Chair Theory

Discussion Drives Decisions

Your role as chair is to ensure that we efficiently use our time to build consensus and make clear, concise and actionable decisions. "Decision" here is a broad term that encompasses design selection, feedback, guidance, requests to investigate or explore.

The goal of discussion is to:

• Identify what decisions need to be made.
• Provide the room with the information needed to confidently make decisions.

You should constantly be evaluating whether the current discussion is achieving one of these two goals. If not, you should move the discussion back on target.

Sometimes, discussion is insufficient to inform the room, because we lack the information. In this case, we still need to make a decision - we need to decide how we will obtain the information needed before the next discussion of the topic.

Always Be Polling

Polls allow you to concretely estimate the consensus decision from the room at a particular point in time with a particular set of information available. Always be thinking about what you should poll on.

Aside from polls that forward a proposal, all polls are non-binding and may be revisited and overturned at a future date when more information or insight is available. Take non-forwarding polls liberally.

If attendees do not feel that we have information to take a poll, they can vote neutral. It is generally best to not take a poll if you believe the consensus is that the room lacks enough information to take a poll. If it is unclear if the room is sufficiently informed, then just take the poll.

If attendees do not feel that they personally are qualified or attentive enough to participate in a poll, they can choose to note vote.

It is often best for polling to occur right after discussion relevant to the poll, even if there are other matters to discuss on the topic, unless that additional discussion is believed to inform the decision you are polling. You want to poll when the discussion is still in people's mental cache.

Record and Distribute Outcomes

As chair, it is your job to summarize the discussion, both during the discussion and after the discussion to those who were not present.

It is also your job to summarize the decisions made by the room. This is more nuanced than just writing down poll results; you must look at all the poll results and discussion and combine all the individual decisions into one clear, consistent consensus outcome.

You must also ensure that records are kept. Minutes must be taken, and the identity of the minute taker must be clear. Polls and attendance must be recorded with double-entry bookkeeping (you and the minute taker should separately record each). Summaries and outcomes must be posted on the wiki, on the GitHub for the work item, and if applicable on mailing lists.

Aim for "Approval by Committee" and not "Design by Committee"

Problems should be discovered and explored during meetings, but resist the temptation to spend time solving the problems during the meeting. Ensure the authors and the room have the information needed to make forward progress, but give the author the opportunity to unite the decisions into a cohesive design.