Documentation for FD duties
I promised Michael several months ago, that I would produce this document
if he would take over my duties on the FD. Well, he has done a fine job of
taking things off my plate, so I have finally gotten off my "dead ass" and
worked up a first draft of this material, so here it is...
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Front Desk Duties
The Front Desk can be managed by one person, but it is much easier if the
load is shared between several people. The duties of the FD can easily be
divided into separate tasks, as will be seen from the following descriptions.
These duties fall into the following groups:
1. Monitor the new-maintainer mailing list for new applicants, as well as for
applicants who are trying to find their AM or have some other problem.
2. Assign new applicants to AMs for processing.
3. Monitor AM progress and be prepared to reassign applicants when necessary.
4. Monitor the admin mailing list, moderating discussions and answering
questions.
5. Assign new AMs in the database, as well as the admin mailing list.
6. Generally manage the AM team.
1.)
One of the FD primary duties is to keep applications from becoming stalled.
The new-maintainer mail alias is the only contact point for folks who need to
contact the Front Desk. All FD members are added to the alias list and receive
all mail directed there.
Any responses to these e-mails should be CC'd back to the new-maintainer alias
so that the other members of the FD team know what has occurred.
2.)
Once an applicant has obtained an advocate, the FD is charged with assigning
the applicant to an AM. The "leaderboard" indicates the status of each AM.
Only those who have an available slot are to be assigned. The AM determines
how many applicants may be assigned, letting the FD know what their status is
by maintaining their own "max applicants" value on their profile.
Once the AM has been assigned, the applicant will show up on the FD database
page as assigned but not accepted until the AM checks the acceptance box.
3.)
The FD managing the AMs should keep an eye on these applications to make sure
they are progressing properly. If progress seems to stop, communicating with
the AM and the applicant will determine whether a new AM assignment is
necessary, or not.
4.)
The administrative mailing list for New Maintainer is intended for discussion
among the AMs regarding their processing activities. While final reports are
also published here, these also go to the DAM and the FD for processing, which
makes the list most useful for other discussions. The FD should monitor these
conversations, acting as moderator to resolve any contentions.
5.)
Although the team is currently fairly stable, the FD is the only authority for
accepting new AMs. The FD has control over the database assignments, as well
as the subscription to the mailing list. Such new members often need a bit of
hand holding for their first assignments, and the FD should be available to
help get these people started on their tasks.
6.)
The Front Desk is the management center for the new maintainer process. This
means that all the details of the operation are the responsibility of the
Front Desk. Any non-specified actions needed to make the process run smoothly
are the responsibility of the FD, even if they are not spelled out in this
document. The FD, in collaboration with the DAM, has the final say on which
processes are correct for use by the team, and has the authority to incorporate
new procedures into the NM process, as long as the DAM agrees.
Team Lead:
The FD team will choose one of their members to be the Team Lead for the FD
team. This person will have the task of coordinating the activities of the
other members, as well as taking some of the actual work load.
Division of Labor:
Depending on the size of the FD team, these tasks can be assigned independently
for the most part. However, Task 4 and 5 work well when combined, as well as
Task 2 and 3. This makes the three person team very effective without
overloading any one FD member. The division of these tasks is left up to the
team and the Team Lead.
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The current members of the FD team include myself, Michael M, and Jim W.
Jim is managing Task 1, while Michael is doing most of the rest, with a
bit of help from me. As I'm currently looking for full time employment, my
participation is likely to get quite thin, assuming I have some luck and
obtain a job ;-) I'm not planning to drop out entirely, but my available
time will be greatly restricted...
Waiting is,
Dwarf
--
_-_-_-_-_- Author of "Dwarf's Guide to Debian GNU/Linux" _-_-_-_-_-_-
_- _-
_- aka Dale Scheetz Phone: 1 (850) 656-9769 _-
_- Flexible Software 11000 McCrackin Road _-
_- e-mail: dwarf@polaris.net Tallahassee, FL 32308 _-
_- _-
_-_-_-_-_- Released under the GNU Free Documentation License _-_-_-_-
available at: http://www.polaris.net/~dwarf/
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