This year, the Community team has refocused on increasing training and support for deputiesDeputy Community Deputies are a team of people all over the world who review WordCamp and Meetup applications, interview lead organizers, and generally keep things moving at WordCamp Central. Find more about deputies in our Community Deputy Handbook. and mentorsMentor Someone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues.. In reflecting on our team structure, I was reminded of @chanthabouneďż˝?s observations on WordPress contributor team structures and the many paths to leadership. It seemed timely to revisit that and think about how Community team contributors are involved, and to give clarity to roles and responsibilities.

As a reminder, the five stages of volunteering include:

1. Connecting 
2. Understanding
3. Engaging
4. Performing
5. Leading

Contributors can spend any amount of time in any of these stages, and each stage builds upon another.

In thinking about Community team structure, it seems like these are the corresponding roles:

1. Attendees
2. Volunteers
3. Organizers
4. Mentors and Deputies
5. MentorMentor Someone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues. Advisors* and Super DeputiesSuper deputy Super Deputies are Deputies who can perform extra tasks on WordCamp.org like creating new sites and publishing WordCamps to the schedule.

The chart below helps to explain the thought process behind this ladder.

*Mentor Advisors is not currently a defined role on the Community team, but a role that members have suggested “formalizing”, in hopes of offering enhanced support to new and existing WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. mentors. 

A few observations

In thinking this through, I wanted to call out a few observations. 

• It is not uncommon for a new contributor to join at either the first, second, or even third stages, and in pretty rapid succession. 
• From my perspective, “ladder levels” #3 and above (engaging, performing, leading) of Organizers, Mentors and Deputies, and Mentor Advisors and Super Deputies are all leadership roles. It is pretty special that our barrier to entry is fairly low for a leadership role!
• One challenge that the Community team has had historically is differentiation of a deputyDeputy Community Deputies are a team of people all over the world who review WordCamp and Meetup applications, interview lead organizers, and generally keep things moving at WordCamp Central. Find more about deputies in our Community Deputy Handbook. and super deputySuper deputy Super Deputies are Deputies who can perform extra tasks on WordCamp.org like creating new sites and publishing WordCamps to the schedule., so I’ve tried to outline some of the responsibilities here.

What do you think? 

What are your thoughts on this Community team contributor ladder? What questions come to mind? What adjustments would you make? 

Please share your thoughts by Friday, April 23, 2021. While no decisions are coming out of this discussion, this is helpful information to share with all Community team contributors and could be handy material for our handbooks. 

Thank you to @sippis, @harishanker, @evarlese, and @hlashbrooke for helping to write this post!