Working Group Secretaries
draft-secretaries-good-practices-03

Network Working Group                                      M. Vigoureux
Internet Draft                                           Alcatel-Lucent
Updates: 2418 (if approved)                                     D. King
Intended status: Best Current Practice               Old Dog Consulting
Expires: November 2014                                     C. Pignataro
                                                    Cisco Systems, Inc.

                                                           May 19, 2014

                         Working Group Secretaries
                    draft-secretaries-good-practices-03

Abstract

   The Working Group Secretary's role was succinctly defined in RFC
   2418. However, this role has greatly evolved and increased both in
   value and scope since the writing of RFC 2418. This document updates
   RFC 2418 by providing a new definition of the Working Group
   Secretary's role. This document also provides a compilation of good
   practices and some general guidelines regarding the fulfilment of the
   role.

   This document is intended for established Working Group Secretaries,
   individuals desirous of taking up that role, or anyone else simply
   interested in understanding better the Working Group Secretary's
   role. This document may also be useful for Working Group Chairs to
   better appreciate and help develop the value of Working Group
   Secretaries.

Status of this Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups. Note that other
   groups may also distribute working documents as Internet-Drafts.

   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
   and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
   time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
   material or to cite them other than as "work in progress".

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   The list of current Internet-Drafts can be accessed at
   http://www.ietf.org/ietf/1id-abstracts.txt

   The list of Internet-Draft Shadow Directories can be accessed at
   http://www.ietf.org/shadow.html

   This Internet-Draft will expire on November 19, 2014.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2014 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors. All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
   (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document. Please review these documents
   carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
   to this document.

Table of Contents

   1. Introduction...................................................2
   2. WG Secretary...................................................4
   3. WG Secretary's Functions and Responsibilities..................4
      3.1. IETF Meeting Specific Tasks...............................4
         3.1.1. Pre WG Session Phase.................................4
         3.1.2. WG Session Phase.....................................7
         3.1.3. Post WG Session Phase................................7
      3.2. Continuous Tasks..........................................8
   4. Conclusions and Perspectives..................................10
   5. Security Considerations.......................................10
   6. IANA Considerations...........................................11
   7. References....................................................11
      7.1. Normative References.....................................11
      7.2. Informative References...................................11
   8. Acknowledgments...............................................11
   Contributors' Addresses..........................................12
   Authors' Addresses...............................................13

1. Introduction

   The Working Group (WG) Secretary's role was defined as a minute taker
   and to record WG discussions' points, and decisions (see Section 6.2
   of RFC 2418 [1]). Over time, the WG Secretary role's has greatly

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   evolved to include a number of additional functions and
   responsibilities which are critical to the smooth operation of IETF
   WGs. This document describes these additional functions and
   responsibilities. However, the framework and perimeter of action
   associated to the WG Secretary's role, depends on the WG Secretary
   and the Chairs, as well as on the professional relationship they
   establish. Therefore this document does not prescribe what must be
   performed, but lists what might be performed by a WG Secretary. Also,
   this list shall not be considered as exhaustive. This document is
   therefore not a rigid job description.

   Also, IETF WGs differ from one another according several aspects.
   Amongst those aspects is the "effective size" of the WG (number of
   active participants, number of active documents, rate of adoption
   polls and WG Last Calls, and mailing list traffic). This document is
   not targeted to a particular type of WG; however, in practice, it is
   mainly relevant and applicable to the WGs for which the Secretary's
   role makes sense. Therefore, part or even all of the guidelines it
   provides might not be relevant for some WGs. Those are typically
   small WGs, the Chairs of which do not need to delegate operational
   tasks as they handle them by themselves.

   It shall be noted that a certain number of tools and means exist in
   support of WG operation (e.g., Session Request Tool, Meeting Material
   Manager, the Datatracker, Trac Tool, Wiki). Most, if not all, of
   these are accessible from the WG Chairs' page
   (http://www.ietf.org/wg/chairs-page.html). However, it is out of the
   scope of this document to describe the use of these tools and means.
   It shall also be noted that no specific tool exists in support of
   certain actions and tasks that can fall under the responsibility of a
   WG Secretary. It is expected that a WG Secretary would procure the
   right set of tools for the job, based on availability and personal
   preference. This might entail searching and finding, or developing,
   tools.

