shmoo M. Knodel
Internet-Draft CDT
Intended status: Informational K. Novotny
Expires: May 6, 2021 Association for Progressive Communications
November 02, 2020
Meeting asynchronously with mailing lists
draft-shmoo-async-00
Abstract
For when we can't meet in person, when there's interim work to be
done, or just because the task calls for it, an asynchronous text-
based meeting can sometimes be perfectly productive and useful.
Given how much the IETF uses email already [RFC3934] this document
aims to create additional guidance for co-chairs and meeting
facilitators who might want to host a meeting asynchronously with
mailing lists. Drawing from decades of facilitation experience in
global networks, the document also treats unique considerations for
facilitators that are introduced by this meeting methodology.
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
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This Internet-Draft will expire on May 6, 2021.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2020 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
(https://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
publication of this document. Please review these documents
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carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction: Why? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. How . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.1. Before: Meeting preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.2. During: Facilitating and participating . . . . . . . . . 4
2.2.1. Welcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.2.2. Mixed methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.2.3. Polling and reaching consensus . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.2.4. Threading and subject lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.2.5. Social/AOB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.3. After: The destination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.3.1. Closing threads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.3.2. Meeting reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.3.3. Meeting feedback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3. Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.1. Defining participation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.2. Translation and accessibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.3. Netiquette and participant instructions . . . . . . . . . 7
3.4. Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
4. Annexes and examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4.1. Guidance from "Closer Than Ever" . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4.2. Sample welcome message and agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
5. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
6. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
7. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1. Introduction: Why?
Meeting online introduces new and novel challenges to in-person
meetings. Getting people online in a synchronous meeting is
generally difficult and demanding on everyone. High costs include
logistics and The difficulty grows exponentially with the number and
diversity of desired participants. If the meeting participants cut
accross different timezones, participation to such a meeting requires
a real committment and sacrifice from many participants. Although
the synchronous voice/video meetings imitate face-to-face meetings,
they fall short in terms of productivity in serious ways.
Particularly when meetings are large, synchronous discussion at scale
is usually questionable, and the real outputs rarely justify the
investment needed from everyone in orser to participate.
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By contrast, well-structured asynchronous meetings have pacing and
mixed-methods that gives participants an opportunity to participate
in the ways which work for them, and when they can. Especially
during a global crisis, but really whenever one is expected to
participate in remote work, asynchronous meetings are more compatible
with individuals' limitations because they can adapt their
participation to their realities - removing the liklihood of the
clashes, which are seemingly ever present in synchronous meetings.
Since email is ubiquitous, mailing list software can be the
centerpiece of an asynchronous meeting toolchain. This is
particularly smooth for IETF participants given the established and
discplined use of mailing lists for IETF work. Throughout the 2020
pandemic arrangements for virtual IETF meetings there has been a
noticable persistence in "taking it to the list" when co-chairs seek
to build consensus, even though in theory there are a reduced number
of barriers for an engaged IETF participant to join an online
meeting. This indicates that even during synchronous, online IETF
meetings that activity on mailing lists is still important.
2. How
This document outlines how to, over a time-bound period, cultivate
productive mailing list activity, in order to rely less on
synchronous moments, or not at all.
2.1. Before: Meeting preparation
Preparation for any meeting is key. However there are particular
opportunities with an asynchronous meeting in which chairs can take
extra care to ensure productivity for the group, but also efficiency
for their work as facilitators during the meeting itself.
First, set up an organising space. Perhaps the datatracker is enough
for IETF meetings, but perhaps with the addition of a wiki space, or
creative use of Meeting Materials. Participants will be switching
their attention radars on and off in different moments - that's the
point! But they won't be present when you ask them to, or when you
email key information. The ongoing flow of participants and
presenters asking for clarifying details need to be gently directed
to one place with all of the meeting instructions and resources to
all these details somewhere visible (header or footer of all messages
during the meeting, etc).
Next, determine distinct discussion topics. It will not be enough to
have each presenter or document author write to the mailing list to
start a discussion about their work. Chairs will need to create a
structured agenda, with threads for each topic (see next section)
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opened with a clear message detailing the topic's purpose, objective
and process. This implies that "agenda review" needs to happen well
in advance of the beginning of the asynchronous meeting.
For each topic it is critical to agree ahead of time on this topic-
opening message, ideally with the presenter(s) and author(s). The
message should contain enough background and context such that all
participants start with clarity on prior discussion, recent
decisions, and most importantly the "POP" of the thread, or
asynchronous discussion, itself. What is the purpose of getting
everyone's focussed attention on this threaded discussion for the
next few days? What's the objective- perhaps a set of decisions- for
the chairs, and possibly the author(s)? Each thread needs its own
process, too, explained- eg watch the presentation, read the draft,
compare versions, look at the open issues, take a poll, etc. Make
sure materials are managed: drafts should be listed on the meeting
materials page, presentations uploaded, and if other videos or
resources are needed that they are clearly linked from the same
place.
