Proposal: Updates to the Mentor Program – DocsWP

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@devinmaeztri and I have been working on ways to make our current mentor program more flexible and inclusive, and here is our proposal.

The goal is to define the information around existing and new roles so contributors know what to expect when signing up. Then, to have a balanced set of tasks that get the necessary work done without making it overwhelming.

Updated Expectations, Requirements, Etc. for Our Contributor Roles

The information in the blue boxes below applies to all mentors.

Basic Information for Mentors

The information in this box applies to all mentors.

Expectations

Help other organizers have a great time planning events
Help organizers avoid problems before they become problems
Help make events easier to organize and improve attendee experience

Time Commitment

At least 4 hours a month, depending on your desired level of involvement.

Qualifications

Successful lead or co-organizer of the type of event you want to mentor — both financially and in team management
No previous incidents or conflicts with the Community Team. This includes any incidents and conflicts within the WordPress project sphere and any events you were involved in.

Requirements

Finish the appropriate training courses and pass the quizzes
Exhibit appropriate communication skills
Be organized and reliable
Be able to meet with event organizers and other community members when necessary on Slack, Google Meet, and/or Zoom, your choice

Help Path

Check the handbook
Next, ask your fellow Mentors
Ask the Mentor Advocates/Community Guides
Ask a Community Deputy (if position remains)
Ask a Super Deputy/Community Advocates
Email [email protected]

Mentor Roles

To better support the community, we are proposing that we add three new roles to our Mentor program. Two would operate similarly to our WordCamp Mentors: Meetup Mentors and do_action Mentors

The third addition would be Mentor Advocates, or Community Guides. This third role would oversee the mentor program as well as take on event mentorship responsibilities if they choose. If Community Deputies are moved into this role as Community Guides, then we would also be able to consider dividing up tasks like vetting.

Combining our Deputies, Super Deputies, and Mentors into one program with a single-application Contributor Ladder is being discussed in this post. You are welcome to leave your thoughts. And note, regardless of what’s decided, our suggested updates can flex to fit either contributor option.

Mentor Tasks

Similarly to above, all mentors will perform the common tasks in this blue box:

Answer questions from meetup organizers when you can. If you don’t know the answer, follow the Help Path
- Offer advice on procedure
- Share knowledge based on past experience organizing
Keep up-to-date on what’s happening in the Community Team
- Learn about new tools, developments, and decisions made by the Community Team
- Participate in the monthly Community Team meetings
- On the third Thursday, attend the monthly asynchronous Slack check ins

Additionally, each role will also have a unique set of tasks, which are listed below. Currently the resource are available for all of the proposed tasks. Many of the future tasks would be simple to add if deputies are moved into the mentor oversight role.

Meetup Mentors	Proposed tasks: – Check in with your list of meetup organizers at least 1x/year to determine the meetups status (possibly at least once over video) – Update the Meetup spreadsheet with the status of your meetups – Assist in finding new meetup organizers as needed Possibly future tasks: – Do an initial vetting of Meetup applications using a new list/process (without access to HelpScout or the tracker) – Process Venue Support requests (if it can be done outside of the tracker, possibly a first round)
do_action Mentors	Proposed tasks: – Similar to WordCamps (Cate needs to update) Possibly future tasks: – Do an initial vetting of do_action applications using a new list/process (without access to HelpScout or the tracker)
WordCamp Mentors	Proposed tasks: – Check in with your WordCamp organizers at least 1x/month – Report about your WordCamp’s progress both as part of the monthly Community Team meeting and on the monthly Make/Community Post Possibly future tasks: – Help check venue agreement including the terms and conditions before signed by WordCamp Central – Do an initial vetting of WordCamp applications using a new list/process
Mentor Support or Advocates or Community Guides	Additional requirements: – Successfully held two of the individual mentor roles – Consistently worked toward the good of the community – Participates regularly in Community Team discussions and decision making – Completed ALL organizer-related courses and finished the tests Proposed tasks: – Answer the questions of other mentors when you can. If you don’t know the answer, follow the Help Path. – Report about the progress of events you are mentoring both as part of the monthly Community Team meeting and on the monthly Make/Community Post Possibly future tasks: – Assign tasks for vetting – Support other mentors as they vet applications – Vet meetup, do_action, and WordCamp applications as they come in – Process Venue Support requests (if it can be done outside of the tracker, possibly a first round) – Vet new mentors – Onboard new mentors

Now it’s your turn.

We’d appreciate feedback on these ideas. While we hope to begin implementing many of them as soon as possible, it’s good to remember that this is an organic project that will evolve over time. Things can be tried and undone or adjusted as needed down the road.

Please leave your thoughts below by 28 March 2023.

If you’d like to learn more about Combining Roles to Create a New Contributor Ladder, follow that link. Add your feedback to that conversation, too!

#q1, #refining-mentor-program, #updates