Re: [chairs] Gentle reminder to all TCs regarding acknowledging comments during your feedback

[robert_weir@us.ibm.com]

Robin Cover <robin@oasis-open.org> wrote on 03/29/2012
08:04:55 AM:
> Subject: Re: [chairs] Gentle reminder to all TCs regarding 
> acknowledging comments during your feedback
> 
> > Lately I have received some complaints from people who
> > took the time to provide comments during public reviews...
> 
> Excellent reminder below about professional etiquette
> in taking time to "thank those who take the time to send
> you comments."
> 


It is good to have clarification on this.  I
recall hearing from a TC Admin, several years ago, that since subscription
to the comment list was required for someone to submit a comment in the
first place, they would receive a copy of their own comment, via the list,
and this was sufficient to "acknowledge the receipt".

Also, from the "professional etiquette"
standpoint, I don't think it matters whether a comment came in strictly
within the bounds of a public review.  It is a good idea to acknowledge
all comments, whenever received.


> This may be a good time also to remind TCs about the
> professional courtesy in providing a published summary
> of all comments and dispositions at the end of a public
> review period.  The following complaint has also been
> heard, increasingly, from parties who simply want to
> know what happened in a public review event:
> 
> "I looked for the disposition log following the public review
> of the specification, and could not find any document/record
> summarizing the disposition of comments."
> 
> The public review "disposition log" is not labeled with
> that descriptor in the TC Process, which says in more
> general terms that a final record (viz., "at the end")
> is required:
> 
>    "The TC must acknowledge the receipt of each comment,
>     track the comments received, and post to its
>     primary e-mail list its disposition of each comment
>     at the end of the review period."
> 
> http://www.oasis-open.org/policies-guidelines/tc-process#publicReview-comments
> 

We've also sent a link to this report to the comment
list itself. I'm surprised that is not a required or at least a recommended
practice.


> Historically, it's become common practice for TCs
> to present a final (rollup) summary using a spreadsheet
> or similar publication which compiles (logs) the comments
> from the two lists (TC Comment List, TC Discussion
> List), removes duplicates, isolates discrete issues
> from compound/aggregated statements, documents
> the TC's disposition for each comment, and links to
> the list archive sources for each atomic comment.
> TCs sometimes also refer to issues in a JIRA
> project (component), if triage of comments has been
> done using the JIRA issue tracker facility.
> 

We've processed 1,845 public comments in the ODF TC,
over three versions.  Using JIRA to process them has been essential.
 We use a python script to scrape the comments from the comment list,
and turn them into URL/commands for import into JIRA, using their REST
API.  Then the TC resolves via JIRA and at the end exports to a spreadsheet.

Of course, not every TC will need to deal with that
many comments, but I'm happy to share my python script if anyone wants
to implement a similar workflow for their TC.

> Such summary presentation in a published disposition
> log (also called a "Comment Resolution Log") makes it
> easy for any member of the TC, OASIS, or external
> party to examine the key facts about a public review.
> 
> I have suggested to the TC Admin team that we
> initiate a practice of including the disposition log
> (summary) or a pointer to it in the OASIS Library
> with each public review document/stage, so that
> it may always be be found in a predictable location,
> even if the summary is "no comments received".
> 
> Further discussion about the role of a Disposition
> Log (aka Comment Resolution Log) as a means of
> providing the summary "at the end of the review period"
> is presented in the TC Handbook (under "Feedback"):
> 
> http://docs.oasis-open.org/TChandbook/Reference/
> PublicReviews.html#commentResolutionLog
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> - Robin
> 
> Robin Cover
> OASIS, Director of Information Services
> Editor, Cover Pages and XML Daily Newslink
> Email: robin@oasis-open.org
> Staff bio: http://www.oasis-open.org/people/staff/robin-cover
> Cover Pages: http://xml.coverpages.org/
> Newsletter: http://xml.coverpages.org/newsletterArchive.html
> Tel: +1 972-296-1783
> 
> ======
> 
> On Wed, 28 Mar 2012, Chet Ensign wrote:
> 
> > Chairs,
> >
> > Just a short etiquette reminder that I ask you to share with
members
> > of your Technical Committees as appropriate.
> >
> > Lately I have received some complaints from people who took the
time
> > to provide comments during public reviews only to have their
offerings
> > seemingly disappear into the electronic void.
> >
> > The OASIS TC Process places only the most minimal of obligations
on
> > TCs regarding the handling of comments however it does say in
section
> > 3.2, Public Review of a Committee Draft that "The TC must
acknowledge
> > the receipt of each comment..."
> >
> > Please, if you do nothing else, acknowledge and thank those who
take
> > the time to send you comments. It may be easiest if one TC member
is
> > tasked with the responsibility of processing comments back in
to the
> > TC, including acknowledging receipt. But however you do it, if
someone
> > makes the effort to provide you with feedback, it is just common
> > courtesy to let them know that their comments have been received.
> >
> > Thanks & best regards,
> >
> > /chet
> > ----------------
> > Chet Ensign
> > Director of Standards Development and TC Administration
> > OASIS: Advancing open standards for the information society
> > http://www.oasis-open.org
> >
> > Primary: +1 973-378-3472
> > Mobile: +1 201-341-1393
> >
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