Title: Training Team Reps Author: Josepha Published: November 29, 2016 --- [ ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/) [Josepha](https://profiles.wordpress.org/chanthaboune/) 7:52 pm _on_ November 29, 2016   # Training Team Reps In the WordPress 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, each team has one or two representatives. Folks who serve as “team repTeam Rep A Team Rep is a person who represents the Make WordPress team to the rest of the project, make sure issues are raised and addressed as needed, and coordinates cross-team efforts.” are responsible for communicating on behalf of the group to the other contributor groups via [weekly updates](https://make.wordpress.org/updates/), as well as occasional chats and such. If you haven’t seen the explanation on one of the other team blogs about how team reps/voting/terms work, the longer explanation is below. It’s been a long time since we held elections and I think that rather than holding elections every 6 months for two reps, we should vote every year. I also think that we can let the two team reps decide on the best way for them to work together — either by trading off every couple of months, or sharing different parts of the job for the whole year. **We decided that we’d like to discuss this more in depth at WCUS Contributor DayContributor Day Contributor Days are standalone days, frequently held before or after WordCamps but they can also happen at any time. They are events where people get together to work on various areas of [https://make.wordpress.org/](https://make.wordpress.org/) There are many teams that people can participate in, each with a different focus. [https://make.wordpress.org/support/handbook/getting-started/getting-started-at-a-contributor-day/](https://make.wordpress.org/support/handbook/getting-started/getting-started-at-a-contributor-day/), but if you won’t be there please weigh in here using the comments section so we know that your voice is heard.** One thing to be sure of is that anyone you nominate/vote for is actually interested in having the team rep responsibilities for 2017. This role has a time commitment attached to it, and if a team rep fails to meet that commitment (not posting the weekly updates, for example) they will be removed from the role. ### Team Rep Voting Backstory and Detail It’s important to understand that “team rep” is a role that handles communication( namely contributor wrangling and posting [weekly updates](https://make.wordpress.org/updates/) on the team’s activity and plans); it is not called “team lead” for a reason. While the people elected as team reps will generally come from the pool of folks that people think of as the experienced leaders, remember that the team rep role is designed to change hands regularly. For example, if at some point James Huff was ready to step back from being the support team rep, that would not reduce his leadership role on the support team, it would just mean he wasn’t responsible for team rep duties anymore. When we started this practice, the idea was for each contributor group to have two team reps and vote to choose team reps every six months. The original idea behind having two reps was that one person will take the lead for the first half of the term with the other person acting as a backup rep, then about halfway through, they’ll swap roles. That way, there’s always someone ramping up with more responsibility, and someone who’s been there still around to lend a guiding hand, without anyone having to make too significant of a time commitment. This time around, I propose that we let the two team reps decide on the best way for them to work together — either by trading off every couple of months, or sharing different parts of the job for the whole year. ### Share this: * [ Threads ](https://make.wordpress.org/training/2016/11/29/training-team-reps/?share=threads) * [ Mastodon ](https://make.wordpress.org/training/2016/11/29/training-team-reps/?share=mastodon) * [ Bluesky ](https://make.wordpress.org/training/2016/11/29/training-team-reps/?share=bluesky) * [ Facebook ](https://make.wordpress.org/training/2016/11/29/training-team-reps/?share=facebook) * [ X ](https://make.wordpress.org/training/2016/11/29/training-team-reps/?share=x) * [ LinkedIn ](https://make.wordpress.org/training/2016/11/29/training-team-reps/?share=linkedin) * [Login to Reply](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fmake.wordpress.org%2Ftraining%2F2016%2F11%2F29%2Ftraining-team-reps%2F%23respond&locale=en_US) ### Leave a Reply 󠀁[Cancel reply](https://make.wordpress.org/training/2016/11/29/training-team-reps/?output_format=md#respond)󠁿 You must be [logged in](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fmake.wordpress.org%2Ftraining%2F2016%2F11%2F29%2Ftraining-team-reps%2F&locale=en_US) to post a comment. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. [Learn how your comment data is processed.](https://akismet.com/privacy/) # Post navigation [← Agenda for November 29, 2016 Meeting](https://make.wordpress.org/training/2016/11/29/agenda-for-november-29-2016-meeting/) [WordCamp US Contributor Day →](https://make.wordpress.org/training/2016/12/04/wordcamp-us-contributor-day/)