-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 > > Certainly the IASA/IAD/IAOC reorganisation produced a noticeable > reduction in the IETF Chair workload, but what has changed since > http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-carpenter-ietf-chair-tasks-00 ? > It would be good to have a similar analysis for the IAB chair role. >
Below is a copy from a note I mailed to the IAB dd Feb 17, 2011. It wis a variation on a note that I mailed to the Nomcom in 2009. It may not map exactly to what you are asking, but I believe it is close enough. Also, my wish to remove the _must_ in the 'iChiefs must be a member of the IAOC' best current practice is not a cherry picking act. The IAB has hired secretarial assistance for the agenda keeping, todo-list maintenance, minutes, etc. It is pushing forward the 'programs and initiatives' model that allows for subgroups to do a lot of actual work without the chair driving that (i.e. much more formal delegation of activities to sub-groups with possibly external members). > Starting off with a personal note. > As you know the IAB chair is selected by and from the IAB membership on a > yearly basis. I first volunteered for the role of chair in March 2007. When I > volunteered the first time I committed myself for 3 to 5 years (obviously > subject to Nomcom and IAB decision). A minimum of 3 years because anything > shorter is almost not worth the investment in the learning curve and the > personal network that is needed to do the job effectively. Not longer than 5 > years because of the fact that(much) longer terms tend to result in strong > identification of a person with the role, sharpness and creativity decline, > and possibly forms of mannerism in dealing with issues. > From my perspective the most ideal scenario was (remember I wrote this in > 2009) that I'd be allowed by the Nomcom and the IAB to serve as a chair for > one more year and then be around for another to allow for continuity. In any > case I think that it would be good for the Nomcom to look out for 'chair > material'. > The main reason why I want to step down now is that there have been some > developments in the NLnet Labs situation that need my attention as director > of that organization that can not be combined with a 0.7 FTE that I seem to > be putting in at the moment. > > As for the responsibilities of the chair. > ∙ A number of 'mechanical/managerial' tasks: > ∙ Managing and organizing the IAB work-flow both on > architectural and organizational items > ∙ Setting priorities, planning activities to be aligned, > identify actionable items and make sure next steps are taken > ∙ Set up various meetings, manage agendas > ∙ Track minutes creation and publication > ∙ A chair's job can be relieved by having an executive director > that complements a chairs talents in organizing these activities. > ∙ Drive discussions > ∙ defining goals > ∙ moderate discussions > ∙ call consensus > ∙ Identify work items > ∙ Incoming appeals > ∙ Specific questions to the IAB from external bodies > ∙ Track (or make sure they are tracked) various developments > that may have impact on the IETF. > ∙ IASA/IAOC and Trust > ∙ As ex-officio membership, to represent IAB (and IRTF) matters > Because the chair is involved in all these activities (s)he becomes a > de-facto information hub, besides because the chair often act as spokes > person there isa tendency for all major organizational work items to > gravitate towards the chair, specifically if the interests of the other > members are mostly architectural. There are arguments that the load on the > IAB chair is to high and it causes the job to be more than a half-time > position (depending on personal effectively, delegation skill, organizational > skills and the quality of an executive director[*], it may even be closer to > 3 quarters). And I believe that there are some structural questions one can > ask, such as in the ex-officio membership of the IASA/IOAC. > If we manage to get the Programs ran as more or less autonomous motors that > produce recommendations to the IAB it may be that the chairs job becomes > relatively bearable. > While I think that with the Programs we have put a good structure in place it > will need serious efforts of the next chair and the NEW IAB to make working > with programs part of the common mindset. > I think, and I realize that I am biased, that an IAB chair has some of the > following skills, properties: > ∙ Organizational: tracking actions, poking people, planning the work > load. A good Executive Director can be of tremendous help > ∙ Moderating and motivating: The ability to herd cats where > occasionally a cat will have its claws out. > ∙ Diplomatic: In inter-organizational contacts taking the diplomatic > way to where you would like to end up. > ∙ Strategic: Constantly trying to up-level and see bigger picture while > remembering that actionable progress needs to be made. > ∙ Open and sharing: Open to information received and conscious about > timely sharing of that information. > Note that I did not list technical/architectural skills in the above. > Obviously an IAB chair needs to understand the technical issues but I do not > believe that the IAB needs to be the 'chief architect'. While having an > inspiring "Architect" leading the IAB would be nice I don't think it is a > requirement. More important is that architectural work is being organized and > the chair allows others to excel in their technical expertise. > I am not saying that I had all the skills and properties above, but not > feeling the need to be "the technical champion" and not feeling the pressure > from my fellow members to act like one helped a great deal. > FWIW I am committed to several IAB projects that do not automagically travel > with the chair (e.g. RSE project and IANA strategy) and I plan to continue to > be involved in those > Folding these requirements with the thoughts on alignment with the day-job of > a chair candidate and the possible willingness of an employer to sponsor more > than half-time of a function that has fairly little technical return might be > a challenge. > [*] as mentioned in my other note, a dedicated (i.e. payed staff) Executive > Director may be a great way to reduce the time efforts needed by an IAB > chair, and other members. I should hurry to say that this is not mend as a > comment on Dow, day-job interference plagues us all. > ________________________________________________________ Olaf M. Kolkman NLnet Labs http://www.nlnetlabs.nl/ I will start to use a new PGP key (ID 0x3B6AAA64) at the beginning of May 2011. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG/MacGPG2 v2.0.17 (Darwin) Comment: This message is locally signed. Comment: GPGTools - http://gpgtools.org iEYEARECAAYFAk2nIAgACgkQtN/ca3YJIocPVgCdEEPdzw/VTmkmgznbX73Nokan uIIAn37ABvdLR3z7Mtu7v2FVPJXWkWgr =C205 -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- _______________________________________________ Ietf mailing list Ietf@ietf.org https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf
