Community Recognition, How do you like to be recognized?

SUMO
#1

Hi there,

This is not a new subject, but I want to highlight its importance, especially if you have not seen this thread about SUMO Badges

We will not have the people or time to keep supporting SUMO Badges in 2018.

I would like to use this thread to discuss badges and recognition in SUMO.

I think that in general there are two types of recognition: personal (individual) and official (visible to others)

Personal (individual) recognition:

  • Personal value and professional growth
  • A sense of accomplishment (“getting the job done”)
    Official (visible to others) recognition:
  • Items (tshirts, stickers, bags, etc.)
  • Official letters or certificates
  • Recognition on professional networks / other sites

We had a chat with Seburo, Noah, and Mkll on IRC recently on the topic of recognition (if badges were to stop being used). We also talked about other ways of showing our appreciation of your contributions to Mozilla’s Mission (especially through SUMO).

Some of the options for recognition that were discussed:

  • Linkedin projects and recommendations. Check out our new Linkedin Group Page for Social: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13580162
  • An official blog post with highlights of positive interactions in the community
  • Mozillian Profile vouching
  • A centralized process for events and item/swag requests (that is a part of the Mission-Driven Mozillians initiative)
  • Recognition through your social media profiles (@ mentions from official Mozilla accounts, etc.)
2 Likes
#2

Hello (and apologies for the delay in replying)

Recognition is a difficult subject, however, I think it is a challenge for all teams across Mozilla but I also believe that SUMO does it very well.

The problem we have is that recognition methods of recognition fall into three axis:

  • Cost of provision
  • What it recognises
  • How it is perceived

For example: A Mozilla T-Shirt is lower cost, could be used to recognise a project contribution and is very cool.

Knowing this, we then need to look at the types of recognition available:

  • Saying thank you
  • Being thanked by a team you do not work on
  • Vouches on Mozillians profile
  • Lower cost swag (stickers, wristbands)
  • Higher cost swag (t-shirts)
  • Very high cost swag (outerwear, bags)
  • Digital badges
  • Open badges
  • References for CV
  • References on social media
  • Mentions in Mozilla or SUMO weekly meeting
  • Being invited to participate in activities to broaden/deepen contribution (all hands, work weeks, Vidyo meetings).
  • Being offered the opportunity to work on cross Mozilla projects.
  • Being sent a personalised, signed letter from top three or a board member at Mozilla.
  • Being included in about:credits

(I mention the last one as whilst it is a self-nomination I think it should be something that people should be nominated for “above and beyond” contribution. It feels like erecting a statue to yourself and I am not keen on that approach.)

Plotting these against the three-axis allows us to see how recognition is used. We then need to look at how this can be equalised across teams. This means looking at equaling out budgets but also the criteria used for awarding recognition and how different teams use it.

3 Likes
#3

Thank you for your post, Seburo!

I feel like all of the below should be tick-box options in a Mozillians.org or SUMO profile, so that each and every contributor can specify what they feel is adequate for them.

#4

I think that is a good idea, but I would suggest a modification.

Instead of a long list of tick boxes, to instead to give contributors three preferences that they can change over time. This would lead to contributors not asking for everything, but also a connection between what they would prefer and what is realistic for them to “achieve”.

#5

So more along the lines of 3 drop-down menus with all the options listed in each of them, I assume? Sounds good to me.