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<big>'''This Guide is a DRAFT in process'''. </big><big>If you would like to contribute and edit this material, [https://www.nena.org/page/JoinReferences_WG join the References Working Group]. If you find things here that are incorrect or could be improved, please [[Contact Us]].</big>
== Introduction ==
This page provides guidelines to NENA working group chairs to help them lead their groups in fulfilling the charter that was developed when the group was formed. Our volunteer working group chairs assume considerable responsibilities when they agree to lead a working group. The information presented here is intended to help guide them through the tasks that are often appear to be more complicated than necessary but are required to satisfy the requirements of a Standards Development Organization (SDO) seeking standards accredited by ANSI (American National Standards Institute). ANSI has approved the Document Development and Approval Process described in NENA-ADM-001. Since our working groups play a critical role in document development and approval, it is important that they conform to those provisions when developing documents, and that the processes can be verified. Only then can NENA standards qualify to be classified as ANSI-accredited.
=== Roles and Responsibilities of Working Group Chairs ===
The roles and responsibilities of Subcommittee and Working Group Chairs are described in [httphttps://cdn.ymaws.com/www.nena.org/resource/collectionresmgr/625EAB1D-49B3-4694-B037-8E854B43CA16standards/NENA_ADMnena-001_NDG_Org_Structure_Document_03adm-26001.5b-20122022_final_2.pdf NENA Development Group Organizational Structure (NENA-ADM-001)], Section 7.3:
Subcommittee and Working Group Chairs/Co-Chairs preside over their Subcommittee/Working Group, and shall coordinate their team efforts to include:
*If edits are made to contributions or draft documents, document editor will upload updated material within 5 days using “Add a Revision” in NENA Workspace. Reviewed contributions should be updated until consensus is reached and the contributions can be incorporated into draft documents. Contributions should also be retained in the contributions folder with major contributor identified.
=== Conducting Polls - What you need to know aboutand NENA Workspace Ballots===
Polls are an important part of a working group's activity. Surveys taken during calls using the Zoom's Poll feature or a [[NENA Development Group Guide#Use the Zoom "Chat Window" for quick surveys|Chat Window]] survey only represent the opinions of the meeting's participants but chairs are permitted to make consensus calls based on them if, in the opinion of the chairs, there is overwhelming consensus on the issue. For polls that include the entire group (or the designated voters), NENA Workspace provides two types of ballots to conduct polls. They are used to determine the preferences of the members and are also used to determine whether groups have the consensus required to publish documents.
See [[Conducting Polls and NENA Workspace Ballots]] for a complete guide on using NENA Workspace Ballots.
Background and help from Higher Logic (NWS host) is available on their [https://support.higherlogic.com/hc/en-us/articles/360033057371-Working-with-Ballots Working with Ballots] page.
The "'''Approval Ballot'''" is the official ballot for approving documents. To set up an Approval Ballot see [[Help for Setting Up an Approval Ballot on NENA_Workspace]]. For polling other than official, document approval, NENA Workspace provides what it calls a "'''General''' '''Ballot'''". Those ballots may either be a Consensus Ballot or a General Ballot, depending on how they are configured.
This table describes the primary differences between the three (3) ballot types and how they are used in [https://www.nena.org/page/NENAOrgStructure ADM-001 NENA Development Group Organizational Structure and Operational Procedures]:
==== A ballot type comparison table. ====
{| class="wikitable"
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;" |
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;" |'''Approval Ballot'''
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;" |'''General Ballot'''
(For Official Use)
| align="center" style="background:#f0f0f0;" |'''General Ballot'''
(For Unofficial Use)
|+NENA Workspace Ballot Type Comparison
|Ballot Type Summary
|'''Approval Ballot'''<br>
Used to determine consensus required to move a document forward in the document approval process.
|'''Consensus Ballot'''<br>
Used for matters other than document approvals requiring consensus.
|'''General Ballot'''<br>
Used for informal agreement of non-document matters.
|-
|Can ballot be used to determine official consensus?|| colspan="2" align="center" |Yes.
|No
|-
|When '''must''' the ballot be used?
|
When the candidate document is ready for publication.
|To determine official consensus on matters other than document approvals.
|Not required.
|-
|When '''should''' the ballot be used?
|When the candidate document is ready for publication.
|
*To gain official consensus on matters other than document approval or
* When consensus on an issue or disputed text is required and it is possible that the opinions expressed on a call may not be representative of the entire consensus body or
*Deciding on whether or not to accept disputed responses to review comments.
|
*To sample the entire group's opinion.
*To get the group's preferences in choosing from multiple options.
