Draft OGF Management Structure¶

OGF Structure as defined in GFD.3¶

• OGF Chair / Vice Chair
  • ensure group process, coherence
  • organize events
  • oversees web presence
  • oversees (chairs) GFSG (group management, document process
  • is now called 'VP of Standards'
  • vice chairs support chairs, selected by chair from GFSG

• GFSG
  • area directors + OGF Chair + senior OGF members (AD at large)
  • manage document process (with editor)
  • manage groups

• Editor
  • see GFD.152
  • member of GFSG
  • manages OGF document pipeline, with support from GFSG

• Advisory Committee
  • external strategy advise
  • currently non-functional

Previous Amendments¶

• OGF Chair split into President / VP Standards / VP Community / VP Liaison
  • in practical terms all tasks are again with the VP Standards right now

• OGF Board of Directors
  • draws members from paying member organization
  • required on legal grounds
  • operates currently on bare minimum

Proposed Amendments¶

• OGF size is small:
  • keep board minimal
  • define clearly the roles of
    • President
      • external representation
    • VP Standards
      • Chair GFSG, support GFSG tasks
    • VP Events
      • organize OGF meetings
      • could be newly assigned per event, e.g. to local organizer
    • VP Liaison
      • manages interactions with other SDOs
      • could be split among multiple people, but needs clear mandate
    • Area Director
      • mentors a set of OGF Groups
      • guides the chairs of these groups
      • champions documents from these groups through the document pipeline
      • ensures inter-group coordination
• flexible AD positions
  • ADs should be allowed to double with any of the VP positions
    • we have a small pool of people
    • simplifies rotating positions such as VP Events
  • match ADs to specific groups, independent of actual area (practiced already)
  • note/understand potential conflict of interest if chair comes from a group he shepherds
• involve group chairs in GFSG
  • show them the day-to-day activities
  • get them involved early (w/o full AD duties)
  • auto-add to GFSG list and call invitations
  • keep them posted with frequent operations updates
  • involve in event planning, etc.
• OGF Board is largely inactive / sparsely populated
  • emphasize steering activities (replace advisory board)
    • invite well connected people who
    • think OGF important but don't have much time (give them a title...)
    • strengthen ties with community (e.g. influx of new groups by suggesting OGF as work venue)

Proposed Amendments -- Verbose¶

We observe that some of the OGF management roles are not well defined, or that they would benefit from slightly changed definitions. We propose the following short descriptions (no additions to other roles):

• The OGF president represents OGF to external bodies, and speaks for OGF.
• The Vice President (VP) Standards chairs the GFSG, and supports GFSG operations.
• A VP Events organizes OGF meetings. That role may be re-assigned to a new candidate per major event.
• A VP Liaison manages OGF interactions with other SDOs. That role could be split among multiple candidates, but needs a clear mandate. Ideally, a VP Liaison is member of OGF and the liaising organization.
• An Area Director (AD)
  • mentors a well defined set of OGF groups,
  • guides the chairs of these groups through OGF processes,
  • champions documents from these groups through the OGF document pipeline,
  • ensures inter-group interactions

Below are some recommendations for the roles mentioned above.

Board Member: Today's OGF board is largely inactive and reduced to its minimal legal role. We propose to refocus it towards a more active OGF advisory role. (Note that the actual OGF advisory board is even more inactive than the OGF board.) For example, it may be worthwhile to ask well connected people to join the OGF board with a well specified small mandate, such as representing OGF in a certain project. That would allow to involve people which otherwise have no time reserves to actively engage with OGF meaningfully, but are willing to speak up on behalf of OGF. We also hope that such a board could help to strengthen OGFs ties with the community.

AD: To accommodate rotating VP events positions, and to cater for the small pool of candidates, we propose to allow ADs to double on any VP role. As noted in the 'OGF Structure' recommendations, we propose that WGs are more flexibly assigned to ADs than just based on the WGs area. Further, we noticed that no OGF document mentions any potential conflict of interest for ADs which have been previously active in the groups they are now mentoring. While we don't see an immediate need of action, this may be worth noting in future revisions of the OGF structure GFD.

Chairs: We recommend to tie group chairs tighter into day-to-day OGF activities. While we do not want to increase the work load on chairs, we consider it important to keep them closer to GFSG activities, to event organization, etc. For example, it might be beneficial for both sides if chairs were invited to every other GFSG call, as observers or reporters. Along the same lines, chairs should be auto-added to the GFSG mailing list, to keep updated with OGF activities, problems, events etc. Also, we consider chairs to be essential for organizing OGF events, as the past model (GFSG organizes events) did not scale well.