A presentation at Abstractions II in in Pittsburgh, PA, USA by Mary Thengvall
Passing the Torch Without Dropping The Ball Lessons In Documentation Abstractions II 22 August 2019 [RAIN] add note about hieroglyphics being job descriptions that couldn’t be translated so we will never know what they were supposed to do. but we have an opportunity to fix that!!
Hint! It’s not just a question of clocking out and handing over the keys. @rainleander | @mary_grace [rain] welcome - this is NOT what we’re going to talk about High level intro to the talk
Worked with various developer communities for over a decade and am now running my own business, with a mission to move the DevRel industry forward by providing resources for DevRel professionals and showing the value of Developer Relations to company stakeholders. I’m the author of the first book on Developer Relations: The Business Value of Developer Relations. I also curate the DevRel Weekly newsletter, co-host the Community Pulse podcast, run the DevRel Collective Slack team, and work with companies around the world to establish a solid, community-first DevRel business strategy.
@rainleander [RAIN] Introduce yourself, Rain! K Rain Leander is a systematic, slightly psychic, interdisciplinary community liaison with a Bachelor’s in dance and a Master’s in IT. An epic public speaker, she has disappeared within a box stuffed with swords, created life, and went skydiving with the Queen. Seriously. Rain is an active technical contributor with OpenStack, RDO, TripleO, Fedora, and DjangoGirls. Come say hello. Bring cake.
Photo Credit: Don Voaklander, Flickr Passing The Torch What are we talking about? Why is this relevant? How is this possible? @rainleander | @mary_grace [rain] this is what we’re going to talk about in a bit more detail Baton image, to show that we can, indeed, mix the metaphor even more.
What Are We Talking About? @rainleander | @mary_grace [Rain] Rich was the RDO community manager for 4 years, and was moving on to a new position RDO is part of the OpenStack community Open Source communities are a little like families - lots of weird traditions and personalities [rain] switching roles and illness
Why Is This Relevant? You’re content in your job. You have no plans to move on. Why should you care about a transition plan? @rainleander | @mary_grace [MARY] Some of you may be wondering… But here’s the thing: as we’ll tell you today, it’s incredibly relevant, whether or not you’re planning to move on. There’s the “bus factor” (or as I like to call it, the lottery factor) consideration… there’s also the unexpected illness. And lastly, there’s just the plain old need to take a vacation every now and again so that we don’t burn out.
What Do You DO? Being a community manager is just flying to exotic places and drinking beer, right? @rainleander | @mary_grace [RAIN] Nobody really knows what you do. (Do you really know what you do?) I suspect that this is true of most jobs, too. (Have you ever overheard the “What does your wife do?” conversations at parties? Or how no one actually knew what Chandler’s job was in Friends? Sometimes we have no idea what our families/friends/colleagues do.) [MARY] Part of the problem with no one really understanding what it is that we do is that they don’t realize just how much we do.
What Do You DO? Documenting what you do gives people more respect for your job. @rainleander | @mary_grace [RAIN] Having clear docs about what you do helps people appreciate you more. It often also helps you have more confidence that you’re not wasting your time. And it also helps identify places where you are wasting your time.
What Do You DO? Focus! Identify! Clarify! @rainleander | @mary_grace [MARY] Your transition doc becomes a job description doc, and helps focus on the things that really matter. [rain] get rid of the bullshit ← don’t say shit on stage, rain
Delegate! Documented Things allow Other People to Volunteer @rainleander | @mary_grace [MARY] Which means… You can take a vacation! You can take on larger, more important projects! You can focus on doing the things that only you can do.
Are You Going To Do That FOREVER? Someday you’ll want to move on to something else a transition plan makes that possible @rainleander | @mary_grace [MARY] (Which is what happened to Rich)
The Handover Document How is this possible? @rainleander | @mary_grace [MARY] Showed up for a new job & was handed a stack of paperwork which was, largely, a year out of date since it was created when Rain had originally stepped in to take over this new role… The RDO community handover document was 23 pages, which started with Rich jotting down a few notes around “what do I do every day” and grew into an almost-comprehensive document about every aspect of the job. And given that it was a year old, a LOT of it is outdated/irrelevant/just plain wrong. This is, and should be, a living document. (Note: This isn’t unique to community management.) So what should actually be in this handover document?
The Overview Project Goals Reading List @rainleander | @mary_grace [MARY] First up: Project Goals. Clearly stating the goals/mission of the project sets the stage for everything else. Every other task should be considered in the light of these goals. Next, the reading list, which should include things like: ● Discussions around the founding of the document ● Bylaws or governance documentation ● Technical docs around project participation ● Overviews of the surrounding technology ecosystem (eg OpenStack, RHOSP, competing projects/companies) ● YouTube playlist of presentations that will help give a firm background in the subject matter ● The documentation for the project, as well as related projects. READ THIS STUFF!!
