Proposal for the creation of the People, Organization and Community (POC) WG - **UPDATED**

Community
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:arrow_down: Please see comments for details on the 2nd July expansion and revision to content and budget of this proposal :arrow_down:

Proposal for the creation of the People, Organization and Community WG

Situation

I am proposing the funding of a People, Organization and Community Working Group (POC) for 3 months ending on October 1st, 2021.

What is the core problem(s) you want to solve?

As the Coop grows, our ability to operate efficiently and utilize the skills within our DAO will be challenged.

This will manifest through:

  • Disconnect with our community and a failure to leverage this group as a motivated, passionate and engaged foundation to champion our products
  • Inefficiencies within our organizational processes which impact our ability to plan, waste time and decrease the effectiveness of Index Coop contributors and Working Groups
  • Ineffective identification, utilization and retention of top people talent will restrict long term growth

Why is this worth addressing today?

People are the most important driver of organizational success. If Index Coop can recruit the right people, focusing them on the right things and enable them to work in the right way - we will create an environment where we can become a market leading billion dollar DAO.

Recently, the Coop has experienced a period of rapid growth. As such, there is a pressing need to ensure contributors can be engaged and channeled in a way that drives meaningful results.

A dedicated People, Organization and Community (POC) team will help ensure the Coop is made up of top global talent working within a streamlined organization structure. The POC will act as an enabler for the wider Index Coop.

For example, we are currently facing a bottleneck with dev resources. Establishing a Community, Organization and People WG could help preempt future bottlenecks and support the identification and recruitment of capability in key strategic areas.

How will you address it?

There are three interconnected pillars of the POC Working Group. The approach and activity within each of these pillar will evolve, but will likely cover:

  • People

    • Identification of “People Needs” at the Coop and support filling vacancies to ensure we have the right people in the right jobs (high priority)
    • Anonymous Owl Pulse survey to identify pain points and opportunities for things we can do differently as a DAO.
    • Launch of the internship program, establishing Index Coop as a leader in talent development and equal opportunities within DeFi
    • Design and distribution of payment for Bronze Owls Quest focused on promoting key behaviours
    • Work with key community members to reimagine “Owl Levels” and the associated benefit packages required to attract and retain top talent. (Trust and impact in the Index Coop)
    • Defining and analyzing community health as understanding/measuring community health is essential to establishing long-term strategic vision at the Coop.
    • Research articles establishing Index Coop as a thought leader in the space on all things DAO community, organization and people

  • Organization

    • Development of planning and forecasting structures and processes to increase visibility of key milestones and priorities within the Coop
    • Continuous improvement of our meeting cadence, working rhythm and organizational structure
    • Index Coop process design and improvement (i.e. treasury process automation)
    • Explore and maintain operational assets that empower productivity. Improve the effectiveness of our existing collaboration tools.

Note governance responsibility, such as the handover from Set (i.e. Gov 2.0: Index Gov 2.0 - Introduction to Delegated Governance - #2 by cedrick) is not covered within the POC WGs remit.

  • Community
    • Hosting of weekly community webinars and AMAs content to build an engaged, informed and educated community base
    • Managing BAU for New joiners call to provide context, knowledge sharing and a sense of community for new contributors
    • Iteration and streamlining of the WG specific onboarding process to identify and funnel top talent to WGs requiring support
    • Setting up opportunities for us to connect as individuals and socialize as a community
    • Moderation of Discord and expanding the functionality offered by this platform (i.e. bot & roles)
    • Maintenance of internal learning resources and reference guides i.e. the Community Handbook

What impact will this project have?

The POC is here to support all other Working Groups in their attainment of overarching KPIs.

This will be achieved through an engaged community made of high calibre talent working together in an effective way. They will be enabled by an organizational system which supports the identification, planning and accountability of strategic opportunities and objectives.

Thus, the POC will help Index Coop scale up to become a high performing team able to achieve its North Stars & Core KPIs.

Working Group Leader(s)

Joe McKenzie (@Pepperoni_Joe)

  • Index Coop Community Manager since May 1st.
  • Master in Occupational Psychology, PwC consulting alumni specializing in People and Organization.

