Proposing a 'Code of Care' for the Drupal Community

This session addresses the introduction of a proposed 'code of care' for the Drupal community, presented by Will Huggin Zer. The speaker emphasizes the growing workload within the community and the impact of remote work, which may lead to feelings of isolation among contributors. The code of care aims to complement existing community tools, focusing on proactive support for well-being instead of conflict resolution. Key principles of the proposal include sustainability of contributions, respect for privacy and boundaries, and fostering an environment where seeking help is encouraged. The speaker outlines a practical framework, including the idea of 'trusted contacts' as buffers between individuals and the community, facilitating communication and support while respecting personal boundaries. The session concludes with a call for feedback to refine this proposal into actionable community health processes.

Okay, I think we're recording, so I shall make a start. Thanks everybody. I'm going to basically start um the session with a bit of a recap on the session that came before it. So this is about proposing a code of care for the Drupal community. I'm Will Huggin Zer will on drupal.org. Um and I first uh presented a session at Tupacon Vienna um proposing uh a code

of care that felt like a bit of a gap in the current um uh community tools that we have available to us to help support everybody within the community. And this session really is extending that based on the feedback that I've had since that Vienna session. um and to pre present in a bit more detail how I imagine that code of care to uh to be created,

how I think it might work in practice and some of the issues that I believe uh now is a timely um point for us to to consider um this might be a solution for. So just by way of recap um there's two things I think that contribute to the need for a code of care. First of all, the volume of work. Um, so this is a slide

that Dre presented in Vienna uh last year which shows the level of contribution to the Drupal strategic initiatives and you can see over time just how exponentially it's started to grow. So more work is being done by the community and also uh at the same time uh we're all working more remotely. Um so there's uh greater um risk that we perhaps feel alone, isolated. Um so we've

got more things to do, more pressure um and potentially less interaction and less support from other team members within the community. Um and there's no real tools available to us to help uh manage each other's support needs. Um so that's where the code of care comes in really. Um, I see it as something that would that would sit alongside things like the And we're back. So, I

see it sitting alongside the existing tools that we have. So, we have obviously a code of conduct. Um, we have a code of ethics. We have a conflict resolution team. Uh these tools are um really useful when dealing with um incidents, behavioral problems, issues and um conflicts that arise between individuals or or members of the community. But we don't have a similar or corresponding set of tools

when we identify uh potential issues around well-being or um kind of community health issues. So that's where this proposal is coming from really. It's not something that replaces existing tools. It's one that complements and augments them. Uh it's pathways that help to deal with um as I say kind of well-being issues. Uh I think we should think of it as also as kind of preventative. Um so

whereas the conflict pathways are around enforcement um of guidelines, the code of care would be much more around proactive uh well-being management and also escalation. if any of us identify potential risks with with uh members of the community that we're worried about and at the moment we have no mechanism for escalating those worries or or reaching out to help. So unlike Vienna where I kind of talked

about the issues and didn't really necessarily talk too deeply about what that might look like, I wanted to come to this session with a more uh complete proposal so that we could then kind of take more feedback and hopefully refine it into something that could start to be implemented um as part of the the community health um processes. So the core principles of the of the code

of care um is is that really we should be making contribution sustainable rather than exhausting and as I say going back to that original slide where the workload is increasing we're all potentially feeling more isolated um we should be making sure that the contribution that people are taking on they can continue to sustain and interesting that re that um trees talked in the keynote about um the

fact that even though open source software isn't necessarily a finite resource um actually the contributions that make open source software is a finite resource. So the sustainability is an incredibly important aspect. We need to be ensuring that um as part of this asking for help isn't seen as a weakness. Um that it's something that um is encouraged and and is is actually seen as a healthy part

of community interaction. um that silence can be a signal and is not and shouldn't be seen as a failure. Um and we should we should treat it as something um that that potentially requires um help rather than than um kind of shame or uh anything around sort of yeah a sense of failure. The care needs to be shared so it doesn't fall on any single person or

