Core Platform Team/PET Work Processes/PET Initiative Check Process

An initiative is a Core Platform Team project that spans multiple sprints and is consistent with the aligned goals of the Team. Typically, the scope is a project that spans no more than four months and is worked by a subset of the members of the Team.

An initiative may be a product initiative or an infrastructure initiative. A product initiative is one in which a product or set of features is delivered to satisfy the needs of an external (to the Team) customer. An infrastructure initiative is one in which changes are made to the software the Team maintains or the environment in which the Team develops and maintains it, ultimately improving future products and reducing cost and risk. This could include improvements to scalability, maintainability, testability, understandability, and/or performance. Infrastructure initiatives may not include any user-facing features or significant visible modifications to user-discernible behavior.

Phase 0: New Initiative

 * Any member of the Core Platform Team may propose an initiative.
 * The first step is for the proposer of the initiative to attend a Core Platform Team Initiative Planning Meeting to declare the desire to begin planning the new initiative.
 * If team management agrees that the general idea is in alignment with the Team's roadmap, the initiative plan will be put in a queue.
 * When resources become available to begin working on the initiative plan, the initiative proposer will be notified to begin planning work.

Phase 1: Inception

 * Typically, the proposer of the initiative would pair with at least one other team member in the inception phase.
 * Product initiatives must be proposed by a product manager.
 * Prior to entering this phase, the initiative proposer should have done some preliminary research into the viability of the idea and, for product initiatives, the market for the product.
 * In this phase, a vision table, which is a concise description of the initiative, will be populated. The vision table may be in a Google document or other convenient representation. The contents of the vision table should be supported by the preliminary research.

Product Vision Table:

 * For a product initiative, create an initial product vision table in the template below with 2 or 3 bullet points or sentences per box.
 * Vision: What is the purpose of the product being developed for this initiative, and what improvements it will bring? Limit the scope to the initiative here rather than expanding to a larger vision. If this initiative vision ties into a larger team, departmental, or Foundation vision, roadmap, goal, or OKR, mention that briefly here.
 * Target Group(s): Who will benefit from or use the product?
 * Needs: What problems will the product solve? What user needs will it satisfy? This should ideally be supported by prior user research or external requests for the capability.
 * Product: What specifically will the product be? This should be specific enough to motivate others on the team to feel confident supporting the product. What is the minimum viable product (MVP)?
 * Aligned Goals: How does this product fit in with the team, department, and/or Foundation goals?

Infrastructure Vision Table:

 * For an infrastructure initiative, create an initial infrastructure vision table in the template below with 2 or 3 bullet points or sentences per box.
 * Vision: What is the purpose of the project and what improvements it will bring? Limit the scope to the initiative here rather than expanding to a larger vision. If this initiative vision ties into a larger team, departmental, or Foundation vision, roadmap, goal, or OKR, mention that briefly here.
 * Stakeholder(s): Who will be affected by and benefit from this work? Most of the time, this would be other teams at WMF, but it could be the Core Platform Team itself as well.
 * Problem: What problem will the project solve?
 * Solution: How will it solve it? This should be specific enough to motivate others on the team to feel confident supporting the project.
 * Aligned Goals: How does this project fit in with the team, department, and/or Foundation goals?

Phase 2: Socialization

 * Once the initial vision is defined, input from the Team must be gathered to improve the vision, further refine it, and validate the feasibility of the project.
 * Ideally, a facilitated brainstorming meeting will be scheduled, inviting the full Team to discuss the initiative. A facilitator will ensure that no voices dominate the conversation and that quiet voices are empowered to contribute.
 * In addition, the initiative will be circulated to the full Team electronically, giving a deadline for receiving feedback.
 * While feedback will be accepted from the full Team, input will be prioritized from individuals who commit to becoming involved in the implementation of the initiative.
 * At the completion of the socialization phase, an updated vision table will be finalized.

Phase 3: Recruitment

 * Initiative team members can join the initiative team during the first two phases. If the initiative team is not yet fully staffed at this point, there will be a recruitment phase to get the commitment of additional team members.
 * The composition of an initiative team will be as follows:
 * For product initiatives: one product manager
 * One tech lead or architect
 * One engineering manager
 * At least two engineers, including the tech lead
 * Other staffing will depend upon the scope and content of the initiative.
 * One team member will be designated as the initiative lead. This team member will be the focal point for questions about the initiative. This team member may also serve in one of the other roles.
 * By the completion of the recruitment phase, sufficient team members will have committed to the initiative to be able to staff it.

Phase 4: Decision

 * The initiative team will present the initiative vision to the management team at a Core Platform Team Initiative Planning Meeting.
 * The Core Platform Team director will validate that the initiative aligns with the aligned Core Platform Team goals.
 * The Core Platform Team program manager will validate that the resourcing of the initiative is appropriate and feasible.
 * If approved:
 * The Core Platform Team program manager will schedule the initiative.
 * An initiative page will be created by the initiative lead at Core_Platform_Team.