Technical decision making/Technical Decision-Making Process Retrospective and Consultation plan

From mediawiki.org


The general goal of this process is to revise the Wikimedia Technical decision-making process to ensure that it:

  1. involves relevant stakeholders
  2. results in long-term productive technical decisions
  3. decisions are documented

The process will run in two phases: consultation, and design and implementation.

Phase 1 - Consultation[edit]

Objectives[edit]

The objectives of this retrospective and consultation are to:

  • Understand what are the expectations and needs of stakeholders from a decision-making process
  • Figure out who are the relevant stakeholders
    • WMF staff
    • WMDE and other affiliate staff
    • Volunteer developer community
  • Determine what type of decisions involve specific sub-groups of stakeholders
  • Design consultation with stakeholders to collect their expectations from technical decision-making
  • Distill the results of the consultation to a set of conclusions that lead to actionable changes in the decision-making process

Consultation Steps[edit]

  • These are the steps the core team perceives will be needed to engage with stakeholders. These steps may change as the process develops over time.
Activity Status
Public communications - Kickoff March 30, 2023
Validating stakeholders and questions June 20, 2023
Public consultation July 19, 2023
Summarization of consultation in progress (per September 19, 2023)
  • November / December 2023
    • Summarization and analysis of the data
    • Writing of the report and summary
  • January / February 2024
    • Leadership review before publication
Public report back on what was found
Feedback from stakeholders
Summarize the entire consultation with the next steps
Publish recommendation for the new process(es)

Phase 2 - Design & Implementation[edit]

Objectives[edit]

The current phase of the consultation is to gather input and summarize it.

In a follow-up phase 2:[edit]

  • Develop an actionable plan based on the consultation
  • Implementation of the Decision-Making Process plan

The process[edit]

The process should be collaborative and inclusive, while also productive and focused. It should result in a decision-making process that reflects the vision of the executive leadership on our culture of technical leadership and decision-making.

The process (components) are as follows

  • Executive Ownership - Tajh Taylor - Oversight of the milestones and approval of key steps towards the results.
  • Executive Sponsorship - Mat Nadrofsky - Communication to stakeholders, representing executive interests. Communication and updates to upper management
  • Core team - Design, lead and facilitate the consultation process. Composed of engineers from WMF
  • Advisory / Consultant Team - Dedicated group that provides relevant expertise for the core team for designing an inclusive consultation
  • Communications channels and responsibilities - Details the communication requirements
  • Working agreements for participants - Working agreements and expectations for the core group, the advisory team, and stakeholders

The consultation plan[edit]

The core team is working out the details and will ask for feedback as the team solidifies plans. It will tentatively include:

  • Identifying stakeholders
  • Survey
  • Public meetings/listening groups
  • A place to share comments on-wiki in long-form format
  • Listserv discussion

The core team[edit]

The core team is responsible for leading, facilitating, and designing the consultation and analysis processes.

The core team is responsible for finding ways to represent the opinions and concerns of the stakeholders, analyze the information, find common concerns, and present a summary for the next steps.

Core Team[edit]

Role/Skill Task Name
Engineering
  • Plan and facilitate the consultation process
  • Represent workflows and expectations from WMF tech and product departments, as well as from WMDE and community developers
 Daniel Kinzler, Chris Danis, Kosta Harlan
Systems architecture
  • Represent system-wide decision-making and overarching strategy
 Moriel Schottlender
Chair
  • Liaise with the executive sponsor
  • Facilitate conversations in the group
  • Flag potential problems to the leadership
 Moriel Schottlender
Project management
  • Keep the group moving and meeting milestones
  • Keeping the group accountable
 Temilola Adeleye

Executive Support[edit]

Role/Skill Task Name
Executive Ownership Oversight of the milestones and approval of key steps towards the results. Tajh Taylor
Executive Sponsorship Communication to stakeholders, representing executive interests. Communication and updates to upper management Mat Nadrofsky

Working Agreements[edit]

Participants in the process must agree to these set of expectations:

  • Code of Conduct - the Technical Code of Conduct
  • Time commitment - Participants are expected to commit a certain time to the process. If this commitment cannot be fulfilled for any reason, the participant is expected to notify the core team’s chair so it can be resolved.
  • Work commitment - Participants will be expected to fulfill tasks, collaborate with each other and adhere to agreed-upon deadlines. If this commitment cannot be fulfilled for any reason, the participant is expected to notify the core team’s chair so it can be resolved.

Questions and contact information[edit]

Retrieved from "https://www.mediawiki.org/w/index.php?title=Technical_decision_making/Technical_Decision-Making_Process_Retrospective_and_Consultation_plan&oldid=6340256"