Proposal for Changing the Training Team’s Workflow

The WordPress Training Team has had the same workflow for several years. It consists of:

  1. Generate an idea for a topic
  2. Articulate the description and objectives
  3. Draft the lesson plan
  4. Instructional review (a relatively new step in the workflow)
  5. Copyedit
  6. Copyedit
  7. Copyedit (Review for style guide adherence)
  8. Test
  9. Test
  10. Test
  11. Review for publication
  12. Publish

That’s a lot of steps. The reality is this workflow slows the release of lesson plans for months, it is tedious for the team, and it may not be necessary.

So in an effort to be more agile and improve the impact the team can make, it is proposed that the workflow be changed to:

  1. Identify a need for a topic
  2. Articulate the description and objectives
  3. Draft the lesson plan
  4. Instructional review
  5. Copyedit
  6. Review for style guide adherence
  7. Review for publication
  8. Publish

This new workflow would reduce the copyediting and testing steps. Rather than having the team use resources on those tasks, feedback forms would be provided on the published lesson plans for copyediting and testing. To be clear, those forms would include:

  • Copyediting: typos, grammar errors, hard to understand writing, organization comments, generally any feedback not generated from using at an in-person event
  • Testing: feedback after a lesson plan has been used for an in-person event, see: https://make.wordpress.org/training/handbook/about/testing-lesson-plans/instructor-testing-feedback/

This change would allow the Training Team to focus on identifying lesson plan needs, drafting them, and getting them published and available to the community. And letting the community assist in making them better in ways the team itself cannot.

The purpose of this change is to reduce the time from when a need is identified until that lesson plan is available for use by the community. The team is looking to implement this new workflow before WordCamp US in December 2018.

Please share your thoughts in the comments!

Training Team Meeting Agenda 20 Sept 2018

The WordPress Training Team Meets Today!

Please join us at 19:30 UTC in the #training Slack channel for our weekly meeting!

Today’s Agenda

  1. Updates on lesson plans in progress
  2. Lesson plans next in the queue for drafting / copyediting / testing
  3. Team to-dos
  4. learn.wordpress.org update
  5. Open announcements / discussion

You are welcome to join the team at any time! If you are new to the Training Team, please introduce yourself in the #training channel before the meeting (or anytime!) and feel free to join us in the meeting and participate as you are able.

Training Team Mission

The WordPress training team creates downloadable lesson plans and related materials for instructors to use in live environments.

Getting Involved

Everyone is welcome and encouraged to join in, comment on posts, and participate in meetings and on projects.

Team Links:

Taking the Pulse of the Training Team

At today’s weekly meeting, three questions were asked:

  1. What should the Training Team START doing that it’s not doing now?
  2. What should the Training Team CONTINUE doing that it’s doing now?
  3. What should the Training Team STOP doing?

The ideas generated were:

START

  • Recruit new members
  • Revisit the guidelines to join the team (onboarding information)
  • “Pair programming” – assign a buddy to new members or do “side-by-side” assitance
  • Ask why team members are having trouble contributing (follow-up)
  • Slack channel notification when the meeting begins

CONTINUE

  • Video meetings (more!)
  • Weekly meetings
  • Asking for updates
  • Slack channel notifications

STOP

  • Tedious workflow

Please add any additional thoughts in the comments!

Training Team Meeting Agenda 13 Sept 2018

The WordPress Training Team Meets Today!

Please join us at 19:30 UTC in the #training Slack channel for our weekly meeting!

Today’s Agenda

  1. Updates on lesson plans in progress
  2. Lesson plans next in the queue for drafting / copyediting / testing
  3. Winter is coming… (planning for WordCamp US)
  4. Open announcements / discussion

You are welcome to join the team at any time! If you are new to the Training Team, please introduce yourself in the #training channel before the meeting (or anytime!) and feel free to join us in the meeting and participate as you are able.

Training Team Mission

The WordPress training team creates downloadable lesson plans and related materials for instructors to use in live environments.

Getting Involved

Everyone is welcome and encouraged to join in, comment on posts, and participate in meetings and on projects.

Team Links:

Training Team Meeting Agenda 6 Sept 2018

The WordPress Training Team Meets Today!

Please join us at 19:30 UTC in the #training Slack channel for our weekly meeting!

Today’s Agenda

  1. Updates on lesson plans in progress
  2. Lesson plans next in the queue for drafting / copyediting / testing
  3. Winter is coming… (planning for WordCamp US)
  4. Open announcements / discussion

You are welcome to join the team at any time! If you are new to the Training Team, please introduce yourself in the #training channel before the meeting (or anytime!) and feel free to join us in the meeting and participate as you are able.

Training Team Mission

The WordPress training team creates downloadable lesson plans and related materials for instructors to use in live environments.

Getting Involved

Everyone is welcome and encouraged to join in, comment on posts, and participate in meetings and on projects.

Team Links:

Training Team Meeting Agenda 30 August 2018

The WordPress Training Team Meets Today!

Please join us at 19:30 UTC in the #training Slack channel for our weekly meeting!

