Hi Russel and all
Thanks for you and Harry in facilitating the meetings and putting up
minutes,
Thanks to all who participated in.
It was not possible for me to attend any of the first two CommunityCalls
(CC.
I put up some notes about them in order to prepare the next #3 Call.
-
By reading the first two CommunityCalls reports, it seems important to
stress out better what those calls.
-
A consultation of the membership about how to best handle the
transition period that will follow Kate’s resignation (April 10).
-
That all options are on the table to work this transition out :
-
with an ED (interim/long term)
-
without an ED with current Staffs and Board/Working Groups/Members
or with additional paid time in admin, project management/coordination
-
That a decision will be taken and that in the context of the running
of an election, the final call shall be on the newly elected
Board and the
membership.
-
About the hiring of a new ED, one shall be aware of the following
-
In the context of an election which result will be announced in 2
weeks time, this Is the prerogative of the new Board
-
It’s up to the new Board and Members to discuss in the light of the
impact of Kate decision to adjust/redefine the roles and balances between
Board and ED/Operational staffs as well as WG and members
-
This decision will have a high impact for the organization given the
centrality/powers of Kate
-
Kate’s profile and experience is hard to find specifically in terms
of HOT field and HQ experience as well as the combination of her skills
project management, strategy, communication, mapping, IT
development, admin
etc. It’s very unlikely to identify such a person with time and even more
unlikely in a shorter time period.
Time is needed for such a decision to be fully endorsed and thought of
collectively within the organization.
-
Context It’s agreed that the timing (resignation and renewal of the
Board) is bad and consists a risk for the organization, obviously
-
This situation is the consequences of choices (ED/ Kate legitimate
and understandable decision to change job) and actions (ED/former Board).
-
On shall have expected that things would have been worked out
upstream from the Kate side
-
While maturing her decision, it would have been possible to
informally prepare for a possible/future handing while working
with Board/ProjectManagers/WG
-
Allow for more time to give notice,
-
The origin of this situation and the risk it represents for the
organization is rooted in the organizational model built up over time since
the HOT US strategic retreat of 2012 characterized by:
-
The disputable and disputed concentration of powers in the hands of
the ED couple to the vision of the HOT US Board (a focus on strategy
without involving in the Operational side of the organization)
endorsed and
practised by the former majority of the Organization.
-
The way that Kate run the Operations side with limited collegiality
by terminating weekly technical leadership meetings since Fall 2013.
The consequence : any changes in the person of the ED of HOT US is a risk
for the Organization to lose or inadequately transmit her
organizational/operational knowledge, that is the situation in which we are
at.
This leads to a consensus into the need for a change/adjustment in the
definition of the role of the Board which shall be more active vis a vis
the Operational side of the organization.
-
In making that decision, It’s important to define/quantify what will be
the workload that the organization needs to handle in the interim and look
at the work areas involved.
-
Finances
-
Handled by Kristen/Accountant with mechanisms in place for
expenses tracking. Arrangements can be made for Board
oversight for non
regular payments/expenses (stipends and pre-approved/defined
expenses for on-going projects).
-
Project management
-
Project Management Workplan (over next 3-6 months) shall be in
place.
-
On-going projects are staffed with Project Managers who can work
in autonomy. if needed, they can report directly to the Board and ask
guidance in case that Board/WG/Members/Partners can answer
-
Projects about to be launched (Tanzania) are already designed with
no specific additional project design work required.
-
There is no on-going projects bid/negotiation (supposedly)
-
During the interim, the organization can pause on actions to
secure new projects/grants.
-
Fundraising
-
There is no results so far and no on-going action, so no urgent
action is required during the transition time.
-
Strategy
-
The strategy is in place. It may be revised by the new Board/WGs
/Members.
-
Networking/Partnerships
-
They are in place and can be put on-hold during the transition or
managed at Board/ProjectManagers/WorkingGroups/Members level.
-
Outreach/Communication
-
Can be dealt with (members, Board, WG and Staffs).
-
Documentation
-
It is key to any handing over
-
It is or shall be in place, documented and known by Board and
Project Members.
-
If this is not the case, this knowledge can be collectively
built over time within the remaining time in office of
Kate (paid work) and
afterwards
This workload for the transition period can be filled out not necessarily
with an interim ED
- Existing staffs,
- Support of Board, WG and members
- Kate’s continued action within HOT US through volunteered/paid work (as
member/ED until 10-April) and afterwards through
- Volunteered work as a member for which she planned for (involvement in
OpenAerialMap, TheMissingMap projects as well as serving as a Board Officer
for UAViator)
- Additional support such as admin time from Kristen and/or time for an
interim coordinator in charge of the day to day can be brought in if
needed.