group's um responsibilities. It should be something that the whole community can do. And again, the whole purpose of a code of care is to provide those tools and resources so that everybody in the community can make sure that we're looking after each other. And another core principle is is the respect for privacy and boundaries. Um uh everybody has their own private lives. Sometimes they don't want to

share their problems and that's healthy and normal um can be. Um and so we need to make sure that we're not um pushing people into places that they're not comfortable with. Um their boundaries have to be respected and their privacy at all times has to be respected. So it really starts with kind of normalizing the vulnerability uh elements. So, I think we're quite good at creating safe

environments and again the code of conduct and the conflict resolution processes that we have are really good at um encouraging and facilitating that sense um of safety in the environments that we're creating. Um but I think we also need to start promoting more of a healthy balance for contributors. So um often Drupal contributions um can be borne more heavily on certain shoulders than others um and that's

not necessarily healthy. So we need to encourage everybody within the community um to to think about what a healthy balance for them is and for the community generally and we need to lead by example. So particularly those people that maybe um bear the the greatest burden. Um should be the people that say, "Look, I've I've taken on too much now. I need to step back or I

need help." Um and that sets an example for everybody else so they don't feel like they have to constantly take on more and more um as the growing demands upon them increase. We also need to give the team and the community and ourselves tools to help um to look after each other. Um so one of the things is around kind of what do we need to be

looking for um that may be signs of burnout or distress. Um so uh kind of giving us the tools to pay attention um understanding when sudden kind of withdrawal or silence uh maybe is uh is a warning sign then what what should we do about it? So again, one of the things that I identified was there's kind of gaps in in the processes and in the guidelines

when those things happen. Uh missed commitments without explanation. So again, we need to create an environment where those things can be seen as as warning signs that we maybe need to reach out and and provide some care rather than senses of failure or blame or um fingerpointing culture. Um and then also noticeable changes in tone and engagement. So sometimes um defensiveness and possibly even conflict can arise

from uh a place of distress or anxiety and again maybe picking up on those warning signs and giving ourselves the tools to be able to do that as a first port of call before maybe things reach a point of conflict resolution. Um so one of the key kind of practical things um that I envision for the the code of care is to give ourselves some care pathways.

So when we identify some of the warning signs or um kind of distress signals um giving ourselves the the ability to kind of have that initial um uh kind of step of of some gentle and discreet um uh kind of probing um or reaching out to to offer help and support. um if um through that we find that we're perhaps you know getting no response or there's

still concerns there should be an ability to escalate that to a care team. Now here I've suggested that maybe would sit with the community health team but again I'm really conscious that often the contributors in those teams already have a huge amount on their plate. So we may need to think of other mechanisms teams or um resources that that form part of that escalation. But I think

it's important that somebody who is worried about another individual or team member um who uh attempts to try and kind of reach out and identify if there's a problem isn't able to to do that. They have place that they can escalate their concerns to and that that team can do something to to try and identify if there is a problem. Then I think one of the the

fun fundamental ones that I'm going to talk about in a minute is this kind of trusted contact notion I think could be really important. Um and obviously that would then potentially lead to a very kind of last resort where you maybe make some active intervention um or provide some some actual support. So really I think the the next step that I want to talk about is that

trusted contact because I think um alongside the resources and pathways really I think that's one of the most practical things we could do that in the in the very short term could potentially provide um the most practical support for for the community members um who are looking to to support each other. So trusted contact is a buffer between the individual and the community. So if somebody is

having problems um whether that be family health, workload, burnout, stress um or any number of of of personal um or professional um issues that are causing them problems, they may not want to share that with the community and that's entirely understandable. So a trusted individual should be able to be that buffer. It should be optional um both for a person to be somebody's trusted individual and for

somebody to nominate a trusted individual. It shouldn't be a forced thing. Um it should be privacy focused. So all times people's privacy um should be protected and and it should be respectful of boundaries. So again um you know sometimes people may withdraw because they want to withdraw from the community for a while and that needs to The trusted contact is not a therapist or a care provider.

