2021-02-12 TAC/UAC Coordinating Committee debrief from leadership meeting

Owned by Christine Di Bella
Mar 09, 2021
3 min read

Date

Feb 12, 2021

Attendees

@Brittany Newberry (Unlicensed)

@Daniel Michelson

@Trevor Thornton

@Randy Kuehn

@Kat Stefko

@Christine Di Bella

Notes

Overall

  • Let’s make this a regular/annual activity – people wanted to have these conversations and it’s a good way to connect people to the framework around the work they’re doing and their investment

  • Breaking up into small groups for discussion was essential – the way we did this, with rotating facilitators, worked well, because the groups got comfortable with each other. Sometimes facilitators felt like they were coming into the middle of a discussion, but overall it worked out well.

  • People had a lot to say – it was great that people wanted to engage and had ideas for many improvements.

  • We are not in crisis. While this was a self-selecting group by virtue of them deciding to come, people seem to enjoy their ArchivesSpace participation and just want to make it better for themselves and others

  • We should make the benefits of serving on ArchivesSpace Councils clearer to participants/potential participants and stress that it’s mutually beneficial to them and the program.

  • Greatest concerns were around confusion and lack of consistency across individuals, groups, and terms.

  • “Intensity” of participation was also a concern – want to be sure to identify small goals that keep in line with an agreed upon bigger picture rather than everyone feeling responsible for large goals – “do what we can” should be a theme for the sub-teams

  • Some concerns around “lack of community” and wanting opportunities to get to know each other more – addressing this will also help work toward better inclusiveness

  • Diversity in experience, skills, and demographics is important for individual subteams as well as the councils.

 

Goal: Better preparation and consistency

  • Standard orientation across both Councils – offer together and record

    •  If possible, do orientation for new members in June so that ready to go in July

  • Add videos (that in some cases supplement live training or onboarding) related to using tools like JIRA and Confluence

  • Reorganize Confluence and get rid of the distinction between current and “historical” work

 

Goal: Continuity

  • Three-year initial terms for Council members, with an expectation that those in their second or third year serve in a leadership capacity. (this requires a Bylaws change)

  • Question on renewability – if someone renews for another three years, should there be an expectation that they are doing that to serve as Chair or Vice Chair? (this might require a Bylaws change, depending on how it’s written/understood) Comment from Brittany: I think that we should consider adding the option to renew for a two year term to be vice chair/chair

  • As much as possible, enforce the lead/co-lead model for all sub-teams. Cross-Council teams should have both TAC and UAC represented whenever possible. Comment from Dan: I suggest changing the nomenclature to be chair/vice-chair at all levels. Either that or use vice-lead, since I don't think co-lead implies a junior position. Senior/junior lead is another option

  • As much as possible, build in the expectation that a leader remain with their sub-team after their leadership term is over Comment from Dan: This implies that people will be a vice-lead in their first year

  • More robust retrospective process, coordinated across the Councils

  • Communication from term to term, via a “letter” outlining work and priorities and/or continuity of personnel

  • Make team assignments for the next term for continuing members prior to the end of the current term.

 

Goal: Greater sense of community and inclusiveness

  • Rework what is asked in the nominations process – make it more skill and background-based

  • Have more opportunities for Councils to meet together

  • More icebreakers and other opportunities for people to get to know each other informally

  • Council member profiles

  • “Getting involved” wiki

 

Goal: More preparation and mentoring specifically for leaders

  • Provide access to leadership training, possibly LYRASIS offerings and/or new training customized to service with ArchivesSpace

 

Action items

Brittany will work up a template in Airtable for Council member profiles: done! see https://airtable.com/shrmJNsIx2UIzCRiQ
Trevor will draft guidelines for best practices for sub-teams
Kat will draft bylaws changes for their review for the May meeting
Kat and Christine will work on a proposal for the leadership training piece of this that may require additional financial/logistical support.
Christine will set a recurring time for this group to meet to continue making progress on the different items

Decisions