Working Group Process: Unlocking Member Passions

• OSI Organizational Governance Model
  • Model Prior to June of 2013
  • After June 2013
• Project Working Groups: A Channel For Supporter Passions
• Working Group Charter Proposal Requirements
  • Decisions to Initiate, Approve and Amend the Working Group Charter
• OSI Working Group Decision Process
  • Choosing a Chair
  • Decision Processes
    • Three Levels of Decision Under a Working Group Charter
• Deliverables/Outcomes

OSI Organizational Governance Model

Model Prior to June of 2013

• 11-member volunteer board
• Limited funding
• All actions Board actions
• Maximum achievement limited by Board volunteer time

After June 2013

• Roles
  • "OSI Constituents" (i.e. "Individual Members," "Affiliate Members" and "Corporate Sponsors") provide general support (including funding) through contributions for OSI operations to further OSI mandate, administration, OSI Working Groups and Governance
  • "OSI Working Groups" project-oriented initiatives organized and managed by OSI Participants to facilitate OSI mandate
  • "OSI Participants" identify, plan and undertake a variety of OSI activities to further the mandate through project-oriented Working Groups
  • "OSI Board" and "OSI Staff" ensure mandate alignment and facilitate "OSI Participant" actions and Working Groups to advance OSI Constituent objectives
• 10 member Board of Directors
  • 9-member board elected by Constituents
    • 4 seats voted on by OSI Individual Members
    • 5 seats voted on by OSI Affiliates Members
  • 1 seat held by General Manager (ex officio)
• OSI annual funding subject to contributions of OSI Constituents
  • OSI Corporate Sponsors contribution level to OSI based on corporate revenue
• Staff may be salary-based or contract-based (part-time/full-time)
• Maximum achievement of OSI Working Groups limited by constituent vision, strategy, commitment, and available resources

Project Working Groups: A Channel For Supporter Passions

• OSI Working Groups may be proposed for any project that advances OSI's mission
• OSI Constituents involved in OSI Working Groups are "OSI Participants"
  • While it is anticipated many Working Groups will emerge from the activities/interests of OSI Members Affiliates and Corporate Sponsors, there Working Group participants do not have to have any affiliation with the OSI.
• Project Working Groups are:
  • Board-chartered
  • Deliverable-focused
  • Time-bounded
• Working Group Life-cycle:
  • Propose
  • Charter
  • Deliver
  • Sustainability Plan
  • End-of-Project Transition

Anything in an OSI Working Group Charter that conflicts with requirements of the Bylaws of the Open Source Initiative is void.

Anything in an OSI Working Group Charter that conflicts with the parameters of this guideline on OSI Working Group Characteristics and Process must be ratified by the OSI Board.

General Approach: In support of reusing what works, and within the context of the OSI's own mandate, we generally model the OSI Working Group structure and governance upon the business patterns outlined in section 6 of the World Wide Web Consortium Process Document. (Here is a useful example.)

Working Group Charter Proposal Requirements

• Any OSI Constituent or Board Director may put forward a proposal
• Approach now in beta-test; your passions invited!
• Send proposals to osi@opensource.org
• Your feedback on this structure and process is welcome. Please contact the OSI General Manager 

The Initial Charter Proposal (see template) must include:

• Start date
• Initial members
  • Working Group Chair
  • Working Group Sponsor
  • OSI General Manager
• Resources needed by group (mailing list, virtual server, budget etc)
• Deliverable that will be created
• Description of how that deliverable satisfies a part of OSI's mission
• Target completion date

A full Working Group Charter must also include

• Sustainability Plan
  • OSI staff responsibilities?
  • OSI infrastructure needs?
  • Ongoing Member community?
  • If ongoing costs involved, how they are met?
  • A working group deliverable plan accepted by the Board will be sustained by OSI
• End-of-Project Transition
  • Communications with Project participants and stakeholders
  • Suitable disposition of Project files, records, websites, URLs, etc.

