Re: WG Process

On Tue, March 27, 2007 5:57 pm, Asbjørn Ulsberg wrote:
> As to the "we're all over the place" statement, I have to agree. I'll try
> to provide some insight in how progress was conducted and executed in the
> ATOMPUB WG of IETF.

Along those lines, I'll contribute my own experience.

I'm involved in a (software) framework project.  The flow goes like this:

1. I (or a group of us) have an improvement or a recommendation for
change.  I float this idea by the mailing list to see if there's interest
in a proposal.

2. If there is (e.g., a few people chime in and encourage me to create a
proposal), I fill in the standard proposal template to begin the formal
proposal process.  This proposal template includes things like a
description of the problem, how your idea solves it, references, and
example use cases.  I announce the creation of my proposal on the mailing
list that my proposal applies to (there are mailing lists for each
sub-section).

3. The proposal is commented on by members of the community on the
proposal page, in a discussion immediately below the proposal.  It's
threaded so you can follow topics easier, even though there's also markup
for quoting.  Authors take in community feedback and modify their proposal
as they deem necessary.

4. Consensus is reached.  Either the proposal withers on the vine (lack of
interest; others feel it doesn't merit approval) or people support the
nearly-finished proposal. In that case, the author marks his proposal as
ready for review by the steering group.

5. The steering group reviews the proposal and either approves it, rejects
it, or approves it pending some changes.

6. The finished approval is adopted.

I can't tell you how well this process works.  It is incredibly organized.
 At any given time it is very clear where proposals are because they are
divided into New Proposals, Reviews Pending, Proposals Under Review,
Approved Proposals, and Removed (i.e., Rejected) Proposals.  Discussion is
also contained on the relevant pages, and spin-off ideas must have their
own separate proposal.  Mail from lists with hundreds of users is very
easy to manage (25-50 or so messages a day), and you can choose to
subscribe to your specific area of interest.  Plus, pages that have been
recently created or changed are shown on the main page.  Most importantly,
things get done, and no one feels shortchanged because their idea got lost
in the commotion.

The particular collaboration tool they use is Atlassian Confluence.

http://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence/

-Matt

Received on Wednesday, 28 March 2007 01:31:37 UTC