Discussion: Meta focuses in 2022

In the last Meta chat of 2021, we reviewed our use of component focuses in 2021, and discussed some alternatives.

To recap briefly, in 2021 we chose a different Meta component on which to focus attention for the two weeks between biweekly [fortnightly] chats. That had mixed results; in some cases we were successful in cleaning up tickets in those components, and starting or refreshing work on various tasks. In other cases, no notable progress was made.

Some of what we learned through the process:

• Components vary widely in their size, complexity, and access limitations.
• Focusing attention on a component doesn’t mean anyone is available to work on it.
• It is a good way to uncover forgotten tickets and low-hanging fruit.
• It’s not always clear what to do with tickets that aren’t immediately actionable.
• Two weeks is not very long!

If we’re going to continue with the idea of focuses, let’s discuss ways of improving the process. For example:

• Are there other focus groupings we should try, besides components?
• What goals should we set?
• Are there ways we can improve our chances of success and progress?

The next metaMeta Meta is a term that refers to the inside workings of a group. For us, this is the team that works on internal WordPress sites like WordCamp Central and Make WordPress. chat is 2022-01-12 21:00:00 UTC. That gives us roughly a week to discuss ideas and come up with a plan for the first focus of 2022. Discussion and suggestions are welcome in comments on this post, or in the #meta channel on 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/..

Update: This week’s meeting is cancelled; we’ll discuss it next time.