Network Working Group M. Vigoureux (Editor) Internet Draft Alcatel-Lucent Updates: 2418 (if approved) D. King (Editor) Intended status: Best Current Practice Old Dog Consulting Expires: August 2014 February 14, 2014 Working Group Secretaries Good Practices draft-secretaries-good-practices-02 Abstract The role of Working Group Secretaries has greatly evolved and increased in value since the writing of RFC 2418 ("IETF Working Group Guidelines and Procedures"). This document further refines and enriches the description of the Working Group Secretarial role, and consequently updates RFC 2418. This document complements the succinct description of the role of Working Group Secretaries by providing a compilation of good practices and some general guidelines regarding the fulfilment of the role. This document may also be useful for Working Group Chairs to help develop and better appreciate the value of Working Group Secretaries. Status of this Memo This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79. Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups. Note that other groups may also distribute working documents as Internet-Drafts. Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference material or to cite them other than as "work in progress". The list of current Internet-Drafts can be accessed at http://www.ietf.org/ietf/1id-abstracts.txt WG Secretaries Expires August 14, 2014 [Page 1] Internet-Draft WG Secretaries Good Practices February 2014 The list of Internet-Draft Shadow Directories can be accessed at http://www.ietf.org/shadow.html This Internet-Draft will expire on August 14, 2014. Copyright Notice Copyright (c) 2014 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the document authors. All rights reserved. This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of publication of this document. Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect to this document. Table of Contents 1. Introduction...................................................2 2. WG Secretary's Functions and Responsibilities..................3 2.1. An IETF Meeting...........................................3 2.1.1. Preparation Phase....................................3 2.1.2. A Working Group Session..............................5 2.1.3. Conclusion of an IETF Meeting........................6 2.2. Between IETF Meetings.....................................7 3. Conclusions and Perspectives...................................8 4. Security Considerations........................................9 5. IANA Considerations...........................................10 6. References....................................................10 6.1. Normative References.....................................10 6.2. Informative References...................................10 7. Acknowledgments...............................................10 Contributors' Addresses..........................................10 Authors' Addresses...............................................11 1. Introduction The Working Group (WG) Secretarial role was defined as a minute taker and to record WG discussion points and decisions (see Section 6.2 of RFC 2418). Over time, the WG Secretarial role has evolved to include a number of additional functions and responsibilities which are critical to the smooth operation of IETF WGs. This document describes these additional functions and responsibilities. However, the framework and perimeter of action associated to the WG Secretarial WG Secretaries Expires August 14, 2014 [Page 2] Internet-Draft WG Secretaries Good Practices February 2014 role, depends on the WG Secretary and the WG Chairs, as well as on the professional relationship they establish. Therefore this document does not prescribe what must be performed, but what might be performed by a WG Secretary. Also, this list shall not be considered as exhaustive. This document is therefore not a rigid job description. It shall be noted that a certain number of tools and means exist in support of WG operation (e.g., Session Request Tool, Meeting Material Manager, the Datatracker, Trac Tool, Wiki). Most, if not all, of these are accessible from the WG Chairs' page (http://www.ietf.org/wg/chairs-page.html). However, it is out of the scope of this document to describe the use of these tools and means. It shall also be noted that no specific tool exists in support of certain actions and tasks that can fall under the responsibility of WG Secretaries. Finally, certain tasks described herein require the use of credentials and some rights associated to these. The WG Chairs should make sure the WG Secretary has the necessary access and privileges to perform the various tasks. 2. WG Secretary's Functions and Responsibilities We classify the functions and responsibilities of a WG Secretary according two distinct phases: an IETF meeting, and the period between two consecutive IETF meetings. The following sub-sections reflect that classification. 