Tag Archives: contributor-working-group

Hari Shanker R 3:27 pm on May 15, 2023
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Contributor Working Group: Mentorship Chat Agenda | May 18th 07:00 UTC (APAC/EMEA) and 16:00 UTC (AMER)

The contributor working group is gearing up for its next Mentorship chat on Thursday (May 18th) to continue its work on building a Mentorship Program for WordPress! For more information on the working group and its plans, check out our launch post.

Meeting times

To make accommodations for as many timezones as possible, we will be holding these chats in multiple timezones. Based on feedback from last week, we will continue holding these chats on the Third Thursday of every month.

The chat will be held on the #community-team channel of the Make/WordPress Slack. Here’s the link to a handy `.ics` file which contains calendar entries for our upcoming chat, so that you won’t miss it. These chats have also been added to the Make/Meetings calendar. Everyone who is interested in building a mentorship program is welcome to attend these chats.

Looping in folks that had expressed interest in the program: @williamsba1, @megabyterose, @wolfpaw, @soulseekah, @courtneypk, @amethystanswers @leogopal @milana_cap @unintended8 @lesleysim @itsjustdj @evarlese @prathameshp, @webcommsat @meher @kcristiano @leonnugraha and @dpknauss.

Also looping in the folks who attended the last chat:

@adityakane @nao @oglekler @yoga1103 @mikeschroder @st810amaze @onealtr @carl-alberto @tobifjellner @javiercasares @sz786 @meher @courane01 @jeffpaul @sereedmedia @cbringmann @angelasjin @juliarosia @askdesign @nomadskateboarding @harishanker @javiercasares @gounder @unintended8 @webtechpooja @thewebprincess @fitehal @desrosj @askdesign @nikita22 and @nomadskateboarding

Agenda

Last week, our focus was on finalizing a Minimum Viable ProductMinimum Viable Product "A minimum viable product (MVP) is a product with just enough features to satisfy early customers, and to provide feedback for future product development." - WikiPedia (MVPMinimum Viable Product "A minimum viable product (MVP) is a product with just enough features to satisfy early customers, and to provide feedback for future product development." - WikiPedia) to test out our Mentorship Program. This week, based on all our findings, we have finalized a pilot for our mentorship program and start working on implementation steps.

1. Welcome, introductions, and check-ins
How is everyone doing? New members joining the group can also introduce themselves.

2. Mentorship Program Pilot
Based on discussions from our last chats, the working group has identified a pilot program for our projectwide mentorship! We briefly go through the pilot program to ensure that everyone is on the same page. Here’s the link to the draft blog post announcing the program’s MVP/Pilot and a white paper about the program.

3. Implementation and Assigning Tasks
Now that everyone is on the same page on the pilot program, we start talking about implementing our mentorship program! We will try to come up with a plan to implement our program, identify a list of tasks, and put out a call for volunteers to help with the different tasks. We will also try and find a project management tool to keep track of our work!

4. Next steps
Based on next discussion this week, we will identify a task list for the group until next week.

Looking forward to seeing you soon!

#contributor-working-group #mentorship-program #wpcontributors #mentorship-chat

Hari Shanker R 10:34 pm on April 25, 2023
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Recap of Contributor Working Group’s Mentorship Chat on April 20, 2023

In attendance: @adityakane @nao @oglekler @yoga1103  @mikeschroder @st810amaze @onealtr @carl-alberto @tobifjellner @javiercasares @sz786 @meher @courane01 @jeffpaul @sereedmedia @cbringmann @angelasjin @juliarosia @askdesign @nomadskateboarding  @harishanker @javiercasares @gounder @unintended8 @webtechpooja @thewebprincess @fitehal @desrosj @askdesign @nikita22 @nomadskateboarding 

Notes: @harishanker

Agenda: https://make.wordpress.org/community/2023/04/17/contributor-working-group-mentorship-chat-agenda-april-20th-0700-utc-apac-emea-and-1600-utc-amer/

Meeting Start

EMEA: https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C037W5S7X/p1682002804642749

AMEA: https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C037W5S7X/p1682002817867819

A Minimum Viable ProductMinimum Viable Product "A minimum viable product (MVP) is a product with just enough features to satisfy early customers, and to provide feedback for future product development." - WikiPedia (MVPMinimum Viable Product "A minimum viable product (MVP) is a product with just enough features to satisfy early customers, and to provide feedback for future product development." - WikiPedia) of the Proposed Mentorship Program 

The primary agenda of the chat was to discuss an MVP of the proposed Mentorship Program. Based on feedback from the last chat, @harishanker (I) prepared a draft plan for an MVP, which is as follows: 

