Christophe and Dariusz, Thanks for the comments. I feel that it's important that Board members be able to ask employees at any level of the company how things are going. That is different from providing direction, which can remain in the management structure. But the information flow up from employees to the Board can be insightful. I'm glad to hear that C-level exit interviews are happening. Staff surveys are another element of upward information flow, and I'm very glad to hear that the surveys have shown a positive direction recently. My understanding is that there were some intense concerns under previous administration about employees talking directly to Board members, to the point where somehow that became forbidden. I hope that those days are behind us. I hope you'll pardon my intensity on these matters. As you know, I was alarmed and frustrated with some of the incidents in the past year. It'll probably be awhile before I feel at ease with WMF governance. All that being said, thank you for your your responsiveness and interest in making positive change. I really am grateful for the good that I see happening in WMF, and my guess is that many other people are too. Pine On Fri, Jul 22, 2016 at 7:38 PM, Christophe Henner <chenner(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:

Hey Pine, If it's helpful to hear, I'm also very much in favor of improved information flow from the WMF to the Board, and accountability on the performance of the ED. To recap, in practical terms, we are doing the following: *ED performance oversight and support* - Finalizing the job description (developed during the search process) for mutual understanding on what is in role and what is out - Confirming first year goals/criteria against which my performance will be assessed - 360* annual performance reviews, standard with those all WMF staff undergo - Departing c-level exit interviews - ED coaching with a professional management coach - These actions are being taken with leadership from the HR Committee Chair, and in coordination with the Chair and Vice Chair. *Staff engagement* - Six-month engagement surveys (until we determine we've reached sufficient stability to return to annual surveys) - New staff engagement committee (currently they are helping lead our process to choose a top priority based on results from the last survey) - A new structure we're currently calling "Collective Voice" - a staff led group that will be able to provide independent feedback to the Board. This one is still very much in active development based on conversations among staff. As Christophe alluded to, support isn't just good vibes. Structured accountability is a form of support, to help create transparent and mutually accountable standards and expectations. It helps people (including the ED) know when they're living up to expectations, and where they need to focus on their own skills development. It helps everyone feel more confident that issues can be quickly identified and addressed. And better channels for staff to raise concerns means a healthier, better functioning, self-regulating organization. I'm fully supportive of all of these measures (in fact, I've probably forgotten a few), and am happy to be working with staff and Trustees who have taken leadership in developing them. Katherine On Fri, Jul 22, 2016 at 8:18 PM, Pine W <wiki.pine(a)gmail.com> wrote: -- Katherine Maher Wikimedia Foundation 149 New Montgomery Street San Francisco, CA 94105 +1 (415) 839-6885 ext. 6635 +1 (415) 712 4873 kmaher(a)wikimedia.org