Today’s Agenda

  1. Updates on lesson plans in progress
  2. Lesson plans next in the queue for drafting / copyediting / testing
  3. GitHub Page redesign
  4. Correction in the slides files
  5. Change of the default branch in the GitHub repos
  6. Tweak to the team’s mission
  7. Proposed change to the team’s workflow
  8. Waffle.io
  9. Open announcements / discussion

You are welcome to join the team at any time! If you are new to the Training Team, please introduce yourself in the #training channel before the meeting (or anytime!) and feel free to join us in the meeting and participate as you are able.

Training Team Mission

The WordPress training team creates downloadable lesson plans and related materials for instructors to use in live environments.

Getting Involved

Everyone is welcome and encouraged to join in, comment on posts, and participate in meetings and on projects.

Team Links:

Training Team Online Contributor Day and Weekly Meeting 23 August 2018!

The WordPress Training Team Meets Today!

Online Contributor Day

Today the team will have a unique opportunity to hold a Contributor Day at WordCamp MSP (Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, USA) from12:00 noon – 4pm Central time. But what makes it unique is that we will also make it possible to participate online – you don’t have to be at WordCamp MSP! Join us anytime using this link https://pantheon.zoom.us/j/648836505 to participate by video conference (thanks Pantheon!) and learn more about the Training Team, how we work, or just work in real time in contributing to the team. We’d love to have you stop by!

Training Team Meeting Agenda

Our regular weekly team meeting will be right in the middle of the Online Contributor Day, from 2:30-3:30 Central time. It too will be a video meeting using this link https://pantheon.zoom.us/j/648836505 to participate by video conference.

Today’s Agenda

  1. Updates on lesson plans in progress
  • Drafts in Progress
  • Copyediting in Progress
  • Testing in Progress
  • Lesson plans needing drafting / copyediting / testing
    • What You Can Do With WordPress
    • Choosing and Installing Plugins
    • Backing up Your WordPress site
  • WordCamp MSP (and Online) Contributor Day
  • Open announcements / discussion
  • You are welcome to join the team at any time! If you are new to the Training Team, please introduce yourself in the #training channel before the meeting (or anytime!) and feel free to join us in the meeting and participate as you are able.

    Training Team Mission

    The WordPress training team creates downloadable lesson plans and related materials for instructors to use in live workshop environments.

    Getting Involved

    Everyone is welcome and encouraged to join in, comment on posts, and participate in meetings and on projects.

    Team Links:

    Training Team Online Contributor Day on 23 August 2018

    On Thursday 23 August 2018 the team will have a unique opportunity to hold a Contributor Day at WordCamp MSP (Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, USA) from 12:00 noon – 4pm Central time. But what makes it unique is that we will also make it possible to participate online – you don’t have to be at WordCamp MSP! Join us anytime using this link https://pantheon.zoom.us/j/648836505 to participate by video conference (thanks Pantheon!) and learn more about the Training Team, how we work, or just work in real time in contributing to the team. We’d love to have you stop by!

    Our regular weekly team meeting will be right in the middle, from 2:30-3:30 Central time. It too will be a video meeting using the Zoom link above.

    Training Team Meeting Agenda 16 August 2018

    The WordPress Training Team Meets Today!

    Please join us at 19:30 UTC in the #training Slack channel for our weekly meeting!

    Today’s Agenda

    1. Updates on lesson plans in progress
    • Drafts in Progress
    • Copyediting in Progress
    • Testing in Progress
  • Lesson plans needing drafting / copyediting / testing
    • What You Can Do With WordPress
    • Choosing and Installing Plugins
    • Backing up Your WordPress site
  • WordCamp MSP (and Online) Contributor Day
  • Open announcements / discussion
  • You are welcome to join the team at any time! If you are new to the Training Team, please introduce yourself in the #training channel before the meeting (or anytime!) and feel free to join us in the meeting and participate as you are able.

    Training Team Mission

    The WordPress training team creates downloadable lesson plans and related materials for instructors to use in live workshop environments.

    Getting Involved

    Everyone is welcome and encouraged to join in, comment on posts, and participate in meetings and on projects.

    Team Links:

    Training Team Meeting Agenda

    The WordPress Training Team Meets Today!

    Please join us at 19:30 UTC in the #training Slack channel for our weekly meeting!

    Today’s Agenda

    1. Updates on lesson plans in progress
    • Drafts in Progress
    • Copyediting in Progress
    • Testing in Progress
  • Lesson plans needing reassignment
  • Lesson plans needing drafting / copyediting / testing
    • What You Can Do With WordPress
    • Choosing and Installing Themes
    • Choosing and Installing Plugins
  • Open announcements / discussion
  • You are welcome to join the team at any time! If you are new to the Training Team, please introduce yourself in the #training channel before the meeting (or anytime!) and feel free to join us in the meeting and participate as you are able.

    Training Team Mission

    The WordPress training team creates downloadable lesson plans and related materials for instructors to use in live workshop environments.

    Getting Involved

    Everyone is welcome and encouraged to join in, comment on posts, and participate in meetings and on projects.

    Team Links: