Nuritzi

Nov 25, 2020

Please welcome Nuritzi Sanchez, @1nuritzi Sr. Open Source Program Manager @gitlab

Nov 25 to Dec 02 on @imakefoss

Interview: https://t.co/mctMMH1OMY

@imakefoss is a Twitter rotation curation account, an interview blog and a YouTube channel: https://t.co/wTOlpNP3cG https://t.co/UyNk7HNHfy

Nov 25, 2020

Hi everyone! I’m looking forward to curating content here this week.

My educational background is in International Relations and Psychology, and I bring a global, people-oriented perspective to all I do. My posts will reflect that :)

Let’s get started!

Nov 25, 2020

As a program manager and non-engineer, knowing how to get started in #FOSS wasn’t obvious for me. Then I discovered FOSS Engagement.

Engagement goes beyond onboarding and marketing. It’s about strategy, process improvement, creating great experiences – among many other things! https://t.co/17WJRmD6yZ

Nov 25, 2020

Who else is part of a #FOSS #Engagement team? Would love to get to know you!

  • @1nuritzi

Nov 26, 2020

There are so many reasons to contribute to #FOSS projects. Professional development is one of them.

For those new to #FOSS (and even those who aren’t), here’s a worksheet to help you understand what you’re looking for and be able to articulate it to others.

Nov 26, 2020

@1nuritzi Here’s how I filled out the worksheet this year.

It’s led me to:

  • Be a founding member of the App Ecosystem Working Group at @CHAOSSproj, a community developing #FOSS health metrics

  • Give speeches about Collaborative Communication at FOSS conferences

  • @1nuritzi https://t.co/QOVPpprQC1

Nov 26, 2020

For #Thanksgiving let’s thank ppl who contributed to our #FOSS journey!

Few of mine: @blandford @annasor @sramkrishna @csoriano1618 @matthias_clasen @cosimoc @hergertme @marinaz @ramcq @acruiz @federicomena @gnomealex @shaunm @Opropst @jjardon Alan D Thankful 4 y’all! -@1nuritzi https://t.co/uFhjGqTWhF

Nov 26, 2020

I love hearing stories like this! They warm my heart.

What’s yours?

Nov 26, 2020

Did you know gratitude is scientifically proven to help you in many ways?

Sometimes in #FOSS we suffer from burnout and exhaustion. And 2020 has been a year. Expressing more gratitude can help!

Articles: https://t.co/bJxfyfwL46

https://t.co/cpwa2e4Uyc

https://t.co/3CSTR3SuqL https://t.co/uL0NzAdxJz

Nov 26, 2020

Continuing with the gratitude theme…

Positive feedback is just as important as critical feedback.

Remember that when you’re filing issued and bugs and generally interacting within #FOSS communities! :) https://t.co/0A11ysu3nt

Nov 26, 2020

It’s time for me to stop tweeting and spend time with my family for #Thanksgiving!

I’ll leave y’all with some tips on Active Listening, an important skill we can all build to help us interact in #FOSS and with everyone in our lives.

See y’all tomorrow!

Nov 27, 2020

Today is Black Friday!

Consider donating some of the money you’re saving on all these great dealz to some of your favorite #FOSS projects! ;-) https://t.co/AAylbbXnO8

Nov 27, 2020

Some organizations and communities to check out related to #FOSS sustainability:

  • @SustainOSS
  • @CHAOSSproj
  • @opencollect
  • @tidelift

^ @1nuritzi

Nov 27, 2020

Dedicated full-time hires for #FOSS Fundraising are important and much needed!

We found at @fossresponders that communities with dedicated fundraiser hires sought out our funds, even though we tried to widely promote fund availability.

Nov 28, 2020

Have you helped organize a #FOSS conference or event?

How do you know if it was successful? What do you define as success?

The App Ecosystem WG at @CHAOSSproj is developing metrics to measure the impact of #FOSS events

Metrics: https://t.co/fLRSQS2Fxs

https://t.co/NuaSHmmWd4 https://t.co/P1ISkpvnxH

Nov 28, 2020

@CHAOSSproj Read more about how the metrics were established and some known limitations:

https://t.co/G3ll1LJOM1

Nov 28, 2020

Seems like an interesting study.

