[Board] Suggested text for "Expectations for Board Membership"
Daniel Kastl
daniel at georepublic.de
Wed Aug 13 09:05:46 PDT 2014
Hi Jeff,
Right, so if this is what the majority expects, let's write it down.
I fear that there are many people who probably expect much more (you don't
know any? ;-) ... maybe even candidates, who would like to become a board
member think it's a lot more work and therefore refuse to become a
candidate.
Better to have this clarified and visible somewhere, no?
If it's just these two lines, it's even not worth to discuss long about it
;-)
Daniel
On Wed, Aug 13, 2014 at 5:55 PM, Jeff McKenna <jmckenna at gatewaygeomatics.com
> wrote:
> For the record, I am involved in a lot of offline talks lately inviting
> others to join the Board, and when I am asked about commitment I simply
> answer with two things:
>
> - attend the Board meeting on IRC, once a month, usually around the second
> Thursday of the month, for one hour
>
> - be open and share your thoughts on foundation discussions on the [Board]
> mailing list
>
> Beyond that, as we are all volunteers, I don't think we can ask for more.
>
> -jeff
>
>
>
>
> On 2014-08-13 12:30 PM, Daniel Kastl wrote:
>
>> I agree with Michael, that it's a good idea to write down the
>> expectations, and I don't think the timing is a big issue.
>> Because it's not a bad but a good thing for board members to know what
>> the community expects from them.
>>
>> If OSGeo goes well, then it's very easy for the board to justify that
>> they did a good job. But if troubles occur or there is a lot of work but
>> not much visibility, then it's easy to blame the board. Having some
>> expectations defined before is for each board members safety and to have
>> some rough guideline.
>>
>> Daniel
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Aug 13, 2014 at 5:14 PM, Jeff McKenna
>> <jmckenna at gatewaygeomatics.com <mailto:jmckenna at gatewaygeomatics.com>>
>>
>> wrote:
>>
>> I must admit, when I first glanced at this initial message early in
>> the morning my thoughts in my head were 'this is the wrong time, in
>> the middle of the Board election, to start defining roles'. The
>> time for this should have been before asking nominees.
>>
>> Regarding clarifications about the expectations of being a Board
>> member, could those vocal in this thread (Cameron, Frank, Daniel,
>> mpg) mind drafting a new page on these expectations, and the new
>> Board in September can review it and edit accordingly?
>>
>> However my experience tells me that we must be very careful with
>> expectations, within a volunteer organization.
>>
>> -jeff
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 2014-08-13 11:48 AM, Michael P. Gerlek wrote:
>>
>> +1 to Cameron here from me too. He's trying to clarify the
>> expectations of a board member, not setting any rules - these
>> are good things to be thinking about as we all think about the
>> next round of Board Members.
>>
>> .mpg
>>
>> On Aug 13, 2014, at 7:07 AM, Daniel Morissette
>> <dmorissette at mapgears.com <mailto:dmorissette at mapgears.com>>
>>
>> wrote:
>>
>> I don't think Cameron is inventing or changing any rules, he
>> is just proposing to collectively document what is and has
>> always been expected from a board member for the posterity.
>>
>> FWIW I am also in favor of documenting our processes and
>> expectations (in general) as much as possible to help future
>> boards in their work, and I find that Cameron has
>> exceptional patience to help with that documentation process
>> (he managed to walk the membership to a consensus on the new
>> charter member election process, something nobody managed to
>> achieve before), so instead of shooting down his
>> initiatives, I think that more charter members should help
>> by contributing to them.
>>
>> All that being said, I do not have the time and energy to
>> argue this point any more, so this will be my one and only
>> email on this topic.
>>
>> Daniel
>>
>>
>> On 14-08-13 8:54 AM, nicolas bozon wrote:
>> Cameron,
>> I agree that rules and documents must/should not change
>> during
>> elections, because this is confusing.
>> I also think that all past, present and future board
>> members must/should
>> already know what they should do, and what is working or
>> what is not.
>> Let us the Board change the many needed rules after
>> elections, so it can
>> also benefit from upcoming new director's visions, and
>> hopefully from
>> Charter Member's and Committee's input too.
