[openbeos] Re: The importance of good communications
- From: "Jorge G. Mare (a.k.a. Koki)" <koki@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: openbeos@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2006 10:57:56 -0700
Hi everyone,
Thanks for the feedback/comments. To keep the focus on what I think are
the key points, I will see if I can address the issues w/o responding
individually.
First off, I think the idea of teams with their own internal
communications channel is a good one. It makes it easy to identify who
is doing what (at least in theory), and helps keep the conversation
focused. These channels are good for the internal communication of the
members of any given team to have focused discussions related to their
own goals. However, duplication of channels for the same team is a bad
idea. If you create teams to achieve focus, then you do not want to have
duplicate communication venues that can put a dent on that focus. I am
specifically referring to the fact that most teams (all?) have a mailing
list and a section in the forums.
There was mention to the "Weekly Haiku" initiative. I think this is
great! This is very informative, and a good thing per se, regardless of
whether it comes from Haiku or a third party.
I am also very in favor of developer's blogs. It is a great outlet for
devs to communicate
with their peers, plus it helps build a sense of community. I understand
that the new website will host blogs for the devs, and that there will
be a drive to to move all the dev's blogs to the Haiku website. In
addition to this, it would be nice the website could have Haiku
universe-like page that captures the headlines of as many haiku-related
websites as possible (perhaps categorized into development, news, HUG,
etc. for ease of browsing).
All of the above communication venues have a purpose, and although one
could argue that they may benefit from a tweak here and there (such as
eliminating duplication), you could say they are generally in good
shape. They also have the positive effect of creating a sense of community.
However, these channels transmit a diversity of opinions and points of
views that are a reflection of the individuals that use them. Nothing
wrong with that, but this can portray lack of coherence. If as a project
we want to give a message that is consistent and therefore easy to
understand, then there needs to be an easily tangible distinction
between what individuals express (personal opinions) and what Haiku
needs to communicate as a project (messages designed to achieve a
certain goal for the project). This is where the officially-sanctioned
communication comes into place, and why discussion and authoritative
decision-making before disclosure is necessary.
The point is being made Haiku does not need a PR machine such as that of
Microsoft, and I tend to agree. However, in the same way that in the
area of engineering Haiku spent time and effort to put certain framework
in place to maintain and manage code (ie., tools such as SVN) and took
organizational measures to achieve focus (by creating teams with their
own communication venues), the project could also benefit from taking
equivalent measures in the area of communications, and the suggested
creation of a communications team would be the first step towards
figuring out what can be done to improve communications.
Stephan asks if I could draft writeups for publication; I certainly
could, but that would only change things marginally. To really make a
difference in your communications, you need a coordinated team effort.
I have been working in marketing communications for the last 10 years. I
do not claim to know it all, but I think that Haiku could really use a
hand in this area, and I am willing to give it a shot. I am willing to
be the lead (no need for pompous titles such as director). However, I
want this to be a team effort that is endorsed by the leadership of the
project; otherwise, I think it would simply not work. The good thing is
that there seems to be people out there with the desire to help out, so
it looks like there is the drive in the community to make this happen.
What we need then is the green light from the leadership of the project.
Koki
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