Sig-release: Release Team survey improvements

[justaugustus]

Now that we have a survey for Release Team volunteers, I'd like to gather suggestions on how we can:

• Improve the survey
• Easily massage the survey data in future

@BenTheElder also brought up a great point: while we won't be able accept everyone on the Release Team, this seems like it could be an additional resource for seeding volunteers for other places in the project.

I'm happy to have anyone who wants to carry this issue forward pick it up.
/help

/sig release contributor-experience

cc: @calebamiles @tpepper @spiffxp @BenTheElder @marpaia @parispittman @idvoretskyi @castrojo @nikhita

[spiffxp]

/area release-team

[idvoretskyi]

• Improve the survey

@justaugustus can you please share the currently used version?

[justaugustus]

Jim has graciously volunteered for this! :)
/assign @jimangel

[justaugustus]

/remove-help

[jberkus]

Hey, I'm taking this over, and I have no access to the original survey. Will pester people on Slack.

[spiffxp]

/milestone v1.15

[jimangel]

I solicited feedback throughout the v1.14 release cycle and summarized what I found in a google doc today. I then sent that doc out to every v1.14 release lead and encouraged them to share it with their shadows. This was the net takeaway:

The survey should limit the candidate from selecting <2 roles (default for 1.14).

Questions the community would like to add:

1. How many hours a week do you think you'll need to fulfill these duties?
2. Which part about the role(s) interest you the most?
3. Which part about the role(s) interest you least?
4. What are you looking to gain from shadowing the release team?
5. What are your future goals for contributing within the Kubernetes community?
6. Communication preference (multiple choice of Github / Slack / email)?

Definition of the shadow selection process as lead:

• Review
  
  
  
  • you will review the survey results
  
  
  • you will review candidates background
  
  
  • Github / LinkedIn / Other
  
  
  • you will conduct 1:1 interviews with candidates they are interested in
  
  
  • Interviews will be over Slack / email / Zoom (your preference)
  
  
• Selection (after reviewing the guide)
  
  
  
  • There is no recommended number of shadows to select.
  
  
  • Use your best judgement of what you feel comfortable with mentoring
  
  
  • When in doubt, use the previous release as a guideline
  
  
  • Reach out to your selected candidate(s)
  
  
• Rejection
  
  
  
  • Communicate (email or Slack) to anyone not selected using a defined template.
  
  
  • This template will outline why they weren't accepted, what areas of kubernetes they could help in (related to their application), and a connection to sig-contribex for additional support.
  
  
  • Only reply for the role you're responsible for, if the candidate is rejected from their other chosen role, the other lead should also send a letter unique to that area. This allows the candidate to choose a SIG that best fits their skillset to help with.
  
  

TODO:

• [ ] issue/PR the shadow/lead doc to include clearer selection guidelines documented (above).
• [x] Get a clearer timeline documented and PR'd. The survey should go out during Code Freeze, but we need to lock down a timeline for how long the survey is open, how long leads get to review, and when the "final" roster is due.
• [ ] issue/PR the rejection message template defined (above).

Feel free to add anything I missed! Thanks!

[jberkus]

Some feedback on new questions based on creating a draft survey:

How many hours a week do you think you'll need to fulfill these duties?

I'm opposed to this question. As an applicant, the above really feels like a "trap" question, and is unlikely to produce useful output.

Which part about the role(s) interest you the most?

Added.

Which part about the role(s) interest you least?

I don't understand the purpose of this question.

What are you looking to gain from shadowing the release team?

Added.

What are your future goals for contributing within the Kubernetes community?

Will add.

Communication preference (multiple choice of Github / Slack / email)?

Will add.

[jimangel]

How many hours a week do you think you'll need to fulfill these duties?

I'm opposed to this question. As an applicant, the above really feels like a "trap" question, and is unlikely to produce useful output.

Valid point, and agree! Agree that "Which part about the role(s) interest you least?" doesn't make a ton of sense and is somewhat "busy work"

[jimangel]

It was brought up on slack about removing the "Communication preference" question.

That was my suggestion because I had issues finding all users on slack / github to contact about the release. My thought is, this question helps validate at least 1 effective way to get a hold of the person.

The counter point is that the lead should choose their communication preference regardless of candidates preference.

I think there can be a middle ground... Leads don't need to follow communication preferences for 1:1 interview but the question ensures at least one working way to effectively contact them.

If you feel strongly one way or the other, feel free to provide feedback.

Edit: non issue, question withdrawn

[justaugustus]

Are we all set to close this out?
/assign @jberkus

[jimangel]

@justaugustus @jberkus I PR'd the official deadlines, but not the agreed upon outlined process or the rejection template. The latter might not be needed, but I do think we should outline the process a little better.

I'm short on cycles at the moment, so I'll leave final direction to @jberkus

[justaugustus]

/unassign @jimangel
/assign
/milestone v1.16
/priority important-longterm

[justaugustus]

/assign @claurence

[jberkus]

Is there some reason this isn't closable?

[claurence]

I believe all feedback from this was pulled into the 1.16 form (and is now in the future 1.17 form). would we want to leave it open to solicit new feedback based on 1.16 or create a new issue for that and close this one?

[jberkus]

Let's create a new one if we need it.

/close

[k8s-ci-robot]

@jberkus: Closing this issue.

In response to this:

Let's create a new one if we need it.

/close

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