2.1. An IETF Meeting This phase in fact covers the period of an IETF meeting per se, as well as the preparation phase and conclusion phase of a WG session. 2.1.1. Preparation Phase In a (non absolute) chronological order, the tasks of a WG Secretary could consist of: o Submitting a session request for the WG. WG Secretaries Expires August 14, 2014 [Page 3] Internet-Draft WG Secretaries Good Practices February 2014 Using the means available, the WG Secretary could submit a request for a WG session at the upcoming IETF meeting. The WG Secretary should coordinate with the Chairs in order to correctly formulate the request, especially with regards to the number of sessions to request for, and their respective duration. It shall be noted that holding a WG session is typically driven by the need for the WG to discuss some topics or documents, and that the identification of this need may imply having interactions with the WG before requesting a session. o Calling for presentation slots. Working Group Chairs may organise WG sessions in different ways. As part of this organisation, they may allocate all or part of the session to people wishing to present and discuss their work. In that context, and as soon as the IETF agenda for a given meeting is published, the WG Secretary could send an e-mail to the WG mailing list asking the WG participants to submit requests for presentation slots at the upcoming WG session(s). Note that WG Chairs may wish to set policies for accepting presentation slots requests. The call for presentation slots should remind these policies as well as how should the requests be formulated, together with a deadline for sending them. o Collecting the presentations slots requests. As a preliminary step to building the agenda, the WG Secretary could collect all the requests for presentations slots. In order to be able to do so, the WG Secretary should make sure that he/she is aware of all the formulated requests by 1) clearly indicating in the call for presentations slots that he/she must be (one of) the recipients of the requests, and 2) checking with the Chairs that they wouldn't have received requests sent to them only. o Proposing a WG session agenda. Depending on the known preferences of the WG Chairs for the typical structure of their WG sessions, on the objectives WG Chairs have for a particular WG session, and/or on his/her personal view, the Secretary could propose a structured agenda for the upcoming WG session(s). Following that, the WG Secretary could work with the Chairs to finalise the agenda in view of publishing a first draft agenda. o Submitting the WG session agenda. WG Secretaries Expires August 14, 2014 [Page 4] Internet-Draft WG Secretaries Good Practices February 2014 At the deadline, or even earlier, the WG Secretary could publish the draft and then final agenda for the WG session(s). The WG Secretary could then inform the WG that the agenda has been published. Also, the WG Secretary could inform the participants having requested but not assigned a presentation slot, of the reason why they were not allocated a slot in the final WG session's agenda. o Requesting presentations materials. In combination with the notification of the publication of the WG session's agenda, or separately, the WG Secretary could ask the presenters to send the material in support of their upcoming presentation. This request should come with a deadline to give sufficient time to upload the materials before the WG session(s). o Preparing the WG Status material. Working Groups' sessions typically start with a slot allocated to the WG Chairs during which is presented a status of the WG. The WG Secretary could produce part, or the totality, of the WG status slides by compiling the appropriate information. As part of this step, the WG Secretary could query the authors of WG documents to know the status of and plans for their document (e.g., envisaged date of readiness for WG Last Call). This, mostly if not only, applies to WG documents the state of which is not evident. For example there is no apparent need to poll authors of a WG document which is in IESG processing. o Uploading the materials. The WG Secretary could, sufficiently ahead of time, upload the presentations materials. This is useful both to the WG participants wanting to have access to the materials and to the person responsible for displaying the materials during the session. 