EOWG: *Important* clarifications and participant expectations

Hi EOWG participants,

In the 4 September EOWG teleconference, we talked about having multiple surveys open at the same time, and about participation expectations. Please review Sharron's comments below.[1]
We resolved: "As per charter expectation, participants attend meetings (or read minutes), complete surveys, comment in GitHub (or survey), and respond to emails."

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Here is some additional clarification about surveys in general:

*Weekly surveys*
We have a weekly survey most weeks. When we are on a tight schedule, as we are now with the Tips, we would like those completed by Wednesday night, so that we can process them Thursday morning and provide background before the Friday teleconference.

Active W3C Member participants and Invited Experts should complete all weekly surveys. (There is an "I can't get to it" option, which is acceptable occasionally -- and an "I need more time" option, which is often acceptable. :)

*Special surveys*
We sometimes also have special surveys -- e.g., for "thorough reviews" and "approval to publish". We usually get more time to complete those, often 11+ days, and the deadline might be a different day of the week, e.g., a Tuesday.

Active W3C Member participants should complete all special surveys, and Invited Experts *must* complete all special surveys -- and thoughtfully comment, not just pass, except in unusual circumstances.

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Exceptions:
We know that some potential participants are interested only in one deliverable. In the updated new charter, we proposed including: "With permission of the Chairs, an individual may contribute only to a specific deliverable, and thus only needs to meet the participation expectations related to that deliverable."

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If you miss a meeting:
Invited Experts must, and active W3C Member participants should, indicate that you have read the minutes in the wiki page: <https://www.w3.org/WAI/EO/wiki/EOWG_Meetings_2015> under "(people who missed the meeting) Read summary & skimmed minutes".

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Sharron or Shawn will usually send e-mail when the Work for this Week is updated (which is usually Friday after the teleconference); however, we will not usually send reminder e-mails anymore. It is your responsibility to check the Work for this Week regularly. We do have an "updated" date there so you can tell if it's changed since you last looked at it.

As always, if you have any questions or suggestions to make the procedures easier or clearer, please do share them with Sharron & Shawn!

Thanks,
~Shawn & Sharron

[1] From <http://www.w3.org/2015/09/04-eo-minutes.html#item02>:

Sharron: ... I need to remind everyone about the critical importance of demonstrated, steady, ongoing participation by all of us in EOWG. You are part of the WG because you have valuable expertise and insights and you care deeply about accessibility. We value your perspective and when we all are clicking together, we add valuable resources to the progress of web accessibility and make those available to all those who are pursuing this goal out in the world.

Thank you so much for all your volunteer time and effort.

<shawn> +1 to love it when we're clicking together!

Sharron: In order for us to continue to make progress however, we depend quite heavily on steady participation and the maintenance of clear consensus and mutual understanding. That means we must communicate regularly and dependably. We have a few ways that we do that including the surveys, GitHub, the wiki, and the list. Participation is important to make our deliverables truly representative and most valuable.

As we go forward with a new charter, we will monitor actual participation more closely. That means that each week, even if unable to do all of the reading and review, participants must:
1. attend the weekly teleconference or signoff that you have reviewed the minutes
2. complete the weekly survey
3. contribute regularly by GitHub, wiki, survey or email.
This is needed so that our decisions truly reflect the consensus of the entire group.

To get to consensus, please always speak up when your perspective is not reflected in the current discussion. It is important to have differences of opinion. There is a balance to be struck between stating your POV and knowing when it time to "live with" the group discussion, so please try to be aware of that as well. We have an ambitious production schedule and must improve our current level of participation.

Please know that this prompting comes from a place of respect - I so value the opinions and experience of this group of participants. Please understand that it is my appreciation of your expertise that prompts my insistence on hearing from you.

Thanks a million for all you do.

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Received on Thursday, 17 September 2015 02:29:04 UTC