Call for Consensus Process
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When a workgroup document is ready to become a recommendation, a call for consensus can be made by the chairperson of a workgroup.
1. The chair shall create a call for consensus by creating a new page on the Wiki, using the "Call for Consensus" template. On that page they will link to the specific version of the document they are asking for consensus on [a version that should contain a textual version number on it], and add in entries for each of the Workgroup participants to the top of the table. The chair also puts a reasonable due date on the call.
2. The chair then posts a note about the Call for Consensus to the mailing list, as well as a comment to the Wiki page for the workgroup's activities. The chair also sends it to Arien for mention in the project blog.
3. If someone issues a "no", they must leave a comment detailing why they are not endorsing, and what steps can be taken to address their concerns. Workgroup chairs do not have to satisfy every requirement, or turn every "no" into a "yes". Consensus is not necessarily uniformity. The record will show others down the road whether the objections were substantive. The workgroup as a whole should strive to address every substantive concern. If a new draft is required, the chair may decide to cut short the Call for Consensus, draft changes, and make a new Call.
4. If a workgroup member does not deliver an endorsement by the due date, then their silence is presumed to equal consent, though the chair should endeavor to get a vote from all workgroup members.
5. The result of this should be a consensus recommendation around a specific document. To preserve this document, there are three options:
1. The chair shall create a call for consensus by creating a new page on the Wiki, using the "Call for Consensus" template. On that page they will link to the specific version of the document they are asking for consensus on [a version that should contain a textual version number on it], and add in entries for each of the Workgroup participants to the top of the table. The chair also puts a reasonable due date on the call.
2. The chair then posts a note about the Call for Consensus to the mailing list, as well as a comment to the Wiki page for the workgroup's activities. The chair also sends it to Arien for mention in the project blog.
3. If someone issues a "no", they must leave a comment detailing why they are not endorsing, and what steps can be taken to address their concerns. Workgroup chairs do not have to satisfy every requirement, or turn every "no" into a "yes". Consensus is not necessarily uniformity. The record will show others down the road whether the objections were substantive. The workgroup as a whole should strive to address every substantive concern. If a new draft is required, the chair may decide to cut short the Call for Consensus, draft changes, and make a new Call.
4. If a workgroup member does not deliver an endorsement by the due date, then their silence is presumed to equal consent, though the chair should endeavor to get a vote from all workgroup members.
5. The result of this should be a consensus recommendation around a specific document. To preserve this document, there are three options:
- You may ask an administrator for the site to "lock" the page from edits. The page can be unlocked in the future should it need to be updated, but for a page that is unlikely to change muc in the near future, this is the simplest option.
- If you anticipate that the document will undergo further revision in the mid-term or sooner, then copy that specific version of the document into a new Wiki page, given a very specific title, tagged "Consensus approved", and then linked to from the Workgroup page as an output of the project.
- Or, do nothing. The document will always be accessible by the URL given in the Call for Consensus. If this is a particularly incremental step from one version to the next this might be the most appropriate.