I came across this post in the US forum that mentions a strategy our NY friends are using to welcome, mentor, and retain new editors (NY Bootcamp). I thought it was a great idea and was worth discussing here to see everyone’s thoughts around doing something similar in NJ. I particularly thought this new editor tracking form would be very useful. It would help us keep track of new editors in the area, help us avoid overwhelming a new editor with multiple PMs, and help ensure a smooth transition in to our community. Would also love to hear from those involved with the NY Bootcamp about its success/challenges/etc. It can definitely be overwhelming coming in as a new editor and I applaud these guys for taking a proactive approach to operationalize this process.
There would be immediate benefits for the new editors. They would be in a GHO where other more experienced editors have also chosen to be and did so knowing full well that basic questions would keep coming up (a point that should be made when they’re added). It may also be somewhat helpful to avoid new editors being thrust into a open forum with everyone from the RC and down “watching.” I have to be careful with that statement, since I’ve only ever seen helpful feedback being made from the L6 editors all the way down to L1. But some new editors may have some reservations asking questions they perceive or assume may be “dumb” or “basic” with such an audience. This was also mentioned in the NY Bootcamp write up.
I think there’s also benefits for the more experienced editors who may not posses the rank to be a formal mentor, but still enjoy the experience of helping others reason through a problem for the first time. This may be a good way to further engage AMs and bridge the gap between new editors and the senior editors. Those same intimidated editors may benefit from discussing basic issues with editors with a rank closer to theirs. They’ve also been through the “welcome process” themselves in more recent times.
So, what do we need to get started? Can we leverage any of the NY infrastructure? Start a state level implementation with >= SM buy-in? Start with a smaller scale by county or section of the state? The latter could be perceived as a pilot program for the state if there’s a desire to ease into this.
Thanks AB for the detailed response. I think we are pretty aligned in the thought process. I think the recent SL project GHO groups that we had running serve almost as a proof of concept. There were a couple of editors who were slow to join or slow to participate in conversation in the main GHO, but had the opportunity to ask questions on a smaller stage in these project hangouts and showed up very well from there.
There are a few potential things we would need to consider. We would definitely need a decent number of us monitoring/engaging in the new editor hangout. I was invited to the NY Bootcamp GHO to observe how they are handling it, and I can tell you it is VERY active. The good news is that the concept appears to be working well, where new editors are comfortable to ask questions, however a lack of timely responses could quickly lead to frustration. There are 7 AMs currently listed for our state, not all of which are active currently. Ws also have our SMs and CMs in the area who I imagine would be happy to assist, all of whom have been great mentors for many of us when we got started.
I do agree that we should approach it from a pilot concept approach to start. We should be clear on the intent and define at what point a decision is made to “graduate” them to the main HO. For the initial testing, we could stick to a handful of counties as you said. If mrsmith66 is on board, we could do a 3 county approach of middlesex, Monmouth, ocean. The other option is to sign up the next 5 or 10 new editors throughout the state. That’ll probably give us a quicker start, however we would run the risk of not being able to assist with unlocks in some cases. Ultimately it will probably come down to the quantity of AMs/editors we have that are willing to support this project. Hopefully those interested in assisting will chime in here.
I’m willing to help - I know having another editor in Monmouth County doesn’t help with additional coverage but can help answer questions and provide some direction.
I had the same thoughts regarding the SL hangouts.
I imagine we could start pulling in some newer editors that pop up as being active in any of the areas covered by the participating editors either through formal AM or recurring driving areas. I like the idea of a number of us trying to cover several counties. If we bring in a few more editors we can cover additional counties as well thus increasing our coverage and the probability of an editor always being available for a new editor on their schedule. I agree it’s hard to mentor outside your area, especially with someone just starting out. Both parties may be less inclined to attempt changes if the editor in the mentor role can’t step in and make changes directly.
The “graduation” concept is also key I think to have consistency. Perhaps it makes sense to loosely base this off the formal mentoring system as it seems like there’s a bit of a level-based skills curriculum? Perhaps after they demonstrate L1 competency they make their way up to the state GHO? Along those lines, and thinking big, a system like this could really reduce the burden on formal mentoring by allowing all the L4+ mentors to concentrate on L2 and above.
All good points. I can help out when I have time, usually weekday evenings, with the northeast NJ counties.
One of the things we should keep in mind is that the promotion between L1 and L2 often is not necessarily curriculum-/competency-based as edit counts, as I don’t think the L2 threshold is very high. That said, L2 is probably a good place to introduce new editors to the statewide HO. At L2, editors are usually able to find their way around WME and can sustain conversations about simpler, straight-forward editing concepts in terms of the updates needed, instead of commands in WME, for example.
The typical L1 editor is still learning their way around WME, as well as what kinds of problems can be simply fixed, what kinds of problems are more complicated, and what kinds of things cannot really totally fixed at all. L1 scope is things like PLs, unlock protocol and finishing your edits, Both editor and mentor don’t really need editing access to the same area to talk about these kinds of things. The mentor can show things in their own area, and editors can take that knowledge back home to their areas. Or, if the new editors have questions about things, the mentoring editor can look at those things together with the new editor without having edit access there - it’s really just about asking the right questions to get the new editor thinking correctly, right?
Ideally, I would like to see editors from all over the state join, especially from our more underserved counties.
I like the initiative, and definitely agree the SL GHOs have been a proof of concept. Those have been a little intense given the purpose of the hangout, so I would want to make sure we’re creating an encouraging environment.
In terms of county selection, I echo what George says to have any and all editors join the boot camp regardless of it we have AMs in that area. They can at least get the core concepts and acclimate to the Waze environment, while also learning what to do when they need an unlock.
In terms or next steps, I want to make sure we have a few more active editors respond and potential make sure teh RCs/ARCs are aware.