Plan to give participants a social outlet during the meeting.
Advanced planning could help the chairs facilitate moments throughout
the meeting that happen spontaneously in an in-person meeting, and
even sometimes in online conferencing. The chitchat about current
events, our private lives, or something everyone cares about.
Creating space for this on an agreed agenda will set the expectation
for participants that the meeting will be interesting and include
moments of humanity and levity.
2.2. During: Facilitating and participating
2.2.1. Welcome
An opening welcome message is very important and should be the first
thread opened. It should list the purpose and objective of the
welcome message, which is to start the meeting and ensure everyone
knows the agenda and how to participate. It's the place where
compliance, bluesheets and other information is shared for the first
time. The details outlined in the welcome message should be
available in the meeting space as the agenda, or reference materials,
for easy reference.
It's recommended that basic instructions to participants include
being present some fixed number of hours for the duration of the
meeting, eg plan to set aisde 10-15 minutes per day for a week to
engage in this meeting.
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2.2.2. Mixed methods
An agenda item might require a mixed method, for example a
presentation about a draft delivered by the draft's author. In each
topic thread, the process should be clear for all participants, eg
watch the presentation and reply to the topic thread with questions
(like a mic line). It may well be that a synchronous moment is
needed, over voice, video conference, jabber, etc. For these
moments, and for the benefit of meeting participants unable to
attend, both record the session and create notes immediately and use
them as the basis for the continuation of the thread. Mixed method
can be powerful, but hard to get right. You don't want to keep
participants unable to participate synchronously waiting 2-3 days for
a readout on what happened.
2.2.3. Polling and reaching consensus
The first step to reaching a destination is knowing where you're
going. Facilitators and chairs will have an easier time building
consensus from the list if from the beginning it's clear what is
being built. Perhaps employing silence procedure is wise given list
subscription sizes.[Silence]
There may be innovations beyond a simple polling tool to substitute
humming that others in the shmoo WG may be keen to adopt and that
would be appropriate in an asynchronous space.
2.2.4. Threading and subject lines
As mentioned in the above section on meeting preparation, allocating
each agenda item to a topic thread allows the facilitator to open
distinct discussions on the mailing list with clarity of purpose,
objective and process. A clear subject line should be used for each
threaded topic. Forking discussion topic threads by pre-pending can
be a useful way to identify sub-topic areas, but chairs might
consider whether they would like to be in control of those changes or
allow spontaneous forking by any participant during the time-bound
meeting.
It is generally assumed that the mailing list be used only for the
meeting during the meeting dates, eg no other threads should be
opened without checking with the chair. Likewise, when the meeting
has ended, that no one should reply to, eg continue discussion of,
meeting topic threads.
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2.2.5. Social/AOB
Chairs can facilitate social exchange during the meeting, emmulating
the in-person experience to some small degree. That includes
allocating separately a welcome and agenda message, so that the
welcome message can give participants a chance to "check in" on
others, offer up personal annecdotes, or share links. There may be a
current event that has its own topic thread, but is only tangentially
related to the meeting that would compell meeting participants to
check in on the meeting.
Any other business is often part of an IETF WG/RG meeting agenda, and
creating a topic thread can allow for asynchronous proposals for
other topics to discuss from participants themselves, though as
mentioned in the meeting preparation section above, agenda review
should ideally be done well in advance of the first day of the
meeting.
2.3. After: The destination
After the closing message ends the meeting, it's a useful and helpful
thing to take a few extra steps to ensure all objectives of the
meeting were achieved, that leaders and authors are clear on their
next steps, and that participants know they shouldn't reply to
meeting threads anymore.
2.3.1. Closing threads
While notetaking isn't really necessary, since the list archive
itself is a verbatim account of the meeting, having a summary of each
thread will be useful. Especially since each thread should already
have outlined a clear purpose and objective, the summary should
easily address whether or not those were fulfilled.
Participants should be given a chance to correct the closing thread
summary for inaccuracies only.
2.3.2. Meeting reports
A meeting report might be a compendium of all closing threads, and
constitute the official notes for the meeting that appear in the data
tracker. It might also helpfully include statistics on
participation.
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2.3.3. Meeting feedback
In all cases, but especially with new methodologies like MAML, it's
recommended to conduct a short post-meeting evaluation with all
participants that can help facilitators determine what worked, what
didn't and to collect any other meta views that participants might
want to share. Rather than an open thread, meeting evaluations are
best conducted with anonymous surveys.
3. Considerations
3.1. Defining participation
There are yet unexplored models for how to host a full IETF meeting
held only on mailing lists given subscription to lists isn't
monetised. It isn't recommended to hold an asynchronous meeting over
several days, and encompassing an IETF virtual synchronous moment for
which participants would need to pay, as this would put list-only
participants at a disadvantage.
