Organisational Structure

Who we are

We are an initiative of four founding partners with classic organisational structures, multiple-level hierarchy, at the same time aiming to accommodate an “Open Source Community” with many volunteering contributors to deliver software-related products.

Why we need an organisational structure

In the beginning of the initiative, we started with a well-known best practice structure of three committees. The initiative is growing and we feel the need for adjusting the structures to improve efficiency and accountability. At the same time, we want to clearly define which parts of the initiative is driven by volunteers and therefore need dedicated community building (see also [link to community strategy]).

@Rachel Lawson (Unlicensed) insert link to community strategy

Unit 1: Team and Working Groups

We distinguish between Teams and Working Groups to meet our current initiatives reality of working bodies consisting of contributors the four founding partner or volunteering contributors of the GovStack community.

Working Groups (community structure)

  • Continuous or ad-hoc work process which is open to everyone

  • Co-design at any time

  • Input open - Output open

Examples: Building Blocks, Testing

Teams (classic structure)

  • Continuous or ad-hoc work process which is not open to everyone, steered by founding partner

  • Co-design selective on invitation

  • Input and Output selectively open

Examples: Communications, Country Engagement, Partnerships

Common characteristics

  • Have one accountable person (RACI model)

  • Formulate and follow a mission statement and deliverables (see canvas)

  • They prioritize their work according to mission and deliverables

  • Use resources efficiently, avoid matrix structure (meaning do not become a member of too many teams to ensure you can focus your energy and resources)

  • Accommodate additional representatives from founding partners, if requested

WG and Teams do not have to have meetings in order to exists!

The canvases can be revised, vetoed or requested by the respective Committee.

Everyone can propose a Team/Working Groups through:

  1. Fill in the WG/Team Canvas

  2. Present the Canvas in the respective Committee

  3. Possibly adapt Canvas according to revision request/veto from the Committee

  4. Publish Canvas on Confluence

See Template Team Canvas (adjust title)

See list of Teams Overview and Working Groups Overview (TBD)

Unit 2: Committees

The Committees are the unit in which the Working Groups and Teams come together (meeting frequency and format of which is determined by the committees themselves). The committees offer a format to exchange and inform each other about the work in Working Groups and Teams. Thereby, they are the place to reach consensus on decisions effecting many or all participating Working Groups and Teams (though even if a common decision was made in the committee, the team/WG are still accountable). The committee’s meetings are the format in which Teams and Working Groups can align on road maps or deliverables. The committee coordinator has not the power to top-down enforce decisions or micro steer activities - decision making in a committee can be done in consensus between the accountable persons from each team/WG.

Characteristics:

  • Have one committee coordinator (+deputy)

  • Are the format for domain exchange and best practices

  • Are the format for mutual decision making (though teams/WG remain accountable for decision)

  • Can request reporting of work status from Teams or WGs

  • Revises, vetoes or requests mission and deliverables and Canvas for every Working Group/Team

  • Enacts the authority and responsibility to resolve inter-dependencies between Teams/WG (also across committees)

We operate the following committees:

  1. Product Committee: For all Teams/WG who leverage and expand initiatives‘s guidance portfolio of Digital Public Goods - also known as “GovStack Products”. In short: „every Team/WG publicly offering a deliverable to be used by everyone“ (e.g. Reference Use Cases, SDG Digital Investment Framework, Research Papers, Sandbox)

  2. Tech Committee: For all Teams/WG who leverage and expand initiatives‘s technical portfolio of Digital Public Goods. In short: „every Team/WG publicly offering a specifications or related technical deliverables to be used by everyone“ (e.g. BB Specifications, Testing Harness, Sandbox). For more details, see TC Process - Meetings and Responsibilities

  3. Country Engagement Committee: For all Teams who implement GovStack bespoke offerings for partner countries. In Short: „every Team offering services to a selected group in countries“. For more details, see Country Engagement Team

  4. Governance Committee: For the founding partner to commonly steer the Initiative and its Teams/WGs. This committee is also for all Teams who form the operational backbone to ensure reliable, efficient core processes to support stable operation. On strategic decisions, once a month the Governance Committee meets only with the heads of the founding partners. For more details, see Charter

Roles and Responsibilities depicted in the Organizational Structure

Accountable Person of a Team/WG

  • Is accountable for output and informs Committee(s)

  • Prioritize tasks of the team/WG according to mission and deliverables together with members

  • Coordinates members, motivates and resolves conflicts

  • Informs (possibly accompanied by Committee Coordinator) the Governance Committee

Committee Coordinator

  • Moderates exchange between Teams/WG (regular meetings)

  • Guides teams/WG towards alignments/common decisions

  • Keeps exchange with other committees alive

  • Appointed by the Governance Committee

  • Meets Governance Committee regularly

  • Accompanies WG/Teams in informing the Governance Committee

Leader of Founding Partner

  • Sets and represents vision & mission internally and externally

  • Fulfills the voting obligation in the (Strategic) Governance Committee

  • Is Accountable towards Donors

Contributing Member of Any Unit

  • Gets the things done! (Be a contributing member of one or more teams/WG)

  • Follow the mission, deliverables and canvas of its team

  • Be accountable to invest its time in the most effective and efficient manner

FAQ

Which meetings will be held?

Meetings are the last resort! Since they are one of the less efficient ways to collaborate, asynchronous ways of working together shall be prioritized.

Only the Committees have fixed dedicated meeting formats. The frequency is to be defined based on the units' individual needs.

Where are decisions being made?

  • Teams/WG and Committees: Operational (Day-to-day, simple, routine) or Tactical (Medium-term, less complex):

    • Commonly in the teams/WG with accountable persons guidance (and possibly with guidance by Committee Coordinator).

    • After 2 attempts to reach a consensus in the team/WG, the accountable person of the team/WG can bring the topic to the belonging committee

    • Decisions are to be documented and traceable to avoid accountability or misalignment issues.

    • In practice, many points for decisions are discussed in Committees and a common consensus is found. The decision was made mutually in the committee, but each “Accountable persons” of each team/WG is still accountable for this decision.

  • Committees: Tactical (Medium-term, less complex) or Strategic (Long-term, complex):

    • Teams/WG can escalate decisions with a proposals to the Governance Committee.

    • Decisions are to be documented and traceable to avoid accountability or misalignment issues.

    • Governance Committee can intervene with tactical decisions based on information from WG/teams.