All members of the Incident Response Team are held to an exceptionally high standard. IRT members are tasked with handling highly sensitive issues, including challenging interpersonal situations, while maintaining a high degree of confidentiality. IRT members care deeply for the community, and we work to maintain a healthy and thriving WordPress community.
The strength of the IRT comes from our practice of empathy, honesty, and impartiality. As we handle incident reports, we strive for timeliness, consistency in our approach, clear communication, and to balance transparency and confidentiality. As a team, we commit to learn from our mistakes and continually strengthen our processes and skills.
Within the team, it is important that IRT members can respectfully explore our differing opinions when deliberating on cases and outcomes.
Training
IRT members are nominated, vetted, and undergo a rigorous, cohort-based training. This training consists of an online IRT training course, followed by six synchronous sessions. All members participate in a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) training.
Members of the IRT are expected to be well-versed in the WordPress Community Code of Conduct. These guidelines must be enforced as consistently and fairly as possible, so it is required that IRT members know them well.
Confidentiality
The IRT handles highly sensitive information. This means all team members must be able to maintain a high degree of confidentiality.
Upon joining the team, all IRT members sign an Incident Response Team Contributor Agreement, which centers around our commitment to confidentiality and to uphold the WordPress Code of ConductCode of Conduct “A code of conduct is a set of rules outlining the norms, rules, and responsibilities or proper practices of an individual party.” – Wikipedia.
Timeliness and Clear Communication
Communication With Parties
The Incident Response Team will strive to handle incident reports as quickly and thoroughly as possible, with the following best practices:
- Confirm receipt of report: Upon receiving an incident report, the IRT will reply to the reporter within 3 days.
- Inform reporter of investigation: When a sub-team forms to conduct an investigation, the sub-team will inform the reporter of this, along with next steps and the expected timeline.
- Inform reported party of investigation: With the reporter’s permission, the sub-team will inform the reported party that an investigation is underway, along with next steps and the expected timeline.
- Provide regular updates to parties: While an investigation is underway, the sub-team will provide regular updates to the reporter and reported parties, informing them of the current status of the investigation and next steps; the sub-team should communicate an update every two weeks, to ensure clarity and continuity for the parties.
- Inform the reported party of outcome: When an outcome is determined, that sub-team will communicate this in writing to the reported party. When issuing a Code of Conduct enforcement, the IRT will clearly write: “The WordPress Incident Response Team is issuing a [correction / warning / temporary ban / permanent ban], in alignment with out Community Code of Conduct Enforcement Guidelines. We kindly remind all parties involved that these findings and any related communications with the IRT are confidential. Sharing this information publicly or with unauthorized parties may result in further action by the IRT. We appreciate your cooperation in maintaining the integrity of this process,” along with a clear and impartial description of the behavior that violated the Code of Conduct.
- Inform the reporting party of outcome: The IRT informs the reporting party about the outcome of the investigation and any actions taken. If the IRT issued a Code of Conduct enforcement, the IRT will clearly write: “The WordPress Incident Response Team has taken action based on our investigation, issuing a [correction / warning / temporary ban / permanent ban], in alignment with the Community Code of Conduct Enforcement Guidelines. We kindly remind all parties involved that these findings and any related communications with the IRT are confidential. Sharing this information publicly or with unauthorized parties may result in further action by the IRT. We appreciate your cooperation in maintaining the integrity of this process.”
Communication Within the IRT/Sub-Team
- If a member of the sub-team is no longer available to work on the case, it is critical that they inform the other members of the sub-team as soon a possible, and for the sub-team to find a replacement from the IRT. Otherwise, they risk delaying the incident response process.
- If a member of the sub-team will be unavailable for a few days, it is important that they communicate this to the other members of the sub-team.
- If a member of the IRT no longer has the time available to handle cases, please inform the team. The IRT may decide to remove this member, to ensure that the team consists of currently active members. The member may have the option to rejoin the IRT in the future if their availability changes. We understand that life happens and circumstances change!
On Enforcing the Code of Conduct
Firmly upholding the Code of Conduct is a central role of the IRT. This extends to handling situations where we make an unfavorable decision, like issuing a warning, a temporary ban, or a permanent ban. This will almost certainly hurt someone’s feelings or cause upset; and yet, this is the important work of the IRT.