Another consideration is how to handle bluesheets for an asynchronous
meeting held on a mailing list with hundreds of subscribers. For
those not reading the list carefully, they may be surprised to know
that their commentary on a mailing list thread consistutes official
participation in an IETF meeting. Likewise it would be difficult to
ask participants to sign in when attention will be rather fluid.
3.2. Translation and accessibility
Text-based communications present opportunities for increased
accessibility of discussions because they can be fed into machine
translators and screen readers; read, reread and referenced more
easily. Asynchronicity removes time-related constraints sometimes
present in accessibility tools.
3.3. Netiquette and participant instructions
While most IETFers are well versed in proper mailing list netiquette,
perhaps reminders of how the chairs would prefer the meeting flow in
its discussion could be
3.4. Compliance
Lastly delivery of the Note Well and other compliance considerations
when meeting only on a mailing list need to be explored further.
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At all times, but especially when faced with potentially a huge
increase in list traffic, chairs should be ready to enforce the IETF
Code of Conduct [RFC7776].
4. Annexes and examples
4.1. Guidance from "Closer Than Ever"
The Association for Progressive Communications was founded in 1990
and has used mailing lists in creative ways to connect its global
network. Their publication on working remotely was rebooted in 2020
and here's a relevant excerpt [APC]:
When the email lists are used for meetings, we always establish a
clear procedure so that everyone involved in the meeting knows how
long we will be discussing the topics addressed, what topics will be
discussed each day or each week, and how subject lines will be
handled.
A typical online meeting can take place over three weeks: * Week 1:
signing in and posting of discussion topics * Week 2: discussion of
topics * Week 3: voting.
These are the basic steps that we follow for our online council
meetings:
1. Two weeks prior to the meeting, the meeting facilitators will
post the proposed meeting agenda and motions to the Board of
Directors for approval.
2. One week prior to the meeting, the executive director will post
the meeting agenda, including the full slate of proposed motions,
to the council email list.
3. Then we start the discussion by sending out one message for each
point of the agenda, so that members may reply accordingly to
each subject line. The first messages are for checking in: each
member that will participate in the meeting sends a short message
stating their name and organisation, so that we all know who is
participating. Then we continue by replying to messages
according to the subject headings of the agenda.
4. Once the meeting is finished there is an official message closing
the meeting and thanking everyone for their participation. All
council members will then receive a summary of the points
discussed and the agreements reached.
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5. During the meeting the facilitator has a key role in making sure
everyone is participating, clarifying any doubts in the
procedures, and asking relevant questions to those members who
have been silent (sometimes off list, encouraging them to
participate).
4.2. Sample welcome message and agenda
Subject: shmoo-IETF109 0: Agenda and process overview
This message is to open the _shmoo Meeting at IETF 109_. The meeting
will take place on this list between _DD-DD Month YYYY_.
The process for the meeting is the following:
The chairs will open specific topic threads by sending opening
messages to this list.
Reply to any thread at any time, just make sure to keep the subject
line intact so it is clear on what topic you are responding.
Below is the agenda. Please use this topic thread only if you have
something to say about the agenda or the process.
Remember that all relevant information and all documents shared in
this meeting are available on the datatracker: _URL_
Please shout with any questions.
Welcome to the meeting! :)
AGENDA: Stay Home Meet Only Online IETF 109 Meeting, _DD-DD Month
YYYY_
- shmoo-IETF109 0: Agenda and process overview (this thread)
- shmoo-IETF109 1: Check in and social space
- shmoo-IETF109 2: draft-shmoo-firstexample-00
- shmoo-IETF109 3: draft-shmoo-secondexample-07
- shmoo-IETF109 4: draft-thirdexample-03
- shmoo-IETF109 5: Any other matters
- shmoo-IETF109 6: Closing the meeting
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5. Security Considerations
Security is dependent on a wide range of actors that are implementing
technical documentation. Therefore it is crucial that language is
clear, and understood by all that need to implement this
documentation. Correct and inclusive language is therefore conducive
for secure implementations of technical documentation.
6. IANA Considerations
This document has no actions for IANA.
7. Informative References
[APC] Association for Progressive Communications, . and ,
"Closer than ever: A guide for social change organisations
who want to work online",
<https://www.apc.org/en/node/36145/#tools>.
[RFC3934] Wasserman, M., "Updates to RFC 2418 Regarding the
Management of IETF Mailing Lists", BCP 25, RFC 3934,
DOI 10.17487/RFC3934, October 2004,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3934>.
[RFC7776] Resnick, P. and A. Farrel, "IETF Anti-Harassment
Procedures", BCP 25, RFC 7776, DOI 10.17487/RFC7776, March
2016, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7776>.
[Silence] Wikipedia, . and , "Silence procedure", 2020,
<https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silence_procedure>.
Authors' Addresses
Mallory Knodel
CDT
EMail: mknodel@cdt.org
Karel Novotny
Association for Progressive Communications
EMail: karel@apc.org
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