Ubuntu Wiki

This is BOF session from USD MTV.

LoCo Teams Discussion - 06 Nov 2006 - The Honourable Jono Bacon presiding

https://features.launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+spec/loco-teams

Consensus: Needs further discussion

Problem: How to make LoCo teams better?

Agenda

• Summary of whether or not if people are happy with what we are doing

• LoCo categorizations

  • Country
  • Language

• Issues with LoCo team operations?

  • Leadership
  • Operations

• Inter-LoCo Communications/Coordination

• LoCo Council

• Compiling Best Practises

Summary of changes to LoCos

• Feedback
  • What's working?
    • Documentation and best-practices are helping

      • What do I do to start a good working LoCo?

      • Scope for it to be improved, good editing for the Wiki is necessary.
      • Make the Wiki a real resource for people.

    • Now that Jono is working on this, LoCo teams are getting good activity.

  • What's not working?
    • "I prefer getting no mail than your mail. ;)" -- Jorge to Jono
  • What's the feedback process?
    • Before Jono, it was ad-hoc, and basically non-existant.

      • (The reason for that was that at first we were trying to figure out how to best do stuff, and then smurf had to go away and do some work that actually paid his bills )

• LoCo Categorizations

  • What are the parameters for establishing a LoCo at various levels: city, state, parish, country, etc.?

  • Teams of overlapping groups are OK if there are valid reasons to do so.
  • Teams should have different personalities.
  • Jono would prefer to see fewer teams with more contributors
  • Mako says that it makes sense to have more than one organization to do different things.
  • It makes a lot of sense to have large groups for pan-country issues, but smaller teams for local teams who get together.
  • In Brazil, there are regional teams that co-ordinate with the big Brazil team.
  • This happens organically, but it is important to define explicit scope for these groups.

  • Mission statements for LoCo teams are not well defined. This should stay fluid to adjust the scope.

    • Specific suggestions and more of the ?? good stuff
• Leadership Issues
  • Jono: people to lead their loco teams and key community members to run the loco project
  • CC is currently arbitrating LoCO team issues
    • what structural things can we put into place to help prevent issues

  • Italy was one of the first LoCo teams to have leadership problems.

    • There was a person who came along and became a team leader
    • He did a huge amount of work and built the team
    • As the team grew, there was tension between the team and the leader
      • Disagreement about the role of leadership
    • It was obvious that the leader was not leading by example, but by rule.
    • But he had put in a lot of time and energy in the past, so he dictated policy.
    • This caused strife and resentment.
    • The team eventually went into chaos
  • Conflict resolution that goes to authority does not scale and does not solve problems.
  • Two issues:
    • Choosing the leader in the first place
    • Solving conflicts between potential leaders
  • Not all teams have declared leaders (e.g. Chicago) -- they have contacts, not leaders
    • Mako says that many of the best teams have no leaders. Jono mentions the UK as an example.
  • Comment: Should there be a conflict resolution path written down and published?
  • The CC is not the SCOTUC (Supreme Court of the Ubuntu Community). "Fist of Justice!" An Iron Fist!
  • We should document the leadership models and best practices for leaders.

  • Discussion around joining/splitting LoCos

    • integrating loco teams in the same physical location

    • fracturing loco teams due to <insert whiny excuse here>

    • Splitting loco teams due to valid concerns.

  • Strong leadership personalities leading LoCos sometimes make the loco weaker

  • Jorge discussed points about Ubuntu Chicago and how his team was feeling a bit unused/out of place/not needed.
    • The entire area is running Ubuntu so the main awareness component is no longer a draw.

• Inter-LoCo Cordination

  • There are groups out in the wild who we aren't that familiar with
    • Jorge gave the example of Ubuntu-California which nobody had heard of "and they kicked ass".

Action Points:

• clean/revise existing LoCo Documenation

• point prospective loCo creators to seek advice from other teams / loco-contacts on how to setup a loco
• documented conflict/leadership resolution prodcedures
• document leadership models + leadership best practices (easy to read)
• pursue pre-screening with an application process and an area for discussion

Comments MikeBasinger: A LoCO Team section could be created on the forums, to be used from cross LoCo team communication.