POC WGL will determine contributions rewards for activity relating to Community, Organization and People.

Contributors who will be involved POC WG activity may include:

  • Discord automation - Defi Jesus
  • Webinar & AMA lead - Crypto Texan
  • Social & Analysis - Helmass
  • Internship - JMT NFT / oneski
  • Learning resources & Gitbook - Mel / DOC
  • New Joiner call - Cormac

Request for Funding

Contributor Rewards

Requesting a fixed fee of:

  • Leader Stipend - 430 Index [$8,700/month - as per June 20 day moving average]

The 430 Index [approx $8.7k] is set to cover [all my contributions across the Coop for the next 3 months, including activity spanning Growth, BD etc] all activity undertake to lead the POC WG and deliver on the defined objectives and KPIs.

This sits between the reward level of part-time non-technical WG leads (i.e. Dev - $6,000) and full time technical WG lead salaries (i.e. JD Cook - $10,000).

  • Contributor Rewards - approx $10,993 /month

Estimated budget required to attract and retain consistent POC talent and achieve the outlined objectives. A detailed breakdown of contributor rewards allocation is show below.

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  • Licenses & Subscriptions - approx $727 /month

To acquire required technology and licenses needed to support POC activity. These licenses would be used across the Coop - for example webinar jam will support BD webinar activity.

  • Ad Hoc cont. rewards - approx $3,045 /month

We have ~$4,350 $3,045/month budgeted for ad hoc contribution awards (outside of core duties) and to cover unexpected subscription needs. This extra budget has been included as “leg room” to enable the POC to fund any costs arising from “unknown unknowns”

* Bronze Owl Quest - approx $10,000 /month

Finally we have budgeted $10,000 for the Bronze Owl quests which will support payment to ~20 new joiners for their first month of reward. Payment for first month rewards is budget from and allocated by the POC. However, activity undertaken as part of the “Bronze Owl Quest” will likely span across multiple WGs.

Total Request for funding

Based on the breakdown provided above, we request monthly funding of $14,707 + 430 Index per month for 3 months - equaling a total requested budget of $44,121 and 1290 Index.

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Organization

How will it work? / What will you be doing?

  • See section “how will you address it”

How will you interface with the community?

  • Governance Forum Posts
  • Weekly Community, Organization and People call
  • Publication of all expenses and contributor rewards
  • #Community Channel on Discord
  • Community, Organization and People update in Monthly and Quarterly report

Commitments

I am committed to Index Coop principles

I am committed to serving the entire Index Coop with my work.

I know that clear, constant, public communication lifts up the entire Index Coop community. I am committed to this style of communication.

I will share my progress, learnings with the entire community. I will ensure that anything I create is accessible beyond my own tenure for future generations of Indexers to access & build on.

I am committed to growth and improvement. I am open to feedback and will use feedback to improve my work for the benefit of the community.

I am committed to making Index Coop a welcoming, fun, and engaging community to work in!

  • For initiating the POC WG from 1st July to October 1st
  • Against initiating the POC WG from 1st July to October 1st

0 voters

20 Likes
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Great read; the argument regarding directing the right people to the right areas is crucial, as is transparency, clarity and regular updating on the main goals and general direction of the coop (which currently, to my understanding, is often gathered by engaging in calls & conversations across working groups).
Adding a focus on upping inclusivity and diversity in the community would add tremendous value as well; this could be achieved by actively looking for and working with “ambassadors” from underrepresented groups.
By making the community more diverse, we not only spread the word about Index & crypto in general farther and faster; we also profit from the fresh insights and talent people of different backgrounds can bring.

6 Likes
3

Very well thought out and constructed post @Pepperoni_Joe, I am totally for the creation of the COP working group and think that the initiatives detailed are a huge value add for the Index Coop. I especially like the people aspect of this WG, recruitment is a key stepping stone for our continued growth and driving this through targeted positions will enhance the talent within the Index and allow us to set good performance requirements! Excited to see what you and the team can achieve in the coming months!! :100: :owl:

3 Likes
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Your efforts thus far have lowered the bar to meaningful contribution substantially in a short timeframe. If I consider what an incredible resource you have been in my time here, and multiply that out by the new Copper Owls that have been minted since I’ve come through the door . . . my mind is just blown. You identified a real need here and made it your passion to address it in a meaningful way. You’re commitment to this organization’s members, growth, and principles, is an ideal example to any new joiner . . . that’s the standard I think we as a community should hold this role to; a standard I have full confidence you would uphold.