  • A short cohort of new contributors (mentees) and experienced contributors (mentorsEvent Supporter Event Supporter (formerly Mentor) is 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.) are to be brought together in a dedicated space (potentially a SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. channel in Make/WordPress) to work together for a certain period (two to four weeks)
  • During this time, mentees will learn pre-prepared training material (we can start with existing contributor courses in Learn WordPress)
  • Each mentee will be assigned a mentorEvent Supporter Event Supporter (formerly Mentor) is 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., with whom they will be having at least two 1:1 mentoring sessions (over text chat and/or video). 
  • Additionally, the group will have at least three group mentoring sessions on broad contribution topics (over text or video)
  • Optionally, they will create a three-month contribution and learning plan with their chosen mentor. 
  • Once all the courses and training sessions are complete, mentees graduate from the program, and are pointed to the Make/Team of their choosing for further contribution. Ideally, they are also connected with a contributor (or group of contributors) from the Make/Team of their choice who will go on to support them (informally) in their contributor journey. 
  • While the mentorship program will wrap up after the period, mentees can continue to reach out to their cohort and mentors for ongoing guidance and support. 

At the chat, group members shared the following feedback on the program: 

  • Folks generally were in agreement with the program, and we decided to move ahead. 
  • Starting somewhere is the most important part. It was suggested that we try something, find out what’s missing or what doesn’t work and then iterate. 
  • The fact that proceeding without everything in place is usually helpful for an MVP was also shared. As long as mentors and mentees are willing to work through the kinks and growing pains, this helps us identify where we are lacking and where we are strong. Even when we know what we are strong or weak. This intentional incompleteness will help folks provide feedback which will help us iterate further.

Next steps

Distilling feedback from this chat, @harishanker will create a detailed draft MVP document for this program that will be shared with all group members. After making any necessary changes to the document based on the feedback, the proposal will be shared in public. Based on the MVP, the group will start assigning roles and will formally start working on this program.

We also informally asked if any group members would like to be mentors, many folks signed up for the same.

At this chat, the group also decided to keep meeting on the third Thursday of each month, at the same timings (07:00 UTC and 16:00 UTC), while attempting to work asynchronously to address any group needs.

Note: In addition to the points mentioned above, there was a detailed discussion on various aspects of the program MVP. Read on to find out more about the summary of the discussion.

Continue reading →

#wpcontributors, #contributor-working-group, #meeting-notes, #mentorship-chat, #mentorship-chat-recap, #mentorship-program

Hari Shanker R 10:00 am on April 17, 2023
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Contributor Working Group: Mentorship Chat Agenda | April 20th 07:00 UTC (APAC/EMEA) and 16:00 UTC (AMER)

Following a successful kickoff chat, the contributor working group is organizing its next chat on April 20th to continue its work.

Meeting times

To make accommodations for as many timezones as possible, we will be holding these chats in multiple timezones (please note that we are shifting the times a bit to make these meetings friendlier for folks from APAC and AMER)

The chat will be held on the #community-team channel of the Make/WordPress Slack. Here’s the link to a handy `.ics` file which contains calendar entries for our upcoming chat, so that you won’t miss it. These chats have also been added to the Make/Meetings calendar. Everyone who is interested in building a mentorship program is welcome to attend these chats.

Looping in folks that had originally expressed interest in joining the program: @williamsba1, @megabyterose, @wolfpaw, @soulseekah, @courtneypk, @amethystanswers @javiercasares @leogopal @milana_cap @unintended8 @lesleysim @@itsjustdj @evarlese @@prathameshp @javiercasares, and @desrosj.

Also looping in the folks who attended the last chat: @adityakane @nao @oglekler @yoga1103 @leonnugraha @mikeschroder @st810amaze @onealtr @carl-alberto @tobifjellner @kcristiano @javiercasares @webtechpooja @sz786 @meher @webcommsat @courane01 @jeffpaul @sereedmedia @cbringmann @angelasjin @juliarosia @askdesign @wolfpaw @nomadskateboarding @dpknauss

Agenda

1. Welcome, introductions, and check-ins
How is everyone doing? New members joining the group can also introduce themselves.

2. Discussing a Minimum Viable ProductMinimum Viable Product "A minimum viable product (MVP) is a product with just enough features to satisfy early customers, and to provide feedback for future product development." - WikiPedia (MVPMinimum Viable Product "A minimum viable product (MVP) is a product with just enough features to satisfy early customers, and to provide feedback for future product development." - WikiPedia) of the Proposed Mentorship Program
Last week, we briefly brainstormed on a structure for our projectwide mentorship program. This week, we go the next step to try and build an MVP for the Mentorship Program for our project. The idea is to share all the learnings we picked up last week, and use it to shape an experimental mentorship program to test out our idea so that we can iterate and build our learnings.