   Finally, certain tasks described herein require the use of
   credentials and some rights associated to these. The WG Chairs should
   make sure the Secretary has the necessary access and privileges to
   perform the various tasks.

   Section 2 of this document is normative and updates the whole Section
   6.2 of RFC 2418 [1]. Section 3 of this document gives detailed
   descriptive information of the WG Secretary's functions,
   responsibilities, and good practices.

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2. WG Secretary

   The WG Secretary is a resource leveraged by the WG Chairs, and is
   concerned with supporting the operations of a WG to make forward
   progress, and with assisting in managing the WG processes. While the
   WG Chairs are accountable for ensuring that a number of tasks are
   performed, the WG Secretary embodies a role explicitly assigned to
   carry over a subset of those tasks.

   The WG Secretary supports the processes and workflows to make the WG
   successful during its lifetime, with specific actions at the times of
   IETF meetings.

3. WG Secretary's Functions and Responsibilities

   We classify the functions and responsibilities of a WG Secretary
   according to tasks specific to an IETF meeting and continuous tasks.
   The following sub-sections reflect that classification.

   While this document implies that the WG session mentioned below is
   during an IETF meeting, most of the described tasks also apply to WG
   interim meetings.

3.1. IETF Meeting Specific Tasks

   The set of tasks specific to an IETF meeting can be further sub-
   classified into three phases: the WG session held during that meeting
   as well as both the pre and post phases of that session.

3.1.1. Pre WG Session Phase

   o  Submitting a request for a WG session

   Using the means available, the WG Secretary could submit a request
   for a WG session at the upcoming IETF meeting. The WG Secretary
   should coordinate with the Chairs in order to correctly formulate the
   request, especially with regards to the number of sessions to request
   for, their respective duration, and the conflicts to avoid.
   Concomitantly, the WG Secretary could formulate the request to have
   collaborative software (e.g., WebEx, Meetecho) support during the WG
   session. It shall be noted that holding a WG session is typically
   driven by the need for the WG to discuss some topics or documents,
   and that the identification of this need may imply having
   interactions with the WG before requesting a session.

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   o  Calling for discussion slots

   Working Group Chairs may organise WG sessions in different ways. As
   part of this organisation, they may allocate all or part of the WG
   session to people wishing to discuss their work (e.g., with the
   objective to resolve issues and make progress). In that context, and
   as soon as the IETF agenda for a given meeting is published, the WG
   Secretary could send an e-mail to the WG mailing list asking the WG
   participants to submit requests for discussion slots at the upcoming
   WG session. Note that WG Chairs may wish to set policies for
   accepting discussion's slot requests. The call for discussion slots
   should remind these policies as well as how should the requests be
   formulated, together with a deadline for sending them. The call would
   also typically include information on when will the particular WG
   session be held during the IETF meeting noting that the IETF agenda
   is draft until being final.

   o  Collecting the discussion's slot requests

   As a preliminary step to building the WG session agenda, the WG
   Secretary could collect all the requests for discussion slots. In
   order to be able to do so, the WG Secretary should make sure that
   he/she is aware of all the formulated requests by 1) clearly
   indicating in the call for discussion slots that he/she must be one
   of the recipients of the requests, and 2) checking with the Chairs
   that they would not have received requests sent to them only.

   o  Proposing a WG session agenda

   Based on the collected discussion's slot requests, and depending on
   the known preferences of the WG Chairs for the typical structure of
   their WG sessions, or on the objectives Chairs have for a particular
   WG session, and/or on his/her personal view, the Secretary could
   propose to the Chairs a structured agenda for the upcoming WG
   session. Following that, the WG Secretary could work with the Chairs
   to finalise the agenda in view of publishing a first draft agenda.