As to the Working Group at large, I believe it will unlock tremendous value. The ability to identify, acquire, and empower talented contributors through the methods you describe are the scaling tools that allow The Coop to foresee and meet resource needs intentionally. I’m confident that you will deliver on this proposal and excited to see what you might bring to the space with dedicated resources at your disposal. I will be voting FOR.

I really like what @ela had to add regarding diversity and inclusivity and look forward your thoughts - while this very much needs to be a Coop-wide commitment, I think the WG you propose will be best positioned to push and track that initiative.

6 Likes
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I think that your work thus far has continually pushed the limits and redefined (at least for myself) the boundaries and breadth of what a Community Manager position in a DAO entails.

I believe Index as an organization stands to benefit immensely from the right person taking lead on community and organization, and I think you’ve earned the benefit of the doubt that you’ll continue to do so in an exceedingly innovative and effective way.

4 Likes
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I support this and think its well thought out.

I ‘joined’ 41 days ago (May 15th) so I have seen & experienced 1st hand the rapid improvements @Pepperoni_Joe has instigated around getting people into tasks, and streamlining + dramatically improving the new joiner process. Furthermore he’s been a pleasure to work with and I trust him.

I’ll leave the discussion on the specifics of the proposal to more experienced and involved members of the Coop. This is just a note to 1) endorse that in Joe I think we have a very capable person and professional to lead this effort & 2) I think the Coop has got to a stage where this function executed well will give us competitive advantage.

4 Likes
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Sound proposal and fully support it as well as @Pepperoni_Joe leading the effort.

More structure around recruiting, hiring, and compensation – particularly in but not limited to engineering – cannot be overemphasized today. Ditto retention.
I assume bounties for recruiting top talent are born by the individual WG’s and not this budget?

Reading this proposal I have to comment that in a DAO the lines between members/contributors/employees is opaque and I would not hesitate to emphasize our thought leadership – and this is mentioned in the proposal — among DAO’s in terms of how we are thinking – or at least beginning to think – in innovative and creative ways about how we manage the organization and continue to build the competitive moat that is the IC community. If I am a prospective recruit deciding between multiple DAO’s to join, the IC’s innovative thinking around DAO organizational design/practices can be the tie-breaker.

As @4aquatic mentioned above, I’ve found @Pepperoni_Joe to be a solid leader of our community effort — and great to work with! – since I got involved and this proposal is a logical extension to that effort.

Really looking forward to watching the execution of this!

P.S. Superficial throwaway comment: the acronym “COP” … maybe there’s another one that doesn’t remind us so much of HR …

5 Likes
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That’s a long ‘O’ @patb , pronounced ‘COOP’!

2 Likes
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I support the working group as described with @Pepperoni_Joe leading it.

The best teams consist of people well suited to their roles, and in my experience, Joe is an excellent identifier of skills and delegator of using those skills.

My only note would be that it seems to me that the dev resource problem you mentioned above is the most significant problem facing the coop. Everything else is secondary to making sure we can continue putting out new products with enough support to keep them functioning as intended. I would encourage this working group to consider solving that the top priority.

People being able to better contribute to content, marketing, etc. should absolutely be a goal, but engineering is the essence of forward motion for us. I want to be sure we’re not worrying about the paint on a car with a busted transmission.

5 Likes
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Awesome read here @Pepperoni_Joe and though I had to read the proposal to understand what it entails, I can vouch that it didn’t really need to be read because I trust that it is definitely for the best of the entire Coop. Your work, dedication, and excellent consistency you have brought into the organization in a very short while definitely speak for itself, and I am excited that this initiative has been proposed and prospectively handled by you.

There is absolutely no doubt that this will be a positive influence towards the entire growth of Index Coop Community. If anyone probably have doubts whatsoever, i’d say take a first glance at Discord and what you made of it, the answers they look for begins from there. Cheers man! :sunglasses:

5 Likes
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I’m in support of this @Pepperoni_Joe and you leading it.

A well laid out post and it’s clear you and team are building a machine already.