Any FOSS folk interested in participating?

Nov 29, 2020

Constant communication in #FOSS may contribute towards burnout. Feeling like you always have to be ‘on"

Tips for managing this:

  • Separate chat apps for family vs community
  • Turn off notifications. Check in when you have time & mental space to do so
  • Take time/days off

Nov 29, 2020

When you plan on contributing to #FOSS for a long time, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. It’s important to take care of yourself so you can stay in it for the long haul :)

What are tips and tricks you have for avoiding burnout when contributing to FOSS?

^@1nuritzi

Nov 30, 2020

Happy Monday! Did you wake up to a full inbox like I did?

I’ve been learning a lot about async vs sync communication at @gitlab, which is the largest all-remote company in the world.

Here’s a thread about how these learnings can be ported to the #FOSS world.

Nov 30, 2020

RT @josp0001: Hey #FOSS and #OpenScience friends, don’t miss this talk organized by @openscicomm and @OpenCIDER which also adresses the que…

Dec 1, 2020

As a program manager, I heavily rely on features like kanban boards and labels.

Here’s a thread with tips on how to use project management features to plan for upcoming #FOSS releases.

Specifically, I’ll be talking about GitLab features since I know those best.

@1nuritzi https://t.co/UVBysxqcN0

Dec 1, 2020

@1nuritzi 1. Think about stages that your workflow needs. Create scoped labels for these like “stage::triage”, “stage::plan” etc.

You can only have one scoped label at a time. This shows which stage the issue is in.

Add your scoped labels as lists on your kanban board.

Dec 1, 2020

@1nuritzi 2. Add other labels that can help people understand at a glance what that issue is about.

Consider adding labels like “newcomer friendly” to show people that it’s an issue that may be easy to work on without much previous experience working in your community.

Dec 1, 2020

@1nuritzi 3. Add an issue weight to show how much work this could be.

Document what the weights mean in a community handbook so that people understand.

For example: 1 = easy, should take up to a couple of hours

10 = very complex, expected to take a few weeks

Dec 1, 2020

@1nuritzi 4. Use epics and issue health to help you see at a glance how a project is going.

The issue health section lets you choose between “At Risk” “Needs Attention” and “On Track”

It displays each as red, yellow, and green, respectively

I’m a BIG fan of the color coding!

Dec 1, 2020

@1nuritzi 5. For #FOSS projects with paid staff, consider having public OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) to focus work and be goal-oriented.

Create a parent epic to track work across multiple quarters. Create quarterly OKRs as child epics.

Use the issue health status to show progress! https://t.co/fKdH0w86fo

Dec 1, 2020

@1nuritzi Many of these features are available in GitLab’s top tiers, which are designed to enable companies to create enterprise-grade software at scale.

#FOSS projects get these for free through the GitLab for Open Source program that I run! https://t.co/ADLkoDR85E

Dec 1, 2020

@schmittlauch @1nuritzi .@schmittlauch The Community Edition of GitLab is FLOSS, and it’s a great option for orgs that don’t want to use source-available code.

I’ve seen new features from higher tiers ported down constantly, so the CE version keeps getting more powerful.

Dec 1, 2020

I’m passionate about bringing people from different backgrounds into #FOSS projects.

They might not even know what FOSS is. Helping them gain awareness and seeking their perspective helps us reach new audiences.

Examples of non-traditional skills in FOSS in image.

Dec 2, 2020

Here are some of my fav tools for doing #FOSS work as a program manager:

  • Big Blue Button - conferences & events or regular team calls
  • Jitsi - ad hoc audio/video calls
  • Element & Telegram - chat
  • Framadate - meeting polls
  • https://t.co/yyKJQ25wpi - time zones!
  • @1nuritzi

Dec 2, 2020

@1nuritzi I also like the simplicity of etherpad for collaborative notes!

And I haven’t used this yet, but @bacharakis showed me today that @firefox has a ‘Multi Containers" add-on for tab management and privacy.

Check it out if you haven’t already! https://t.co/xRByoDi7H9

  • @1nuritzi

Dec 2, 2020

@mmillions @1nuritzi .@mmillions: Oops, I walked right into that one! I should have done the ‘^" symbol instead of listing myself. face palm

Oh well! Glad to hear the positive reviews on that one ;) Many thanks!