   o  Submitting the WG session agenda

   At the deadline, or even earlier, the WG Secretary could publish the
   draft and then final agenda for the WG session. The WG Secretary
   could then inform the WG that the agenda has been published. When
   doing so, the WG Secretary could ask the WG participants to verify if
   discussion's slot requests would not have been accidentally missed.
   Also, in the case where some requests would have been voluntarily not

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   granted, the WG Secretary could inform the participants having
   requested the discussion slots, of the reason(s) why they were not
   allocated a slot in the final WG session agenda.

   o  Requesting presentations materials

   In combination with the notification of the publication of the WG
   session agenda, or separately, the WG Secretary could ask the
   individuals who were granted a discussion slot to send the material
   in support of their upcoming presentation. This request should come
   with a deadline so as to give sufficient time to upload the materials
   before the WG session.

   o  Securing Jabber relays and minute takers

   Supporting remote participation is very important. As such, the WG
   Secretary could ask for one specific volunteer: a Jabber scribe,
   responsible for acting as a gateway for remote participants, by way
   of relaying remote questions and annotating slide numbers. While the
   WG Secretary would typically act as the minute taker, he/her could
   also request a second volunteer tasked with taking notes during the
   WG session. The minutes taken by this volunteer would complement
   those taken by the WG Secretary or constitute the primary meeting
   minutes in case the Secretary is unable to take them. Securing these
   two roles in advance sets up for a successful meeting.

   o  Preparing the WG Status material

   Working Groups sessions typically start with a slot allocated to the
   Chairs during which is presented a status of the WG. The WG Secretary
   could produce part, or the totality, of the WG status slides by
   compiling the appropriate information. As part of this step, the WG
   Secretary could query the authors of WG documents to know the status
   of -and the plans they have for- their document (e.g., envisaged date
   of readiness for WG Last Call). This, mostly if not only, applies to
   WG documents the state of which is not evident. For example there is
   no apparent need to query authors of a WG document which is in IESG
   processing.

   o  Uploading the materials

   The WG Secretary could, sufficiently ahead of time, upload the
   presentations materials. This is useful both to the WG participants
   wanting to have access to the materials and to the person responsible
   for displaying the materials during the WG session.

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3.1.2. WG Session Phase

   o  Before the WG session

   For the WG Chairs to enjoy their lunch, coffee, tea, or cookie until
   the last minute, the Secretary could sacrifice his/her time and enter
   the meeting room well in advance to prepare the WG session. This
   might include: checking if blue sheets are available, preparing the
   session's material to be displayed, launching collaborative software
   environments, preparing minute taking, and so on. The usefulness of
   such preparation depends of course on the WG and on the WG session. A
   WG session with a light agenda might not require all this. On the
   other hand, a WG session with an extremely packed agenda, and for
   which every minute counts, shall surely benefit from such
   preparation.

   If necessary, the WG Secretary could confirm the Jabber scribe
   assignment and eventually the complementary minute taker assignment.

   o  During the WG session

   The WG Secretary would typically act as the minute taker.

   The WG Secretary could be responsible for displaying the material and
   running through the slides as speakers advance through their
   presentation. The WG Secretary could also act as the time keeper to
   ensure there is sufficient remaining time for all discussions to
   happen.

   Performing multiple tasks during a WG session might pose certain
   challenges but nothing insurmountable.

   o  After the WG session

   After the end of a WG session, the WG Secretary could bring the blue
   sheets to the IETF Secretariat and socialize with the very supportive
   and welcoming people composing it.

3.1.3. Post WG Session Phase

   o  Publishing the WG session minutes

   While it is highly recommended that the minutes of a WG session be
   published as quickly as possible, this might only be feasible after
   the end of the week of an IETF meeting. In any case, if the WG

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   Secretary was the minute taker he/she could polish the notes taken
   (correcting typos, or even complementing missing parts with audio
   recordings) and send these to the Chairs for validation.

   Once the WG Chairs agree on the written minutes, the Secretary could
   publish these using the means available.