It’s great to see the work done around the collective definition of the ED
TOR and possible other actions towards the identifying of possible
candidates, those are true assets for us.
These were the points I felt necessary to articulate prior the next and
third community call to continue collectively deepen our understanding of
the implications of this action.
Looking forward to discussing on mumble in 1hour time
Best,
Nicolas
On Thu, Mar 12, 2015 at 3:27 AM, Russell Deffner <russell.deff...@hotosm.org
> wrote:
> Another great community call has come and gone, do hope you get a chance
> to attend the final one at 19:00 UTC <http://bit.ly/HOTCommunity3>
>
>
>
> We made some more progress thinking through the issues and noted them
> here: CommunityCall#2
> <https://docs.google.com/a/hotosm.org/document/d/16AedVPST5-lOcUT12Vb7ZWIu7-qpPa6xtIpb0C-uhrA/edit>
> and had a great talk through some ideas (and the agenda) which you can
> listen to here: MumbleRecordingCC2
> <https://www.dropbox.com/s/7m38rmzyyzjgcqc/HOT_Community_Call_2_March_12_2015.mp3?dl=0>
>
>
>
> Please submit any specific things you’d like to hear discussed by adding
> it to the bottom of: CommunityCall#3
> <https://docs.google.com/a/hotosm.org/document/d/1bMNE8IPy3DAAVih60zSfenQ18bs962Lkn2MAZar_uds/edit>
>
>
>
> Thank you!
>
> =Russ
>
>
>
> *From:* Russell Deffner [mailto:russell.deff...@hotosm.org]
> *Sent:* Wednesday, March 11, 2015 1:54 PM
> *To:* hot
> *Subject:* [HOT] Recap of Community Call 1, reminder of CC 2
>
>
>
> I already feel like we’ve made some huge progress with only about a dozen
> of us on a one hour mumble chat!
>
>
>
> But we need more input! If you missed the first one, there are two more
> over the next 24 hours or so (either midnight tonight
> <http://bit.ly/HOTCommunityMeeting2> or 19:00 UTC
> <http://bit.ly/HOTCommunity3> tomorrow).
>
>
>
> If you can make it, I hope you will take a moment to review what we did –
> these notes: CommunityCall#1
> <https://docs.google.com/a/hotosm.org/document/d/1_ROKF4phcsWiXinH2hfaeEu0ol0PTwcLiIDaPH9XtkU/edit#heading=h.g9e6w2lzdd00>
> and if you have an hour between now and then, you can listen to what was
> said: MumbleRecordingCC1
> <https://www.dropbox.com/s/9xww233zit7vf34/HOT_Community_Chat_1_March_11_2015.mp3?dl=0>
>
>
>
> Although we will try to build on the momentum of CC1, we have a fresh
> agenda for: CommunityCall#2
> <https://docs.google.com/a/hotosm.org/document/d/16AedVPST5-lOcUT12Vb7ZWIu7-qpPa6xtIpb0C-uhrA/edit>
> and CommunityCall#3
> <https://docs.google.com/a/hotosm.org/document/d/1bMNE8IPy3DAAVih60zSfenQ18bs962Lkn2MAZar_uds/edit>
> – so if you’re only expecting to be at one or the other and want to submit
> a specific question or suggestion for that timeslot – please do! Also we’d
> like to keep the notes from each call separate for now – although rest
> assured that the Board and myself as voting member Chair will be capturing
> all that was said and done during the three meetings as we work through the
> transition.
>
>
>
> Best regards,
>
> =Russ
>
>
>
> Russell Deffner
>
> Chairperson for the Voting Members
>
> russell.deff...@hotosm.org
>
> Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT)
>
> http://hot.openstreetmap.org/
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> HOT mailing list
> HOT@openstreetmap.org
> https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/hot
>
>
--
Nicolas Chavent
Projet OpenStreetMap (OSM)
Projet Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT)
Projet Espace OSM Francophone (EOF)
Mobile (FRA): +33 (0)6 52 40 78 20
<nicolas.chav...@hotosm.org>
Email: nicolas.chav...@gmail.com
Skype: c_nicolas
Twitter: nicolas_chavent
_______________________________________________
HOT mailing list
HOT@openstreetmap.org
https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/hot