Photo Credit: Jen Madriaga, Facebook Dramatis Personae Who are the Stakeholders? People as well as Projects @rainleander | @mary_grace [MARY] Next, the dramatis personae -● Who are the important characters in your community? ● Who are the poisonous people that they should look out for? ● Who are the elders who heavily influence opinion? ● Who is the quiet person who is getting lots of work done behind the scenes? [RAIN] Note: This section should be kept private, because, by its very nature, this document will be shared wider than you initially anticipated. (Story goes here.)
The Regular Tasks Daily / Weekly / Monthly All The Meetings Important Annual Events @rainleander | @mary_grace [MARY (then Rain)] They’ve read the job description, but what will they actually spend their days doing? Meetings: Ensure that they are invited to all of the relevant meetings. Make personal introductions to the chairs of those meetings, and make sure they get added to the invite lists to each one. Attend the first few with them, and make sure you’re available to answer their questions, and point out who important people are. But, make sure that every question/comment that is addressed to you, you redirect to your replacement. [SWITCH TO RAIN]
Wish List That Which Remains Undone @rainleander | @mary_grace [RAIN] Stuff you always meant to get done, but just haven’t gotten around to yet … (But which the community might actually expect some day) This is also an opportunity to drop some of the things that were never actually going to get done.
The Inventory Budget Credentials The Keys To The Castle @rainleander | @mary_grace [RAIN] This is the part where you remember that most of the important accounts associated with the project are under your personal email address, and on your personal credit card.
Is It Done Yet? Is it ever done? @rainleander | @mary_grace [Rain] “and that’s it. That’s all there is and there is no more.”
Photo by J.G. Ballard eDit edIt Edit What’s no longer accurate? What’s missing? What’s confusing? @rainleander | @mary_grace [RAIN] When the new person comes on board, the handover document will definitely help them, but it will also help you discover just how many items are innate, and therefore aren’t included in the document. Having a twice- or thrice-weekly meeting (maybe even 15m once a day) when that new person first joins can be incredibly helpful to their success. Before you know it, the document might be twice as long, but will also be far more fleshed out and comprehensive than it used to be. The document will inevitably assume certain prior knowledge that the new person will not, in fact, have. Presenting the document to a beginner is a great way to identify these blind spots.
● What’s urgent? Prioritize What’s Urgent? What’s Important? What Can Only YOU Do? ● What’s important? ● What can only you do? @rainleander | @mary_grace [MARY & RAIN] As the new person, allow yourself time to ramp up. Have a transition period during which, in addition to introductions, there’s a hand-off period. Don’t expect yourself to take on all of the projects all at once. Often, the person you’re taking over for has been doing these things for years, adding on projects here and there. It will take time for you to ramp up — give yourself grace. This is where the document should help to identify what is critical, what’s important, what you can let slide.
Photo by Marko Blažević, Unsplash What Works For You? Don’t Be Scared To Make Changes @rainleander | @mary_grace [RAIN] Make it yours, while honoring/respecting the traditions that go before. This is a tricky balance, but the community will help you by complaining when you break a valuable family heirloom.
Photo by Marko Blažević, Unsplash What Works For You? Don’t Be Scared To Make Changes Remember to Listen @rainleander | @mary_grace [RAIN] Be sure to listen. But also be sure to rearrange the furniture when you think you have something new to contribute.
“Alone we can do So Little; Together we can do So Much.” Helen Keller @rainleander | @mary_grace [RAIN] literally a slide so we can pause and take a breath
Passing The Torch Share Your Stories Focus ~ Identify ~ Clarify Write ~ Edit ~ Redact @rainleander | @mary_grace [RAIN & MARY] So, ultimately it’s about communication Written down so people can edit and pass it along more effectively. It’s about sharing the stories. And writing them down and publishing them online are how you share them among an international community. But, also, it’s about taking care of yourself - focusing - so that you can take care of others more effectively
非常感谢你 muchas gracias baie dankie ﺷﻛرا ﺟزﯾﻼçox təşəkkür edirəm আপনােক অেনক ধন বাদ hvala vam puno děkuji mnohokrát hartelijk bedankt 有難うございます маш их баярлалаа dziękuję ci bardzo cảm ơn nhiều mèsi anpil ﻣﻣﻧون ﺧﯾﻠﯽmulțumesc foarte mult תודה רבה לךliels paldies Thank You!! ! క ల కృతజతల ташаккури зиёд Zikomo kwambiri ﺷﻛرا ﺟزﯾﻼ çox təşəkkür edirəm আপনােক অেনক ধন বাদ mnohokrát tack så mycket asante sana маш их баярлалаа dziękuję ci bardzo א גרויסן יישר כח @rainleander | @mary_grace [ALL]
A replacement plan/document is a great community resource, even when you’re not being replaced.
A year ago, as the role of OpenStack community manager at Red Hat was moving from one person to another, we started thinking about what needs to be in place to effectively transition a role. More generally, we started thinking about planning, and documenting, for your eventual replacement.
We’ll talk about what worked, what didn’t, and what had unexpected benefits for the larger community.
The following resources were mentioned during the presentation or are useful additional information.
for free. You
can too.