   Once published, the WG Secretary could communicate the link to the
   WG, asking at the same time for the WG participants to review and
   inform him/her of changes that would need to be performed before
   final publication.

3.2. Continuous Tasks

   Tracking is the word dominating the tasks a WG Secretary could be
   expected to continuously perform.

   o  Recording and tracking authors' inputs

   At least on two occasions, the WG Secretary is in position to receive
   inputs from authors of Internet-Drafts concerning the status and
   plans they have for their document(s). This is during the WG session
   preparation phase (when building the WG status material) and during
   the WG session when authors sometimes communicate such plans. The WG
   Secretary should record and track this information as it is valuable
   for sketching a plan and a schedule of the actions the Chairs will
   have to take (e.g., poll for adoption by the WG, WG Last Call).

   o  Recording and tracking WG Chairs' decisions

   Decisions are sometimes taken by WG Chairs during WG sessions. These
   decisions often imply some follow-up actions that the WG Chairs need
   to take. The WG Secretary could record and track the action-points
   for the Chairs, as well as remind them of these when necessary.

   o  Tracking events

   Between IETF meetings, a number of WG events, including WG adoption
   polls, WG Last Calls, publication of new revisions of Internet-
   Drafts, will occur. The WG Secretary could track these events and
   report progress, or deadlines to the Chairs. For the WG adoption
   polls and WG Last Calls, the WG Secretary could notify the Chairs of
   the end of the poll/call together with an evaluation of the positions
   expressed on the WG mailing list in response to those polls/calls.
   For Internet-Drafts that require a revision before being progressed

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   further, the WG Secretary could also notify the Chairs when the
   expected revision is published.

   o  Monitoring compliance with IETF IPR rules

   As per [2] it is important for people making IETF contributions to
   disclose relevant IPR in a timely manner. Verification that authors
   are in compliance with IETF IPR rules may for example be conducted
   prior to a WG adoption poll or WG Last Call (see [3]). The WG
   Secretary could monitor and track responses to such verifications,
   and chase authors and contributors where necessary. Where responses
   are not forthcoming, the WG Secretary could notify the Chairs.

   o  Tracking of documents issues

   Working Groups have issue trackers to facilitate the tracking of
   documents issues. The WG Secretary could identify the issues raised
   in a review of a WG document or during WG discussions and record the
   information in the issue tracker. The WG Secretary could liaise with
   the document editor to find which issues were resolved and how they
   were resolved and record that information.

   o  Maintaining the Datatracker and ensuring it is up to date

   An important tool in support of WG operations is the Datatracker. The
   WG Secretary could have the responsibility of keeping the Datatracker
   up to date so that it reflects the exact state each document is
   effectively in. See RFC 6174 [4] for further information on the
   states of IETF Working Group Documents. This could also include
   marking milestones as done or updating the target date of a
   milestone.

   The WG Secretary could also make sure that the replacement status of
   documents is correct, and apply of the proper status in case it is
   incorrect or not indicated and necessary.

   o  Doing "Chair-like" work

   Depending on the established working relationship between the WG
   Chairs and the Secretary, the latter could take actions such as
   launch or close polls for adoption or WG Last Calls, verify
   compliance with IETF IPR rules, or be the Shepherd as per [5] for a
   given document.

   o  Attending WG Chairs' training

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   Working Group Secretaries are invited to the IETF WG Chairs' lunch
   tutorial.

4. Conclusions and Perspectives

   The previous section listed the possible functions and
   responsibilities of WG Secretaries. The role of a WG Secretary can
   range from a few of these to the full spectrum of them, and even
   beyond.

   It is essential that over time the WG Secretary and Chairs build
   trust to facilitate an effective and productive working relationship.
   No secret recipe is however given here on how to achieve such
   relationship. Nevertheless, making clear expectations from both
   perspectives and clear communication, the higher the probability of a
   more efficient and productive relationship. Finally, while the WG
   Secretary function can be viewed as being a support function to the
   Chairs, it is crucial that the Chairs also provide support to the
   Secretary as needed.

