@juliarosia and I are continuing to work on updating the Team’s mentorship experience.
The purpose of this post is to succinctly recap the decisions made earlier this year and present next steps as we work to update the Community Team contributor roles.
Key Points of this Post
- New names have been finalized for the contributor roles:
- Mentors 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. → Community Team Event Supporters
- Community Deputies Community Program Supporters (formerly Deputies) are a team of people worldwide who review WordCamp and Meetup applications, interview lead organizers, and keep things moving at WordCamp Central. Find more about program supporters in our Program Supporter Handbook. → Community Team Program Supporters
- Super Deputies Program Managers (formerly Super Deputies) are Program Supporters who can perform extra tasks on WordCamp.org like creating new sites and publishing WordCamps to the schedule. → Community Team Program Managers
- The Meetup Meetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook. Reactivation project is transitioning into ongoing Meetup Check-ins performed by Event Supporters.
- The new unified application, orientation, and onboarding will be tested by former meetup reactivators and new applicants.
- Program Supporters will have two new quarterly tasks: (1) Conduct check-ins with a small group of Event Supporters, (2) Maintain the Meetup Tracker, using the information their group of Event Supporters provides.
- This post ends with a feedback request and an opportunity to give input on when and how to implement approved changes.
- Anything implemented will evolve over time and can be reverted if necessary.
Previously in Q1
For those who wish to review, here’s the basis for the information that has been discussed so far.
Name Changes
After great feedback and deliberation, we have settled on these names for our contributor groups.
- Mentors become Community Team Event Supporters, and will be generally referred to as Event Supporters.
- Community Deputies become Community Team Program Supporters, and will be generally referred to as Program Supporters.
- Super Deputies become Community Team Program Managers, and will be generally referred to as Program Managers.
Closing the Reactivation Project
The Meetup Reactivation Project is transitioning into a Meetup Check-In task, which is discussed in more detail below. As part of that, by 9 June we will share a post showcasing the data from the project and thanking the participants.
To help with this new task, we will invite some Meetup Reactivation Supporters to become Event Supporters with responsibilities based on their experience.
These community members will likely continue to be an asset to the Community Team and will be useful in testing the new unified contributor application, orientation, and onboarding process.
New Unified Processes
This process is based on what was created for the Meetup Reactivation Project and will allow all new contributors to join the team through one system. It creates less work for the team and provides opportunities for contributors to move into other roles as they choose.
- Community members with less community experience will be able to begin contributing while growing their skills.
- Those with advanced experience who qualify to be a Program Supporter Community Program Supporters (formerly Deputies) are a team of people worldwide who review WordCamp and Meetup applications, interview lead organizers, and keep things moving at WordCamp Central. Find more about program supporters in our Program Supporter Handbook. can move directly into that role.
For those interested, you can take a peek at drafts of the new application and orientation script.
Adding the Meetup Check-In Task to the Event 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. Role
This task allows the Community Team to have more contact with our meetups Meetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook. who are the backbone of our community and provides an introductory contribution opportunity that has been missing.
To complete this task, each Event Supporter (new and existing) will perform three primary steps twice a year.
- Look at the Meetup.com page for each meetup to see if they are holding regular meetups.
- Email the meetup organizers assigned to them to see how things are going.
- Update the spreadsheet with the data for the meetups that have been contacted.
Templates will be available for those who wish to use them.
Two New Program Supporter Tasks
To add the previously discussed mentorship responsibilities to our Program Supporter role, two new quarterly tasks will be needed.
One: Each Program Supporter will be given a group of Event Supporters to check in with and help as needed. This check-in can be via Slack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/., email, or Zoom, based on individual preference. It’s simply intended to be a way to increase our support of each other.
Two: Each Program Supporter will use their Meetup Tracker access to help update the statuses of the meetups being checked on by their group of Event Supporters. This can be done more than once a quarter, but once a quarter is a good starting point.
Implementation
Julia and I will begin using the unified system to onboard new contributors shortly. There hasn’t really been much of a system before and this gives us something to start with.
Fortunately, like with most things on the Community Team, it is built to be flexible. If at any point we don’t like the unified system or new tasks, they can be changed or removed entirely.
If we do approve them, we will need to decide on the timeline for implementing them, particularly the name change. Remembering that everything is flexible and can be removed, we recommend implementing the name change, unified system, and new tasks as a part of the Community Team standard operating procedure by 1 July.
That gives us the rest of the year to update documentation and resources, and test the processes to see if these changes are a good fit for the Community Team.
Next Steps
- The Community Team will discuss the changes and share their feedback.
- Julia and I will continue building the necessary resources. This includes:
- Issuing invitations to some of the Meetup Reactivators to join the Community Team as Event Supporters.
- Using the new unified system to onboard new contributors immediately. This includes invited Meetup Reactivators who accept, and any new applicants who are vetted.
- Updates will be made by the Community Team to existing documentation and resources, as well as adding new documentation as needed, based on acceptance of the name changes, unified system, and new tasks.
Feedback
Now it’s your turn. Share your thoughts in the comments below. It would be particularly useful to hear any questions or concerns as relates to:
- the new unified system
- the new contributor tasks
- implementing the name changes, new system, and tasks that are accepted by the Community Team
Additionally, there will be a Community Team discussion, currently planned for 15 June. You are also welcome to open discussions in Slack.
Comments on this post will close on 16 June.
#community-team, #mentor-program-updates, #refining-mentor-program, #updates
