TerryPurdue wrote: MeridianHills,

Let me start out with a big shoutout to Helgramite, the Cinci Area Manager, for being the driving force that got the Cinci UR situation under control, as well as formalizing/standardizing the system used to tackle the URs in his area. Helg's basic system, which you see summarized in the post above, seems to be both effective and team-friendly -- it lends itself multiple editor situations, with a group of editors who have equal ownership/responsibility for all URs in the area and are working them at the same time.

Having got my start under Helg (my very first PM received ever was from him), one thing I think he did a great job with as AM was simply communicating his goals/expectations. Within the first week or two that he saw me working URs in his area, he reached out via PM, introduced himself, and communicated his vision for UR response in his area. His baseline goals -- which have and will continue to evolve in hopes of doing everything possible to maximize the chances of reporter response -- that he shared with me via PM:

1. Every UR must either be resolved (if possible) OR had a query for more info sent within 24 hours of being opened. Establishing the hard expectations for reliable quick response time for every single UR in the area has had the single biggest impact in increasing reporter response in Cinci -- the issue is still very fresh in the mind of the reporter, and they are gratified that their report was acted on so quickly
   • Editors are encouraged to tack a line similar to "(This report is open to all editors!)" to their initial responses. This can help draw new editors in the area "out of the shadows" (at which time they can be be sent a welcome/here-are-the-expectations PM), and also explicitly signals that other editors can step in and help push the UR through the remainder of its lifecyle without fear of having "breached etiquette" in case the first responder becomes unavailable (goes on vacation, gets busy with work/family/whatever)
2. Any UR that needs reporter response must get a followup message within a hard window of 3-4 days after having been opened
   • Editors posting followups are encouraged provide guidance to the reporter about how to use the app to respond in case they are struggling with the conversation feature in the app (a more common problem than I would have ever guessed -- there are definitely reporters who WANT to help fix the map but can't figure out how to respond to the editor's request for more info, get frustrated, and give up)
   • Editors posting followups are encouraged to also provide out-of-band means to respond when sending a followup, again in case where reporters don't understand conversation feature of the app. I personally tack my Waze-specific gmail email address to the bottom of each UR post I make. I have personally found providing direct email dramatically increased the response rate, and as a wonderful side bonus, seem to get more detailed/complete responses -- reporters don't feel like they are "character constrained" in an email as compared to the app which almost feels like texting
3. Every UR that has an initial response as well as followup but hasn't gotten a reporter response within one week must be closed as not identified

Nothing in the list above is difficult -- or even surprising. However, to have an editor proactively reach out to new editors and make sure to include the expectations for UR response has multiple upsides: first, it gave the team something concrete to work towards; second, having an editor proactively reach out to me when I was very new and expressly invite me to join the area's editing community was a big part of what hooked me on Waze editing.

Note my careful word choice in the previous paragraph -- any editor can (and should!) undertake editor outreach efforts. When I had a week of experience in the editor, never having modified anything more "important" than a parking lot road, an L1 with 500 edits would have seemed like a grizzled veteran to me at that point. If anything, having the L4 Area Manager reach out to me was a bit intimidating at the time.

-Terry