Confirmed users, Bureaucrats and Sysops emeriti
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Contribute/Coding/Mentoring: Difference between revisions
→The Mentor's Role
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We know that the speed and manner in which we reply to new contributors questions is very highly correlated with contributor retention. | We know that the speed and manner in which we reply to new contributors questions is very highly correlated with contributor retention. | ||
* Be judicious in what bugs, as well as what contributors, you agree to mentor. You are not obliged to mentor any particular contributor, but it is a real commitment. Do not hesitate to look up prior work if you | * Be judicious in what bugs, as well as what contributors, you agree to mentor. You are not obliged to mentor any particular contributor, but it is a real commitment. Do not hesitate to look up prior work or encourage them to complete a good-first-bug first if you're uncertain. | ||
* Return emailed questions promptly: within 24 hours *at most*. Engagement falloff is measurably worse after 1 day and dramatically worse after three. If possible, establish "office hours" on IRC during which you agree to be available to answer that contributor's questions. You can create a mail filter in your email client to manage mentored bugmail specifically: [http://www.joshmatthews.net/blog/2013/12/you-are-receiving-this-mail-because-you-are-mentoring-this-bug/ see here ]. | * Return emailed questions promptly: within 24 hours *at most*. Engagement falloff is measurably worse after 1 day and dramatically worse after three. If possible, establish "office hours" on IRC during which you agree to be available to answer that contributor's questions. You can create a mail filter in your email client to manage mentored bugmail specifically: [http://www.joshmatthews.net/blog/2013/12/you-are-receiving-this-mail-because-you-are-mentoring-this-bug/ see here ]. | ||
* Follow up with contributors who seem to be off track or losing interest. This is an active role, and making sure that a bug is progressing is the mentor's responsibility. That said, not all mentoring relationships will be successful; if you go two weeks without hearing from a contributor on a mentored bug, you should not feel any shame or reluctance before unassigning the bug and putting it back in the common pool. | * Follow up with contributors who seem to be off track or losing interest. This is an active role, and making sure that a bug is progressing is the mentor's responsibility. That said, not all mentoring relationships will be successful; if you go two weeks without hearing from a contributor on a mentored bug, you should not feel any shame or reluctance before unassigning the bug and putting it back in the common pool. | ||