessary questions and tasks to be done.

Beyond the difficulties of moving between the roles, questions arose about overlapping roles and access to tools. We realized we could continue as we have and continue to build on the complex structure we have now, or we could choose as a group to make some small changes that refine the entire contributor experience.

Before we dive into those changes, let’s take a look at our current contributor ladder.

Our Current Ladder

Here you can see what I’m talking about. We require a new application to move from one stage to the next. Each application takes time to vet and then onboard, and each comes with its own separate information and processes. That creates extra work for everyone and a frustrating path for contributors. No one wants that.

New Options

Either of these new contributor ladders would help streamline our process, and each option would be simple to implement alongside the other mentor program updates.

Option 1: We improve just the Mentor Program and leave the DeputyDeputy Community Deputies are a team of people all over the world who review WordCamp and Meetup applications, interview lead organizers, and generally keep things moving at WordCamp Central. Find more about deputies in our Community Deputy Handbook. Program as is, creating two disconnected contributor opportunities and a new oversight role for mentorsMentor Someone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues.. (below left)

Option 2: We combine our contributor paths into a single contributor ladder that starts everyone at one of three mentor opportunities and provides advancement to move up. Community DeputiesDeputy Community Deputies are a team of people all over the world who review WordCamp and Meetup applications, interview lead organizers, and generally keep things moving at WordCamp Central. Find more about deputies in our Community Deputy Handbook. get a name change and move into the new mentor oversight role. Super DeputiesSuper deputy Super Deputies are Deputies who can perform extra tasks on WordCamp.org like creating new sites and publishing WordCamps to the schedule. primarily get a name change. (below middle)

Option 3: We create a single ladder with the addition of the Mentor Advocate/Support role between Mentors and Community Advocates (Community Deputies). Mentor Support would help guide the growing group of mentors and interact more closely with Community Advocates, so they have a chance to learn what’s involved in the next stage of contribution.

If we’re already restructuring some of our roles, it’s reasonable to consider an additional change, which in this case, also simplifies things. 

Option 1: The New Ladder under the Proposed Updates

This model still has a division between deputiesDeputy Community Deputies are a team of people all over the world who review WordCamp and Meetup applications, interview lead organizers, and generally keep things moving at WordCamp Central. Find more about deputies in our Community Deputy Handbook. and mentors, but fewer hoops to jump through. If someone wants to take on multiple mentor roles and qualifies, then they can more simply change or add those responsibilities.

However, it does still require that any mentors who want to become deputies, and vice versa, must submit an additional application. It also brings up the question: What is the difference between Mentor Advocates and Deputies?

Right now, the roles are set up with completely different tasks and responsibilities, and you can see those here. That was done intentionally to create an option that kept the two programs separate similar to how they currently exist. But it doesn’t have to stay that way.

Option 2: A Unified Contributor Ladder

In a unified ladder, Community Deputies can be renamed and smoothly moved into the mentor oversight role as Community Guides. A reasonable move as their tasks already involve supporting our events and community. 

This move would allow Deputies/Community Guides a closer connection to mentors and through them the a wider interaction with more of the community. It also has the potential to create a more satisfying contributor experience as roles can expand into new areas of community support and offers options for dividing up some of the tasks that can become repetitive, like vetting.

Super Deputies, or Community Advocates as is suggested, would maintain their high level support and oversight role, and would largely stay the same for now.

We’ll also need to consider:

• Adjusting the Mentor Advocate role to combine in the current Community DeputyDeputy Community Deputies are a team of people all over the world who review WordCamp and Meetup applications, interview lead organizers, and generally keep things moving at WordCamp Central. Find more about deputies in our Community Deputy Handbook. tasks and expectations.
• Adding in requirements for moving into the Super DeputySuper deputy Super Deputies are Deputies who can perform extra tasks on WordCamp.org like creating new sites and publishing WordCamps to the schedule./Community Advocate role.
• Discussing dividing the vetting process into two parts: Public Search and Private Search.
• Determining if all Community Deputies will be moved into the Community Guide role; or if those that don’t have mentorship experience will be asked to become a mentor for awhile.

Option 3: A Unified Ladder that Includes the Mentor Support Role

Based on feedback, we’ve added a third option. This one is similar to Option 1, and creates a singular connected path like Option 2.

Like Option 1, the Community Deputy and Super Deputy roles and duties stay as they are. Their name would change. Like Option 2, the contributor roles are all connected into one ladder and we create one unified application for everyone contributing at the Mentor level and above.

The Mentor Support/Advocate role would be added in to create support for the new mentors and to give veteran mentors a path to becoming a Community Guide/Deputy. The Mentor Support role would focus on mentoring events as they choose and Community Guides would continue the tasks they have traditionally done. In the future, we could discuss sharing some of the responsibilities, like vetting, but that is not in the current plan.

What can you do?

In the comments, please share your thoughts on Options 1, 2, and 3, as well as whether you’d prefer to leave the Contributor Ladder as it is. Have your comments in by 28 March 2023.

If you’re interested in reading learning more about the proposed changes to the mentor program, read the separate post creatively titled: Updates to the Mentor Program, and leave your feedback there.

#mentors, #mentorship, #mentorship-programs