Hello Edoardo, Well done for initiating this thread. I encourage the OSGeo Oceania community to contribute their thoughts on this issue.
I also encourage you to not try and downplay or whitewash any issues. There is obviously a serious issue here. Why else did two former Directors feel ethically compelled to resign from the OSGeo Oceania Board mid-term? Kind regards, Bruce > On 7 Dec 2020, at 11:17, Edoardo Neerhut <eneer...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Thanks for your thoughtful response Phil. I share much of your positivity and > appreciation for all the board has achieved. > > I agree that managing the myriad of communication channels is difficult and > time consuming. I have a love/hate relationship with the mailing lists, but > they seem to be the most open, universal mechanism to disseminate information > and have discussions. Prediction: The year is 3020 and we're still sending > emails to mailing lists. > > My own conclusion with communication is that people should communicate > wherever they like, but you have one central, open place for > official/important communication and that would be the mailing list. Part of > the conversation here seems to be: what is official and important? Did we > make things as open as we should have? > > These things are hard in a volunteer community, so this is not a criticism of > anyone, but a reflection on the ways we can continually improve. > > On Mon, 7 Dec 2020 at 10:18, Phil Wyatt <p...@wyatt-family.com > <mailto:p...@wyatt-family.com>> wrote: > Hi Folks > > > > TLDR: > > COVID-19! I am happy. The board are doing their difficult job in these > initial stages. Communication in this day and age is bloody hard! Things will > settle down. > > > > My experience > > I have been a low key bystander during the formation of OSGEO Oceania. I am > retired and have lots of time on my hands to check multiple communication > channels. I am an initial member having attended the Melbourne conference and > supported the idea of an organisation that supports our region in Open Source > software and OpenStreetMap. > > > > The role of the board is set out in a fairly legal and technical way and I > commend all those that have stood up to take on the roles, especially in the > formation stages of the organisation. > > > > https://aicd.companydirectors.com.au/resources/director-tools/practical-tools-for-directors/governance-relations/role-of-the-board > > <https://aicd.companydirectors.com.au/resources/director-tools/practical-tools-for-directors/governance-relations/role-of-the-board> > > > It’s not easy, there will be a learning a curve for many and there will be > frustrations, arguments and concerns as the organisation develops. The > overarching thing for me is that the board does not do anything that would be > harmful to the community. To date, I have not seen anything that I believe > has harmed the community. In the year of COVID I am just thankful that you > have all survived in your work lives (hopefully!) as well as helping set up a > vibrant regional organisation. Thank you. > > > > There are likely processes that need to be ironed out, procedures that need > formalising and standards set for appropriate timelines for actions but these > things will get sorted as the pressure eases from the initial formation > stage. Lets be honest, 2020 has been a year like no other and we have managed > to survive! Thanks again to you all for your hard work. > > > > Openness and communication > > Do I, as a member, need to know every aspect of the board deliberations of > all processes? No, I don’t, but I should have a role in helping formulate and > at least seeing final drafts before a board sign-off. This has occurred with > documents like the terms of reference. Would it be good to have the minutes > of meetings in one place, yes absolutely. What’s the best place for > those….well, I personally hate wiki’s but they seem to be the norm for open > organisations. I can learn to live with that but I wish they had more > structure and an easy way to navigate around! > > > > I follow many communication channels for various reasons…Slack, Discord, > Mailing lists, Email, Telegram, Zoom, Big Blue Button, Youtube streams….the > list is endless these days and adoption varies widely across the Oceania > region. This will be a challenge in the short and long term for the > organisation. Regions may have their own preferences for local communication > so subject to information being available to the wider region it may well be > that regions collectively put their thoughts back to the board by one > appropriate formal channel. Maybe the mailing list is the ‘formal’ channel? > > > > Conclusion > > Don’t be too hard on yourselves – you are all volunteers. Yes, we all need to > get some structure back into our lives and OSGEO Oceania is no different. > Work on getting timely and regular processes in place and solid regular > communication to a formal channel (or two) but personally, I don’t need all > the minute details – I trust the board to do no harm! > > > > > > Cheers – Phil (aka tastrax) > > > > From: Oceania <oceania-boun...@lists.osgeo.org > <mailto:oceania-boun...@lists.osgeo.org>> On Behalf Of Edoardo Neerhut > Sent: Sunday, 6 December 2020 10:32 PM > To: oceania@lists.osgeo.org <mailto:oceania@lists.osgeo.org> > Subject: [OSGeo Oceania] A discussion on openness > > > > Hi everyone, > > > > TLDR: > > To the current/former directors: How would you describe the organisation's > experience with openness and transparency? > > To the whole community: How do you feel? What should the board and the > community do more or less of? > > > > The context > > There have been a number of comments made recently about transparency and > openness and I wanted to tease them out a bit as the end of year approaches. > In particular, Adam and John expressed their concerns here > <https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/oceania-board/2020-November/000112.html> > and here > <https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/oceania/2020-November/002439.html> > respectively, with both resigning as directors as a consequence. > > > > This is clearly an issue for further discussion. The OSGeo Oceania director > elections end in a few hours and regardless of the results, I am very keen to > hear what practical steps we should take to address these concerns. > Adam/John: if you have time to elaborate that would be much appreciated as > well. > > > > My experience > > I think most would agree transparency and openness should be fundamental > aspects to our community. What's harder is living up to them. I am guilty of > sending a quick Slack message or email to people for the sake of expediency, > but failing on transparency as a consequence. > > > > I have worked with many on the current board and feel they are all wonderful, > talented people, operating with the best interests of OSGeo Oceania at heart. > I'm optimistic about where we're at and we can go and I want to thank all on > the board and the wider community for getting us here. Hundreds of people > from across the region have been able to learn, share, and connect with > geospatial ideas and tools through these efforts. I honestly don't believe > there is a people issue here, but a fog over the decision making process > which we need to tease out. > > > > My read from where I stand is that there is a constant battle between > expediency and openness. I am still trying to understand the relationship > between these two things at a practical level. > > > > Practically speaking, what should we do? > > I am going to assume we agree that openness is fundamental to the health of > the organisation. If I have falsely assumed this, please correct me. > > > > On the areas we are failing, why do we think this is the case? I believe > everyone is operating in good faith. > > Take the example of meeting minutes. They went up eventually, so do we need > to make sure we share responsibility more so that this happens immediately > after? Could members of the community join board meetings in this role? > On board decisions, why were some decisions timely? Can we minimise that in > future? Were some board members slow to make a decision? What is the > expectation here from board members? > The concept of membership is still vague and I bear more responsibility for > this failure than anyone. At the same time, this is something that we as a > community should decide collectively. I should have done more to initiatie > that conversation openly. > These are just three examples. I'm sure there are many more. > > > > So finally, what are the low hanging fruits? Where should the community focus > our efforts going forward? Why are we failing in these areas? How should we > address them? > > > > We've come a long way thanks to all of you and I'm very optimistic about the > road ahead. How do we traverse it? > > > > Looking forward to hearing everyone's thoughts. > > > > Ed > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Oceania mailing list > Oceania@lists.osgeo.org > https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/oceania
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