   While the apparent value of a good WG Secretary might be in the
   delegation of tasks that the Chairs are expected to manage and in the
   smoothed operation of WGs, this role carries a second important
   value. As the WG Secretary develops the knowledge to fulfil the above
   functions and responsibilities he/she will be in a position to both
   extend the scope of his/her actions, and to be more and more involved
   in WG operation and decision-making. The WG Secretary role is
   therefore an excellent means for training individuals in the art of
   WG operation, and ideally towards the role of WG Chair.

   The WG Secretary role is not mandatory in WGs, hence no formal
   selection process exists and it is also difficult to identify a
   general practice for that purpose. Reality is that WG Chairs select
   their Secretary in different ways. Nevertheless, to become a WG
   Secretary the first step is to be active and involved in the WG of
   interest as well as show willingness and have time to dedicate to
   that function.

5. Security Considerations

   Delegation based on trust is not expected to introduce security
   issues.

   Nevertheless, while WG Chairs may delegate a number of tasks to the
   Secretary, they maintain the overall responsibility and

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   accountability over the WG and the decisions and actions that are
   taken. As such, it is recommended that the WG Secretary does not
   operate without the agreement of the Chairs, or at least without the
   confidence that his/her choices and actions are in line with the
   Chairs views on any given matter.

   Also, the WG Secretary might have access to sensitive information,
   usually only destined to the Chairs. Therefore, it is very important
   that a WG Secretary acts with ethics, respecting the privacy of these
   data.

6. IANA Considerations

   This document does not require any action from the IANA.

7. References

7.1. Normative References

   [1]   Bradner, S., "IETF Working Group Guidelines and Procedures",
         BCP 25, RFC 2418, September 1998.

7.2. Informative References

   [2]   Bradner, S., "Intellectual Property Rights in IETF Technology",
         BCP 79, RFC 3979, March 2005.

   [3]   Polk, T., and Saint-Andre, P., "Promoting Compliance with
         Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Disclosure Rules", RFC 6702,
         August 2012.

   [4]   Juskevicius, E., "Definition of IETF Working Group Document
         States", RFC 6174, March 2011.

   [5]   Levkowetz, H., Meyer, D., Eggert, L., and Mankin, A., "Document
         Shepherding from Working Group Last Call to Publication", RFC
         4858, May 2007.

8. Acknowledgments

   The authors thank a number of Working Group Secretaries (in
   alphabetical order) who have contributed to the development of this
   document: Daniele Ceccarelli, Luigi Iannone, Subramanian Moonesamy,
   Ines Robles, and Sam Weiler. The authors also thank Scott Bradner for
   his thorough review and useful input.

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   This document was prepared using 2-Word-v2.0.template.dot.

Contributors' Addresses

   Daniele Ceccarelli
   Ericsson
   Via Melen 77, Genova, Italy

   Email: daniele.ceccarelli@ericsson.com

   Luigi Iannone
   Telecom ParisTech
   23, Avenue d'Italie, 75013 Paris, France

   Email: ggx@gigix.net

   Subramanian Moonesamy
   76, Ylang Ylang Avenue
   Quatre Bornes
   Mauritius

   Email: sm+ietf@elandsys.com

   Ines Robles
   Universidad Tecnologica Nacional - FRM
   Rodriguez 273, Mendoza, Argentina

   Email: ines.robles@gridtics.frm.utn.edu.ar

   Samuel Weiler
   Parsons
   7110 Samuel Morse Drive
   Columbia, Maryland, 21046, USA

   Email: weiler@tislabs.com

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Authors' Addresses

   Martin Vigoureux
   Alcatel-Lucent

   Email: martin.vigoureux@alcatel-lucent.com

   Daniel King
   Old Dog Consulting

   Email: daniel@olddog.co.uk

   Carlos Pignataro
   Cisco Systems, Inc.
   7200-12 Kit Creek Road
   Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA

   Email: cpignata@cisco.com

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