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> Nick
>>
>>
>> 2014-08-13 14:29 GMT+02:00 Venkatesh Raghavan
>> <raghavan at media.osaka-cu.ac.jp
>> <mailto:raghavan at media.osaka-cu.ac.jp>
>> <mailto:raghavan at media.osaka-__cu.ac.jp
>>
>> <mailto:raghavan at media.osaka-cu.ac.jp>>>:
>>
>> Board elections have already started and I have
>> made my first
>> nomination.
>> Please don't try to invent new rules after the
>> process has begun.
>> Whatever
>> changes needs to be made can be discussed and made
>> by the upcoming
>> new board.
>>
>> Venka
>>
>>
>> On 2014/08/13 20:36, Cameron Shorter wrote:
>> As we move into a board election, I think it
>> would be beneficial
>> to document what we consider should be expected
>> of board members.
>> I think that it would be helpful for potential
>> board members when
>> considering joining the board, and also
>> something that board
>> members can point toward if community members
>> complain about lack
>> of action from the board.
>> Maybe think of it as a moral contract.
>>
>> If others think it is a good idea, I suggest we
>> add to this page:
>> http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/__Board_of_Directors
>>
>> <http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Board_of_Directors>
>>
>> Are there other points which should go on this
>> list?
>>
>> What is expected of a board member? Boring
>> legal details are
>> listed in section 3 of ourbylaws
>>
>> <http://www.osgeo.org/content/
>> __foundation/incorporation/__bylaws.html
>> <http://www.osgeo.org/content/
>> foundation/incorporation/bylaws.html>>
>> <http://www.osgeo.org/content/
>> __foundation/incorporation/__bylaws.html
>>
>> <http://www.osgeo.org/content/
>> foundation/incorporation/bylaws.html>>,
>> but I think it would be helpful for us to
>> extend this to practical
>> guidelines. Something like:
>>
>> * The board's primary responsibility is to
>> efficiently and
>> effectively make decisions regarding the day to
>> day running of
>> OSGeo (bylaws
>>
>> <http://www.osgeo.org/content/
>> __foundation/incorporation/__bylaws.html
>> <http://www.osgeo.org/content/
>> foundation/incorporation/bylaws.html>>
>> <http://www.osgeo.org/content/
>> __foundation/incorporation/__bylaws.html
>>
>> <http://www.osgeo.org/content/
>> foundation/incorporation/bylaws.html>>
>> section 3.1).
>>
>> * Board members should expect to spend 1 to 3
>> hours per week on
>> board activities.
>>
>> * Board members should sometimes contribute a
>> little more, maybe
>> negotiating with the community or external
>> organisation, collating
>> or developing ideas and writing them up, doing
>> some extra research
>> to back a decision, or helping with
>> administrative work like
>> taking minutes.
>>
>> * Board members should attempt to attend all
>> board meetings, which
>> happen at a frequency of ~ once per month,
>> which take ~ one hour.
>> (Selection of meeting timeslots are to be
>> negotiated to try and
>> suit all members.) If unable to attend, the
>> board member should
>> attempt to provide opinions on issues before
>> hand, and vote on
>> motions afterwards.
>>
>> * Board members should monitor and contribute
>> toward discussions
>> on the board email list, and aim to vote on
>> motions within 2
>> working days.
>>
>> * Board members are not paid for their service
>> (bylaws
>>
>> <http://www.osgeo.org/content/
>> __foundation/incorporation/__bylaws.html
>> <http://www.osgeo.org/content/
>> foundation/incorporation/bylaws.html>>
>> <http://www.osgeo.org/content/
>> __foundation/incorporation/__bylaws.html
>>
>> <http://www.osgeo.org/content/
>> foundation/incorporation/bylaws.html>>
>> section 3.4), but should not be out of pocket
>> if working for the
>> board. For instance, a board member should be
>> refunded travel
>> expenses if requested to travel on behalf of
>> the board.
>>
>> * Ideally some board members should be prepared
>> to speak on behalf
>> of OSGeo at events.
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>
--
Georepublic UG & Georepublic Japan
eMail: daniel.kastl at georepublic.de
Web: http://georepublic.info
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