As mentioned 1-1, if this machine could help with lead gen / awareness for engineers and product managers (in the tech industry sense of the word), I think that would be optimal.

2 Likes
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I am strongly in support of this. @Pepperoni_Joe is the exact person we need to lead this group.

Currently the Coop’s biggest pain point is our lack of engineering resources. This group needs to be laser focused on solving this over the next three months. If this WG helps solve this problem for our community that will be a huge win.

4 Likes
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I’m a big fan of this proposal. As a new copper owl, I probably wouldn’t be posting this comment if it weren’t for @Pepperoni_Joe.

Regarding the engineering needs, I may be able to help brainstorm ideas. I’ve been CTO/VP Engineering at a couple startups and have hired ~20 engineers over the years. Hit me up on Discord, edwardk#9722!

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You have my vote, Joe. This is the perfect role for you, and you’ve clearly given this a lot of thought. Excited to see you bring some organizational excellence to the Index Coop!

4 Likes
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Huge YES from me on this. Joe has played a big role in getting me onboarded to the coop quickly and efficiently. I have complete confidence that he is the right person to lead this initiative.

The creation of this WG is vital in my eyes. The problem that it aims to address is real. The challenge of attracting and retaining talent is currently an issue that the coop needs to dedicate real resources to if we are to continue to grow, adapt and succeed.

To echo a few other contributors:

I would also suggest prioritizing the recruitment of the right people to fill these needs should be the primary goal of the new WG.

3 Likes
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Like other commenters, I’m in support of this – both as a real and impactful need for the coop and a reflection of @Pepperoni_Joe 's leadership and expertise!

Will echo the comments on recruiting. I’ll add that as we enter the recruitment period, it would be great for the COP to also think about the engineering WG structure and how it interacts with other WGs/the Coop at large. Should the product/eng WGs have a joint meeting? Should eng WG be more heavily involved in product roadmap prioritization? Etc.

Big ups to the comments on diversity and inclusion as well. I love how this conversation is taking shape at the coop!

4 Likes
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Thanks for the feedback all - the support is HUGELY appreciated.

I have updated this proposal to reflect several key feedback themes

  1. Rename to POC WG (People, Organization Community)
  2. Highlighting that key strategic priority of this WG is to support recruitment, training and retention of engineering resource

@edwardk - I’ve sent you a friend request on Discord to follow up on your comments RE dev recruitment.

Further feedback would still be valued - but the proposal is now open for voting!

Thanks,

Joe

2 Likes
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I voted yes. @Pepperoni_Joe has added a lot of value to the Index Coop since he began contributing. Really keen to see how much more value can be created for the Coop with this working group.

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I’m also in support of this. Thanks @Pepperoni_Joe. Your leadership has been phenomenal and you keep looking out to enrich everyone and you keep making sure we all grow as index coop is growing. Thanks :100:

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Jumping rrrrrright in :raised_hands:

Looking at Working Groups v1.1 a few initial questions come to mind. I’m really drilling in for specificity here.

On What are the core problem(s) you want to solve today?
It’d be great to get more specific here, i.e.

  • Is disconnect with our community really a problem today? How is that showing up? Likewise for “failure to leverage.”
  • What specific organizational inefficiencies do you notice?
  • How are we ineffective with our identification/utilization/retention of top people?

On How will you address it

  • If you had to boil it down all the initiatives to top 5 in terms of impact, what would those 5 be?

On What impact will this project have

  • I appreciate the idea that a variety KPIs may rise if this WG is successful. However, it will be tough to link, “Identification of people needs” with “increase in unit supply” for example.
  • So, what are some specific outcomes you can focus on driving? i.e. # of new engineering contributors retained

I am voting “AGAINST”** for the time being given these initial outstanding questions.

Important side note -- Private Polls

As a general rule of thumb, i suggest all working group proposals make polls like this private in order to encourage both FORs and AGAINSTs to make themselves known.

I believe that private polls lead to a more accurate reflection of community sentiment.

13 Likes