Dear Reps,
The Council started a process of strategic realignment during the Paris Leadership meetup in February. We shared the documents and the ideas and we’ve been following the conversations and discussions on all the different Reps channels. Now it’s time for the program to go to the next level.
The Council, with help of the Peers, put together a proposal that outlines in broad strokes the evolution of the program. We want to invite you to join us in this process:
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We want to identify Reps and mentors who are interested in helping us flesh out the details of this evolution.
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Based on that we will create working groups of Council members, Mentors and Reps that will tackle the details of this proposal.
We are curious to hear your comments and specially questions. In addition there will be a town hall so we can have a more interactive conversation. It will take place next Friday, December 11 at 15:00 UTC and you will be able to follow it live from this link or join the conversation from the MozillaReps vidyo room.
We are very excited about this new direction and we are sure that together we can unleash the full potential of Reps.
##Evolution of the Reps Program - Proposal
###Introduction
Based on the insights generated from Reps Leadership meetings during the past two years the program is ready for the next level. This arises from Reps Council becoming part of the Mozilla Leadership team in 2014, the experience we collected in the past years and the feedback Reps and mentors have provided. We see that the program is ready for a next stage, further unleashing the full potential of Reps. This document outlines the evolution of the program, its main adjustments, and explains their rationale.
###Quarterly Alignment with Participation Team
There is a lack of alignment and clarity on what “impact” the Reps program is having on the overall Mozilla project. This results in Rep activities that are generally geared towards “low hanging fruits” and which have low impact. Going forward there will be a quarterly alignment between the Reps Council and the Participation Team. This enables the Reps program to act on Mozilla’s wider organizational goals. For these reasons there will be increased scrutiny on activities requiring budget which are unrelated to overall Participation goals.
Furthermore our Council members spend too much time handling budget requests. This steers the Council’s attention away from its central responsibilities such as strategic planning, conflict resolution, and program health. It is also an impediment for assuming this body’s leadership position at Mozilla.
###Reps Program with Specialization
Over the years the Reps program has become almost entirely focused on and optimized for events and budgets. This limits Reps’ creative potential to innovate and test new ways for advancing Mozilla’s mission.
Therefore we will create groups of Reps with specific responsibilities:
- Reps who provide resources to communities (ie. help plan, manage and assess budget/swag requests)
- Reps assuming community leadership (ie. support, grow and mobilize their local communities)
- Reps with functional specialization (ie. drive local community efforts around a specific functional area)
We will also update the mentorship structure to provide more coaching and personal development so that Reps get as much support and guidance from their mentor as possible. Lastly, we will establish ways to recognize the impact Reps are having, ranging from the nurturing of a recognition culture of LinkedIn recommendations, for example.
###Conclusion
This is the biggest program transformation since the inception of the ReMo program in 2011. We know that there will be bumps along the way and it might sometimes feel uncomfortable but as in any growing, maturing community, change is not only healthy, it is necessary. Looking back, we have come a long way. We can be proud of everything we have accomplished and excited about the next phase of the program. Together we will make the Reps program more impactful, more sustainable and more fun! We count on your absolute support.