They are literally somebody who is nominated who can be that buffer between the individual and the the community. They're not a problem solver. So if we've got a concern about an individual, um that trusted uh contact isn't there to solve that problem. They're merely there to reach out and and be a a a conduit of of communication and information. and they're not directly responsible for for the

person's welfare. Again, their purpose in this is is communication. The way that I imagine it would work is that um you have an option to add trusted contact to your drupal.org profile. So, a bit like you can nominate mentors. Um but this would be private, not public. Um so, it's something that's um on your profile, but but private. Um you could then also provide confidential information about

how you could be contacted and that could be just shared with your trusted in you with your trusted contact. Um and then there should be support guidelines within the code of care both for people nominating uh trusted contact and for the trusted contact themselves. And that would enable uh that care pathway. So for somebody who spots a team member within the community who they're worried about, they

reach out to that person. If that uh process fails and they're unable to to make contact, then they can go to the they can escalate to the care team um then the care team can make a decision about whether or not um uh uh you know the next stage of of kind of care needs to be offered and if so they can reach out to the the

trusted individual um the trusted contact and then that trusted contact will have the the contact details provided by the person that nominated them. they can reach out. They can come back to the care team and offer as much or as little information as that uh individual has has uh asked them to provide. And it may just simply be I'm fine. I just need a little break. Or

it may be that that there is a problem uh but there's nothing that they they need from the community and they just need a little bit of time. So that is how I would imagine it would work and those kind of guidelines would give everybody the tools to do that in a safe way where people's privacy and boundaries are respected but at the same time care can

be provided to to individuals um if it's needed. And really a final thought that I wanted to to bring up as part of this. I do think this is quite a timely um uh kind of moment within the the community's evolution for this to to kind of come back to to being uh part of the discussion. and that is there's an awful lot of change and uncertainty

at the moment with people's roles with um even people's jobs um and the the security of their jobs how their roles are changing um and that's causing obviously anxiety uh and again giving ourselves the tools to be able to spot warning signs of stress and anxiety I think is is a really uh useful thing and giving ourselves the pathways to reach out and provide care if um

if care is needed again I think is a really important and timely um uh kind of aspect of of the the tools that we can give ourselves to be a better community. So I'm really yeah interested to to hear your feedback and obviously uh uh it's not a crowded room so uh I really hope everybody um that is here can can give your thoughts. Thank you. Did

you anticipate this being a like a two way relationship? Like if if you say you can get in touch with me by contacting this person, would you want this person to also confirm yes, I'm willing to >> absolutely I think I think it absolutely has to be two-way. Yeah. that kind of mutual um uh consent basically is you know I consent to being a trusted individual and

I consent to nominating this person it has to be otherwise I think it's it fails on that kind of key principle of of of respecting boundaries. Yeah, >> I think this is a brilliant simple solution to a very complicated problem or simple >> helpful. >> Yeah, exactly. I mean, you know, and again like just like the trusted individual is not a caregiver. They're not problem solver. This

isn't about solving problems. This is just about giving ourselves the tools to support each other to, you know, as best we can. So, yeah. >> Have you had any previous discussions with the working group directly? Uh yeah, so I've talked to Amy June about it. Um you know, she was really helpful and kind of pointed out that the things that have been considered in the past, you

know, this isn't the first time this idea has come up. Um so, um yeah, it was it was really useful to understand like how how the current processes, so things like the conflict resolution processes and how the team deal with it, how those things have evolved. Um but also that helped to for me to really kind of crystallize in my mind where the real gaps did lie.

So you know when something happens um you know do I go to the community health team or the conflict resolution team and actually you know there is you know there do exist these gaps um which means that um yeah it it's hard for us to support each other cuz literally you know you uh may find yourself in a situation where you're worried about somebody and you have

nobody to escalate it to you maybe and you don't want to and again the respect of boundaries I think is one of the most important things because it's Well, if I'm worried about somebody, you know, and I want to be very careful about how I express that because they, you know, I'm not the only person in this. I'm obviously the person that I'm worried about. And so,

respecting that how I communicate my concerns to other people is really difficult. And I just think we need to give ourselves better tools to be able to do that.