*To get opinions on non document-related issues.
|-
|Who can create the ballot?|| colspan="3" align="center" |Committee Resource Manager (CRM), Working Group Chair, or Committee Chair
|-
|Who can vote?|| colspan="2" |Officially designated voters as defined in [https://www.nena.org/page/NENAOrgStructure NENA-ADM-001]. The [[Consensus Body]] for NENA document approvals is made up of the independent individuals and Participating Entities whose Working Group representatives participate in the Official Ballots, including the Approval Ballots to approve the content of an ANS standard and whose vote demonstrates evidence of agreement..
|Anyone on the roster.
|-
|How to select in Workspace?||
# Select "Documents" in the left menu.
#Navigate to the document requiring approval.
#In the "Edit" drop-down menu, select "Create Approval Ballot."
# Complete the form(s).
|
#Select "Ballots" in the left menu.
#Click on the green "Add" button. (Not the drop-down arrow).
#Check "Official Ballot" check box.
#Complete the form(s).
|
*Select "Ballots" in the left menu.
*Click on the green "Add" button. (Not the drop-down arrow).
*Uncheck "Official Ballot" check box.
*Complete the form(s).
|-
|Answer Options||Restricted to "Yes"/"No"/"Abstain"|| colspan="2" align="center" |Flexible. May be "Yes"/"No"/"Abstain" or Multiple Choice
|-
|Is there a minimum required participation?||Yes, 50% of eligible entities must vote for a valid decision on approval. A vote may be "Yes," "No." or "Abstain."||Yes, 50% of eligible entities must vote for a valid decision on approval. A vote may be "Yes," "No." or "Abstain" or multiple choice.
|No. The interpretation of the ballot results are left to the Working Group members and may guide the WG leaders.
|-
|What happens if participation does not reach 50%?
| colspan="2" |If 50% participation is not reached, the ballot should be [[Recirculation Ballot|recirculated]] so that voters who have not voted may vote, and voters may change their vote. Otherwise, existing votes remain valid. Participation may be increased by encouraging members to use the "Abstain" option and by removing members who did not vote.
| Discretion on accepting ballot results and participation level is left to the ballot originator with consideration given to the importance of the ballot.
|-
|What is threshold of votes to indicate consensus and approval?||A document is approved when 2/3 of designated voters casting ballots vote to approve (not counting abstentions).
|For "Yes"/"No"/"Abstain" votes, a "Yes" vote of 2/3 of the designated voters casting ballots vote to approve (not counting abstentions). For multiple choice questions, one choice must receive 2/3 of the vote to achieve consensus. If consensus is not achieved, a "run-off" ballot may be conducted to identify a final choice(s).
|Official consensus is not determined using an unofficial ballot.
|}
==How Issues are Processed==
====Step 2. Logging and DSC Leadership Review====
The CRM logs the Issue into NENA Workspace (the Development Group collaboration website at <nowiki>httphttps://dev.nena.org</nowiki>) and sends a link to the DSC Leadership. The DSC Leadership will review the ISF to determine if it satisfies the following criteria:
* The subject matter is clearly defined via the NENA Issue Submission & Charter Form (ISF) (NENA-ADM-003).
*What should the scope and deliverables be?
* Is the issue intended to benefit any corporate or individual interest, or intended to frustrate competition?
*Is there is already an existing solution for the problem or opportunity, or the can the existing solution(s) be enhanced to gain efficiencies, (e.g., operational, policy, functionality)?
*Is the Issue of sufficient importance to justify resolving it within NENA?
*Will resolving the Issue provide benefit to the 9-1-1 Community as a whole?
The initial WG meeting shall review the Charter provided and provide any feedback to the Committee leadership so intentions are known, and overall Committee development schedules can be recognized and managed as necessary. The schedules shall be reviewed between the Working Group and Committee leadership periodically so there may be an early warning of any jeopardy relating to the schedules. Monthly WG status updates are to be provided via NENA-ADM-006, Scopes and Goals to the Development Committee Co-Chairs so they may submit a monthly report to the CRM of all Committee activities.
Because volunteer time for both leaders and members is limited, and the development needs are often large, the DSC shall establish development priorities across the NENA effort. Recommendations may be set to assign priority to specific development areas at both the WG level and, in some cases, the subject areas within WGs. These priorities shall be communicated to the WG Co-Chairs in order to assist them in managing workload. WG leaders and volunteers who are members of more than one WG are expected to self-manage the application and balancing of their time according to these priorities. WG leaders shall communicate to the Committee leaders where matters arise relating to WG membership conflicts (e.g., competing time slots for meetings).