3. Next steps and next meeting
Depending on the outcome of the discussion, we will decide on the next steps of our meeting. We will aim to kick off some basic ideas in order to create a draft MVP which we can post in the Make/Community blog. We will also try to identify a regular cadence for our chats (that is friendlier for multiple timezones).

Looking forward to seeing you soon!

#contributor-working-group #mentorship-program #wpcontributors

#mentorship-chat, #mentorship-chat-agenda

Nomad Skateboarding 9:48 pm on March 23, 2023
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Recap of Contributor Working Group Inaugural Mentorship Chat on March 20, 2023

In attendance: @adityakane @nao @oglekler @yoga1103 @leonnugraha @mikeschroder @st810amaze @onealtr @carl-alberto @tobifjellner @kcristiano @javiercasares @webtechpooja @sz786 @meher @webcommsat @courane01 @jeffpaul @sereedmedia @cbringmann @angelasjin @juliarosia @askdesign @wolfpaw @nomadskateboarding @dpknauss @harishanker

Notes: @nomadskateboarding @harishanker

Agenda: https://make.wordpress.org/community/2023/03/20/contributor-working-group-mentorship-kick-off-chat-agenda-march-20th-1200-utc-emea-and-2100-utc-amer/

Meeting Start

Clarifying Group Responsibilities

At the chat, it was clarified that the exclusive focus of the group will be on building a projectwide mentorship program for WordPress. This is because lack of mentorship was identified as one of the biggest gaps in contribution experience for our program based on feedback from multiple blog posts. Besides, “Establish contributor and mentorEvent Supporter Event Supporter (formerly Mentor) is 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. programs” is one of the big picture goals of the WordPress Project in 2023 as well.

@tobifjellner shared some excellent ideas that the group might want to look at, which includes finding easier ways to contribute, find a new default channel in SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. for newcomers, suggeestions to improve onboarding, and onboarding contributors regionally and locally. The idea of creating a default channel for contributors was supported by several participants. While these ideas have merit and should be pursued, the group decided that it was best to focus on Mentorship for now, which is a big project to tackle.

The group proposes to have bi-weekly chats (for now), every second and fourth Thursday at 12:00 and 21:00 UTC (for now).

Proposed Mentorship Program Brief

The Mentorship Program is envisioned as a short-term optional program for new contributors. It does not focus on a particular Make/Team but is aimed at imparting necessary guidance and skills to new contributors to succeed in and with the project through 1:1 and cohort-based mentorship. The program will be launched with the hope that mentees will pick up the necessary knowledge, guidance and skills required to succeed with WordPress and will go on to make successful contributions in the project, and grow with the project.

Continue reading →

#wpcontributors, #contributor-working-group, #mentorship-chat, #mentorship-chat-recap, #mentorship-program

Hari Shanker R 6:53 am on March 20, 2023
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Contributor Working Group: Mentorship Kick-off chat Agenda | March 20th 12:00 UTC (EMEA) and 21:00 UTC (AMER)

As announced last week the Contributor Working Group of the Make/Community team is relaunching with an exclusive focus on building a Projectwide Mentorship Program for WordPress. The group will have its initial chat today to formally kick off work on the mentorship program.

Inaugural Meeting times

To make accommodations for as many timezones as possible, we will be holding these chats in multiple timezones:

The chat will be held on the #community-team channel of the Make/WordPress Slack. Here’s the link to a handy `.ics` file which contains calendar entries for our upcoming chat, so that you won’t miss it. These chats have also been added to the Make/Meetings calendar. Everyone who is interested in building a mentorship program is welcome to attend these chats.

Looping in folks that had expressed interest in joining the program: @williamsba1, @webtechpooja, @megabyterose, @tobifjellner, @wolfpaw, @soulseekah, @courtneypk, @mikeschroder, @tobifjellner, and @amethystanswers @nao @sereedmedia @nomadskateboarding @javiercasares @courane01 @leogopal @milana_cap @unintended8 @mysweetcate @sereedmedia @askdesign @lesleysim @adityakane @itsjustdj @evarlese @leonnugraha @prathameshp @javiercasares @jeffpaul, and @desrosj.

Agenda

1. Welcome and introductions
Who’s in the group? Let’s quickly get to know each other.

2. Clarifying Group Responsibilities
Clarifying what our responsibilities and goals are

3. Brief Introduction to the Mentorship Program
What is the proposed mentorship program? Brief discussion and brainstorming on how to make it successful.

4. Next steps and Identifying Volunteers
What are we going to do next? How will we begin working towards our goals? We also start identifying volunteers for different tasks.

5. Next meeting
When will we meet again? What regular schedule would work well?

Looking forward to seeing you at our chats!

