Hi Guilia, thank you so much for summarizing the All hands in this beautiful blog post. I enjoyed reading a lot and it is really an honor to be part of the Sumo team and deserve to attend the All hands…
I suggest a few things regarding all of the three recommendations.
- The on boarding :
a) I believe that we have to make sure that we are able to reach out to the potential volunteers. Yes, the user flow should be improved, the steps should be reduced, and the sign up page should be improved but first we should reach out to people and tell them Hey Sumo is here come and contribute. This can be done by creating application forms that ask people who are interested to fill it and answer specific questions that make us know what their abilities are . When we call for volunteers it would be so useful to have videos for other sumo contributors (Us) talking about their experience or having design with volunteer picture and a quote that encourages others to get involved.
b) Determine and announce the community requirements. For example in the form /call for volunteers be specific and clear that there is a huge need for Firefox use on mac (For example). Or there is a need for people who answer questions in Spanish .
c) On boarding online sessions alongside the written guide would be useful too. For example, three sessions done wi of th the help the regular volunteers to pass by the guide and answer new volunteer questions.
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Regular to core : If we understand the motivation behind volunteering in SUMO we can work on making each volunteer a regular contributor. Understanding the motivation can be from the onboarding application. You can also send us (The already regular volunteers a survey to understand our motivation) . I believe that improving profile and get experience from working with employees in a company like Mozilla is one of the most important motivations, especially for people in the beginning of their career. Some people’s motivation may be that they love Firefox and Mozilla’s mission. We can focus on introducing people more about Mozilla’s mission and how their contribution at SUMO helps a lot . Also, I believe that the thank you email you always send after volunteer activities help a lot.
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Recognition : I believe having a certification from Mozilla SUMO team that someone is an active volunteer after reaching a specific target (Example : answer 100 tweets or translated 10 articles) is a recognition for people who is building their career path.Being invited to an event like the All hands or a SUMO meetup is considered a great recognition too because it clarify and deepen the relationship with staff which is very important. .