2.1.2. A Working Group Session The role of the WG Secretary could also cover the phase of a WG session. o Before the WG session. WG Secretaries Expires August 14, 2014 [Page 5] Internet-Draft WG Secretaries Good Practices February 2014 For the WG Chairs to enjoy their lunch, coffee or cookie until the last minute, the Secretary could sacrifice his/her time and enter the meeting room well in advance to prepare the session. This might include: checking if blue sheets are available, preparing the session's material to be displayed, launching collaborative software environments (e.g., WebEx), preparing minute taking, and so on. The usefulness of such preparation depends of course on the WG and on the session. A WG session with a light agenda might not require all this. On the other hand, a WG with an extremely packed agenda and for which every minute counts, might benefit from such preparation. o During the WG session. The WG Secretary could be responsible for displaying the material and running through the slides as speakers advance through their presentation. The WG Secretary would typically also act as the minute taker. It is recommended that, in the event a WG Secretary is unable to attend a WG session or take minutes, a suitable replacement be identified before the WG session. In addition, the WG Secretary might also identify a Jabber scribe to aid remote participants to follow discussions, and proxy questions from remote participants. Performing multiple tasks during WG sessions might pose certain challenges but nothing insurmountable. o After the WG session. After the end of a WG session, the WG Secretary could bring the blue sheets to the Secretariat, and socialize with the very supportive and welcoming people composing the Secretariat. 2.1.3. Conclusion of an IETF Meeting o Publishing the WG session's minutes. While it is highly recommended that the minutes of WG session(s) be published as quickly as possible, this might only be feasible after the end of the week of an IETF meeting. In any case, if the WG Secretary was the minute taker he/she could polish the notes taken (correcting typos, or even complementing missing parts with audio recordings) and send these to the Chairs for validation. WG Secretaries Expires August 14, 2014 [Page 6] Internet-Draft WG Secretaries Good Practices February 2014 Once the WG Chairs agree on the written minutes, the Secretary could publish these using the means available. Once published, the WG Secretary could communicate the link to the WG, asking at the same time for the WG participants to review and inform him/her of changes that would need to be performed before final publication. 2.2. Between IETF Meetings Tracking is the word dominating the tasks a WG Secretary could be expected to perform between two IETF meetings. o Recording and tracking authors' inputs. At least on two occasions, the WG Secretary is in position to receive inputs from authors of Internet-Drafts concerning the status and plans they have for their document(s). This is during the preparation phase (when building the WG status material) and during the WG session when authors sometime express such plans at the end of their presentation. The WG Secretary should record and track this information as it is valuable for sketching a plan and a schedule of the actions the WG Chairs will possibly have to take (e.g., poll for adoption by the WG, WG Last Call). o Recording and tracking WG Chairs' decisions. Decisions are sometimes taken by WG Chairs during WG sessions. These decisions often imply some follow-up actions that the WG Chairs need to take. The WG Secretary could record and track the action-points for the WG Chairs. o Tracking events. Between IETF meetings, a number of WG events including WG adoption polls, WG Last Calls, and acknowledging and managing Liaisons and Communications from/to external Standards organizations, will occur. The WG Secretary could track these events and report progress, or deadlines to the Chairs. For the WG adoption polls and WG Last Calls, the WG Secretary could remind the Chairs of the end of the poll/call together with an evaluation of the positions expressed on the WG mailing list in response to these polls/calls. o Monitoring compliance with IETF IPR rules. WG Secretaries Expires August 14, 2014 [Page 7] Internet-Draft WG Secretaries Good Practices February 2014 As per [2] it is important for document authors and contributors to disclose IPR in a timely manner. Verification that authors are in compliance with IETF IPR rules may for example be conducted prior to a WG adoption poll or WG Last Call. The WG Secretary could monitor and track responses to such verifications, and chase authors and contributors where necessary. Where responses are not forthcoming, the WG Secretary could notify the Chairs. o Tracking of documents issues. Working Groups have issue trackers to facilitate the tracking of documents issues. The WG Secretary could identify the issues raised in a review of a WG document or during WG discussions and record the information in the issue tracker. The WG Secretary could liaise with the document editor to find one which issues were resolved and how they were resolved and record that information. o Maintaining the Datatracker and ensuring it is up to date. An important tool in support of WG operations is the Datatracker. The WG Secretary could have the responsibility of keeping the Datatracker up to date so that it reflects the exact state each document is effectively in. This could also include marking milestones as done or updating the target date of a milestone. The WG Secretary could also make sure that the replacement status of documents is correct, and request for the application of the proper status in case it is incorrect or not indicated and necessary. o Doing "Chair-like" work. Depending on the established working relationship between the WG Chairs and Secretary, the latter could take actions such as launch or close polls for adoption or WG Last Calls, verify compliance with IETF IPR rules, be the Shepherd as per [3] for a given document. o Attending WG Chairs' training. WG Secretaries are invited to the IETF WG chairs' lunch tutorials. 