#contributor-working-group #mentorship-program #wpcontributors

#mentorship-chat, #mentorship-chat-agenda

Hari Shanker R 6:12 pm on March 10, 2023
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Launching the Contributor Working Group: Call for Volunteers

Last month, I shared a proposal in the Make/Project blog, to revamp the Contributor Working Group of the Make/WordPress Community Team in order to build a WordPress Contributor Mentorship Program. Feedback on the proposal was quite positive! Folks supported the idea, volunteered to be a part of the working group, and shared valuable insights on mentorship for WordPress. A big thanks to everyone for their valuable feedback! 

This post aims to start building the proposed mentorship program using the contributor working group!

What is the Contributor Mentorship Program?

At its coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress., the contributor mentorship program aims to provide a foundation for new and aspiring contributors to succeed in (and with) the project by helping them build necessary tools and skill set – through cohort-based and 1:1 mentorship. 

The program offers to improve the overall onboarding experience for new contributors in WordPress through effective mentorship opportunities. It is aimed at new contributors to WordPress (mentees) who will be supported by veteran contributors (mentorsEvent Supporter Event Supporter (formerly Mentor) is 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.). Mentees learn the basics of contributing to the project by working with mentors before they start working on Make/Teams of their choice. 

By being a part of the mentorship program and having access to mentorship, newer contributors can make successful ongoing contributions to the project and stay on to become veterans. In addition to supporting the project by empowering contributors, the program also aims to impart vital skills to participants through contributing, which will support their professional choices and careers.

About the Contributor Working Group

The contributor working group is not new to WordPress. It was originally founded in September 2020 and led by @amethystanswers. The group did a lot of great work around suggesting improved onboarding flows, and organizing online contributor day events, even as the global COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to its knees. 

As I revitalize this working group in 2023, I hope to point its focus exclusively on building a contributor mentorship program based on community feedback from my proposal. Focusing on mentorship will also help the group become more effective and create a significant impact on the community.

The group will initially focus on the following tasks: 

  • Brainstorming and building a structure for the contributor mentorship program
  • Recruiting mentors and mentees to the program
  • Offering support and guidance for mentors and mentees in the program
  • Creating and improving learning content for mentees
  • Running at least one pilot version of the mentorship program in 2023

Call for Volunteers

The mentorship program is going to be an ambitious endeavor, and its success depends on support and contributions from passionate volunteers. Even though this group is tied to the Make/Community Team, its work spans the entire project. Additionally, the group plans to work closely with other Make/Teams, in order to build this program.

Like the WordPress project itself, membership to the working group is open to all. I would like to welcome everyone to join the group! Wondering if this is the right volunteer opportunity for you? You can make a massive impact on the program if you: 

  • Are excited about mentorship and have an idea about how it works
  • Have familiarity with different Make Teams and have experience working with them.
  • Possess a willingness to do outreach in SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/.
  • Share a passion for helping others find ways to contribute
  • Can dedicate a few hours per month to the program, especially after the formal launch of the mentorship program. (Note: this is not a requirement – all contributions are welcome!)

Interested in joining the contributor working group? Excellent – we would love to have you with us!

Please express your interest by commenting on this blog post or by joining us for our inaugural team chat on March 20, 2023!
Alternatively, you can also DM me in the Make/WordPress Slack to express your interest (I’m @harishanker over there).

Pinging all the good folks who had previously expressed interest in joining the working group: @dpknauss, @williamsba1, @webtechpooja, @megabyterose, @tobifjellner, @wolfpaw, @soulseekah, @courtneypk, @mikeschroder, @tobifjellner, and @amethystanswers

Also looping in other folks who had expressed their interest in improving contributor experience for our project: @unintended8 @mysweetcate @sereedmedia @askdesign @lesleysim @adityakane @itsjustdj @evarlese @leonnugraha @javiercasares @jeffpaul, and @desrosj.

Inaugural Meeting times

To kick off work on the contributor working group – we are planning a team chat on the #community-team channel of the Make/WordPress Slack, in a few days. I will also publish a separate agenda blog post before the meeting to kick things off. 

Here’s the link to a handy `.ics` file which contains calendar entries for our upcoming chat. These chats have also been added to the Make/Meetings calendar. I will share reminders in the #community-team Slack to inform participants about these upcoming chats. 

Once again, major props to everyone for expressing interest in an exciting project like the mentorship program. Together, I hope we can all make an impact on our favorite open sourceOpen Source Open Source denotes software for which the original source code is made freely available and may be redistributed and modified. Open Source **must be** delivered via a licensing model, see GPL. project by helping build a program that will also bring positive change to the lives of its contributors.

#contributor-working-group #mentorship-program #wpcontributors

The following folks reviewed or shared feedback on this blog post: @cbringmann @angelasjin @peiraisotta