Decisions to Initiate, Approve and Amend the Working Group Charter

• To initiate a Working Group, the OSI Board
  • Reviews proposal
  • Determines viability, bona fides and mission match
  • Initiate and give tentative approval to a preliminary Working Group Charter, under version number 0.XX, which is sufficient for the Working Group to commence activities.  
• Within 3 months of initiation a Working Group is expected to maintain a minimum of 5 participants during its active life. 
• A Working Group must have at least 5 members to approve or change its Charter (e.g. goals, scope, deliverables). This requires a 2/3 majority of votes cast (more than 66%), followed by ratification by the OSI Board. 
• The Working Group may make minor corrections to the charter (e.g. deliverable dates, list of dependences and liaisons) via the 3-layer decision process described below without the amendment process.
• The Working Group must post their proposal and membership to the OSI wiki under the projects space within 3 months of the preliminary Working Group Charter, 0.XX.

OSI Working Group Decision Process

The OSI's Working Group Decision Process draws upon approaches used by [http://www.w3.org/2005/10/Process-20051014/activities.html#def-Activity W3C], [http://datatracker.ietf.org/wg/ IETF], and similar communities.

Choosing a Chair

• A Chair's duties include:
  • Driving inclusivity, identifying consensus within the group, and recording decisions.
  • Ensuring compliance with all OSI rules applicable to the group.
  • Being a liaison between the group and all groups with which the group is coordinating.
  • Organizing the smooth operation of the group.
  • Engaging with current and potential partners and media, performing outreach, and ensuring the transparent operation of the group.
• Chairs are elected by the group for a 2 year term. There may be up to 2 Chairs at any given time. There are no limits to how often chairs can be re-elected by the group.
• For an individual to run for election, they must be nominated by at least 2 people (other than themselves or an acting chair) and agree to the nomination. The nomination period lasts 14 days. Once an election date is set, each candidate has one week to submit a position statement about their qualifications to chair the group. The voting poll will stay open for a minimum of 14 days and the candidate with the most votes wins. If there is only one candidate at the end of the 14 day nomination period, that person immediately becomes the chair.
• Chairs may be removed from their duties through a simple no-confidence vote, following the “Formal Vote” provisions below.  A Chair who has been removed may stand for re-election.

Decision Processes

OSI Working Groups conduct their work transparently on a public email list that is archived online, supplemented by various face-to-face, online chat or teleconference discussions.  The decision making processes within the terms of a Working Group Charter may advance through three levels, and a decision is accepted as soon as it meets the requirements of any one of the levels, in the sequence described below. Decisions to initiate, approve or amend a Working Group Charter are handled separately (below).

Three Levels of Decision Under a Working Group Charter

1. Working Consensus:  Routine decisions can be made via discussion on the email list, face-to-face, online chat or teleconference via straw polls with all either “in favour" or "abstained", but no members are "opposed". Decisions reached in non-archived venues must be confirmed on the email list. If working consensus cannot be reached, then proceed to the second level.
2. Chair Decision:  The Chair will propose that the matter be discussed further via the email list, face-to-face, online chat or teleconference. When the group discusses an issue and there is a request from a member to formally assess consensus, after due consideration of different opinions, the Chair should ask for votes, and record a decision together with any objections (with reasons if these have been expressed). If at least 3 members agree to take the matter to a formal general vote, then proceed to the third level.
3. Formal Vote: If all efforts to achieve working consensus thus far have failed and yet at least 3 members consider that a determination must be made within limited time, the group may sets aside "working consensus" on an specific written issue, to initiate a simple majority vote. (This includes if they feel the Chair has not accurately determined the votes of the group or if they feel the Chair has refused to assess consensus.) Only members of the Working Group prior to the initial call for a formal vote may participate in the vote. Within 7 days of such a request, the Chair must announce the start and end dates, and the venue for the vote. Such a vote must be open at least 7 days and should be no more than 14 days, using a structured online voting solution, ensuring that no member votes more than once. In these cases, a decision shall be based on a simple majority of the votes cast (more than 50%). 

The Chair is accountable to both the OSI Board and to Working Group participants to ensure that all deliberation and decision processes are fair, respectful, aligned with these guidelines, and neither favouring or discriminating against any participant or their associates (incl. employer).

Deliverables/Outcomes

• Working Group
  • Collectively creates/advances deliverable
  • Presents deliverable to Board by end date
  • Includes sustaining/archiving plan
• OSI Board
  • Reviews new deliverable or version
  • Determines if deliverable/version require revision prior to publication as an OSI asset
  • Rejects or approves the deliverable/version as an OSI asset