3. Conclusions and Perspectives The previous section listed the possible functions and responsibilities of WG Secretaries. The role of a WG Secretary can WG Secretaries Expires August 14, 2014 [Page 8] Internet-Draft WG Secretaries Good Practices February 2014 range from a few of these to the full spectrum of them, and even beyond. It is essential that over time the WG Secretary and Chairs build trust to facilitate an effective and productive working relationship. No secret recipe is however given here on how to achieve such relationship. Nevertheless, making clear expectations from both perspectives and clear communication, the higher the probability of a more efficient and productive relationship and as such, will directly facilitate to the success of the WG. Finally, while the WG Secretary function can be viewed as being a support function to the WG Chairs, it is crucial that the Chairs also provide support to the Secretary as needed. While the apparent value of a good WG Secretary might be in the delegation of tasks that the Chairs are expected to manage and in the smoothed operation of WGs, this role carries a second important value. As the WG Secretary develops the knowledge to fulfil the above functions and responsibilities he/she will be in a position to both extend the scope of his/her actions, and to be more and more involved in WG operation and decision-making. The WG Secretarial role is therefore an excellent means for training individuals in the art of WG operation, and possibly towards the role of WG Chair. The Secretarial role is not mandatory in WGs, hence, no formal selection process exists and it is also difficult to identify a best current practice for that purpose. Reality is that WG chairs select their secretaries in different ways. Nevertheless, to become a WG Secretary the first step is to be active and involved in the WG of interest as well as show willingness and have time to dedicate to that function. 4. Security Considerations Delegation based on trust is not expected to introduce security issues. Nevertheless, while WG Chairs may delegate a number of tasks to the Secretary, they maintain the overall responsibility over the WG and the decisions and actions that are taken. As such, it is recommended that the WG Secretary does not operate without the agreement of the Chairs, or at least without the confidence that his/her choices and actions are in line with the Chairs views on any given matter. Also, the WG Secretary might have access to sensitive information, usually only destined to the Chairs. Therefore, it is very important WG Secretaries Expires August 14, 2014 [Page 9] Internet-Draft WG Secretaries Good Practices February 2014 that a WG Secretary acts with ethics, respecting the privacy of these data. 5. IANA Considerations This document does not require any action from the IANA. 6. References 6.1. Normative References [1] Bradner, S., "IETF Working Group Guidelines and Procedures", BCP 25, RFC 2418, September 1998. 6.2. Informative References [2] Bradner, S., "Intellectual Property Rights in IETF Technology", BCP 79, RFC 3979, March 2005. [3] Levkowetz, H., Meyer, D., Eggert, L., and Mankin, A., "Document Shepherding from Working Group Last Call to Publication", RFC 4858, May 2007. 7. Acknowledgments The authors thank a number of Working Group Secretaries (in alphabetical order) who have contributed to the development of this document: Daniele Ceccarelli, Luigi Iannone, Subramanian Moonesamy, Ines Robles, and Sam Weiler. The authors also thank Carlos Pignataro for his review and contributions. This document was prepared using 2-Word-v2.0.template.dot. Contributors' Addresses Daniele Ceccarelli Ericsson Via Melen 77, Genova, Italy Email: daniele.ceccarelli@ericsson.com WG Secretaries Expires August 14, 2014 [Page 10] Internet-Draft WG Secretaries Good Practices February 2014 Luigi Iannone Telecom ParisTech 23, Avenue d'Italie, 75013 Paris, France Email: ggx@gigix.net Subramanian Moonesamy 76, Ylang Ylang Avenue Quatre Bornes Mauritius Email: sm+ietf@elandsys.com Carlos Pignataro Cisco Systems, Inc. 7200-12 Kit Creek Road Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA Email: cpignata@cisco.com Ines Robles Universidad Tecnologica Nacional - FRM Rodriguez 273, Mendoza, Argentina Email: ines.robles@gridtics.frm.utn.edu.ar Authors' Addresses Martin Vigoureux (Editor) Alcatel-Lucent Email: martin.vigoureux@alcatel-lucent.com Daniel King (Editor) Old Dog Consulting Email: daniel@olddog.co.uk WG Secretaries Expires August 14, 2014 [Page 11]