====Step 7. DSC Reviews NENA-ADM-011 Charter. ====
After Scope and Intermediate Milestones are established, the WG shall estimate the timeline for both intermediate milestones and the final deliverable. The Scope/Mission and timeline/date information shall be fed back to the Committee leadership so that intentions are known and overall Committee development schedules can be recognized and managed as necessary. The schedules shall be reviewed between the WG and Committee leadership periodically so that there may be an early warning of any jeopardy relating to the schedules.
Because volunteer time for both leaders and members is limited, and the development needs are often large, Committee and leaders of specific projects shall establish development priorities across the NENA effort. Recommendations may be set to assign priority to specific development areas at both the WG level and, in some cases, between subject areas within WGs. These priorities shall be communicated to the WG leaders in order to assist them in managing workload. WG leaders and volunteers who are members of more than one WG are expected to self-manage the application and balancing of their time according to these priorities. WG leaders shall communicate to the Committee leaders where issues arise relating to WG membership conflicts (e.g., competing time slots for meetings).
===Recruiting Members===
Do not create acronyms or abbreviations unless necessary. If there is an abbreviation that is specific only to your document, instead of creating yet another abbreviation, just spell it out.
====Early Notification Process For New Terms or Definitions ====
When a Working GroupsGroup developdevelops a new term that they believe may be used by other Working Groups, this process is the method with which the proposednew term andor definition canmay be sharedsubmitted within the NDG groupan leadersISF before the document approvalcontaining processthe hasterm or new definition is approved and begunpublished.
'''Early Notification Resources:'''
*A folder in “00. All Group Leaders” on NWS is dedicated to this purpose.
The name of that folder is “Proposed MG Terms.” https://dev.nena.org/kws/groups/all-group-leaders/documents?folder_id=1928
*That NWS Folder is where proposals to add/modify/delete terms in the MG will be stored for sharing and approval, way ahead of when they would have otherwise been seen by anyone outside of the WG that came up with them.
*The [https://dev.nena.org/higherlogic/ws/groups/ed9b432e-644e-48be-ab9f-c8cffce3a079/documents?folder_id=130 NENA-ADM-008] Agenda & Notes template includes a reminder line that will encourage meeting hosts to look to see if there’s anything in that folder that needs their attention. There is a link to the folder where such information would be if it existed. This ‘reminder’ step is similar to the Agenda line item that exists now to remind them to ask if there are any known conflicts.
'''How It Works:'''
*A WG Co-Chair or assigned delegate will send the proposed MG term change (add/change/delete) to the CRM via email. The email should be in the following format:
Subject: MG Proposal-Term (Abbreviation if applicable)
Email Body: The XXXXX WG is proposing to add/change/delete (select one) the following term from the MG:
TERM:
ABBREVIATION (if applicable):
PROPOSED DEFINITION:
Submitters Name, Email & Contact Number
*CRM receives the email and creates a document for uploading to NWS to be filed in “00. All Group Leaders” under the folder named “Proposed MG Terms.”
*This folder contains proposed MG terms that may affect other working group's document.
*The CRM will try to ensure the “Document Title” field is short enough that a quick glance by WG Co-Chairs will let them know if a term is applicable to their work or not.
When the file is uploaded by the CRM, a copy of the text will also be copied in the “Submitter Note” field. By doing this, the recipient will not be required to open the actual document, but they will be able to reply to the all-group-leaders@dev.nena.org NWS distribution list. When replying, DO NOT CHANGE THE SUBJECT as NWS will create a discussion list of all emails related to the subject term.
*The WG Co-Chairs will check the link when preparing the agenda and determine if any terms affect the group’s work.
*It remains possible that any proposed MG change could be reversed during the document’s approval cycles. This early notification concept simply meets the goal that was put forth during the 2017 JCM, to speed up the process of sharing proposed MG changes ahead of the formal approval cycles.
*The MG won’t be changed until the associated document is approved for publication by the Executive Board. But the WG that requested the change will know that there weren’t any objections from other WGs, and other WGs will know about the pending change, and can make use of it in their own work, if applicable.
*Once a new MG is published the draft proposed documents will be archived or deleted from the folder. The folder will only contain terms that are in documents that are being drafted.
===Conducting Document Reviews & Comment Resolution===
Every comment, no matter how it is submitted, must be entered into the NENA Workspace "Comment Manager". The Comment Manager tracks the process by which the comment is received, reviewed by the working group, and the resolution communicated back to the comment submitter. The Comment Manager also captures the submitter's response to the working group's action.
When completing fields in the NENA Workspace Comment Manager, the field names should be interpreted as described in the [[Explanatory textHelp for the variousNWS Comment States and ResponsesResponse]].
==Reporting Status==
| 