^@1nuritzi

Dec 2, 2020

@ebassi @mmillions @1nuritzi .@ebassi: I can’t add emojis from tweetdeck for some reason, but if I could, this comment would be full of rofls :)

And also hearts.

<3.

^@1nuritzi

Dec 2, 2020

Another open source org I love is @discourse. It’s a great replacement (IMO) for mailing lists in #FOSS projects.

They’re completely open source and provide a free-of-cost hosted solution to #FOSS orgs through their OSS program: https://t.co/Q7Qgm4Z29f

  • @1nuritzi

Dec 2, 2020

@discourse @1nuritzi For those not already familiar:

‘Discourse is the 100% open source discussion platform built for the next decade of the Internet. Use it as a mailing list, discussion forum, long-form chat room, and more!"

Basically, it’s exactly what #FOSS orgs need for comms.

  • @1nuritzi

Dec 2, 2020

It’s my day curating this account this year, so I’m going to post a few other things I’ve been speaking about at #FOSS conferences this year. As my last hurrah in 2020.

I’ll include images in case you want to retweet any of these tidbits of info. ;)

  • @1nuritzi

Dec 2, 2020

As we continue to expand our #FOSS projects globally, it’s incredibly important to learn how to better navigate cultural differences. They’re real.

One of my fav books on this topic is The Culture Map by Erin Meyer: https://t.co/yy5Y6t18KM

^@1nuritzi https://t.co/Z03dRKxlo4

Dec 2, 2020

@1nuritzi .@gitlab created a cross-culture communication guide about how this maps to company culture and expectations: https://t.co/dmJAogiSMg

This is helpful as it helps people 1) become aware of the cultural differences, and 2) helps them understand some expectations.

  • @1nuritzi

Dec 2, 2020

@1nuritzi @gitlab There needs to be more awareness around this topic. Like talks or workshops for #FOSS communities at conferences.

Cultural differences around giving negative feedback, for example, can create conflict in FOSS communities without proper awareness and empathy-building. -@1nuritzi

Dec 2, 2020

@1nuritzi @gitlab Invest time in understanding the people you work with

Don’t make assumptions based on someone’s looks or where they’re from. Cultural identities are complex

It’s ok to set expectations, but make sure to understand the trade-offs and let empathy be your guiding light

-@1nuritzi

Dec 2, 2020

@1nuritzi *last day curating

Oi. I need more coffee.

  • @1nuritzi

Dec 3, 2020

Virtual interactions can be hard to interpret and so communication in #FOSS can get tricky.

There may be larger gaps between impact and intent.

Dec 3, 2020

@1nuritzi The SBI model helps people understand what the intent was, to help with the impact vs intent gap.

Check it out: https://t.co/XMhrtl52IR

^ @1nuritzi

Dec 3, 2020

@1nuritzi Sometimes you hear you need to develop tough skin to be in #FOSS bc of all of the critical (and sometimes toxic) interactions you’ll face.

A Code of Conduct can help. Equally important is the need to educate ourselves and improve our skills at both giving AND receiving feedback. https://t.co/272ga1k7Cu

Dec 3, 2020

@1nuritzi Receiving negative feedback is tough.

We often get defensive because we know all the work that’s gone into making something happen.

Receiving feedback is a skill we can build.

Here are some tips on how to do that.

^@1nuritzi https://t.co/CEVhRBYhkd

Dec 3, 2020

@1nuritzi And we can also improve how we deliver feedback.

At @Toastmasters, a communication and leadership skills community, this is actually one of the foundational skills you practice and learn.

Remember these tips next time you’re filing a bug report!

^@1nuritzi https://t.co/1oYyFi3b6c

Dec 3, 2020

We need to share our knowledge with others.

If you were ever mentored in #FOSS, pay it forward.

If you weren’t mentored, now’s your chance to become a mentor for someone else!

  • @1nuritzi

https://t.co/B6dhpWu7Sx

Dec 3, 2020

And with that, I’ll hand the mic over to the next @imakefoss curator.

Thanks for having me, @josp0001 and the wider #IMakeFOSS community!

See y’all around Twitter :)