Summary
This proposal clearly defines a Workstream Leader.
Abstract
This proposal explicitly defines the roles, responsibilities, and authority of a Workstream Leader, as it relates to
- A workstream requiring a single leader
- The authority to hire and fire within a workstream
- Discretion over the allocation of a budget approved by governance
Should this proposal pass, it will take effect after 14 days, and apply to all workstreams without a passed superseding proposal.
Current workstreams with multiple leaders are encouraged to expediently elect a single leader and adopt this definition via a separate proposal specific to their workstream.
Future proposals that create, renew, or amend workstreams will adopt this definition of a Workstream Leader by default unless explicitly defined otherwise.
Motivation
There is not an explicit definition of a Workstream Leader as approved by governance.
This proposal seeks to formalize an agreed upon definition of a Workstream Leader, including roles, responsibilities, and authority.
Resourcing and budget are intrinsically linked. A Workstream Leader cannot control one without the other.
A single Workstream Leader is proposed as a clear, effective, and familiar way to mitigate complexities that can arise with multiple Workstream Leaders related to responsibility, accountability, and conflict resolution.
Specification
Single Workstream Leader
A workstream shall have a single Workstream Leader.
The Workstream Leader shall be responsible for the direction, resourcing, budget, performance, deliverables, communication, and representation of the workstream.
The Workstream Leader may only be changed via governance. In the event of a sudden or emergency departure of a Workstream Leader, a Workstream Leader may appoint an Interim Workstream Leader by a forum post, which shall immediately follow the standard governance process.
Resourcing
The Workstream Leader shall be delegated the authority by governance to make decisions pertaining to resourcing, that is, how the funds allocated to the workstream are used to provide the services and meet proposed goals, including hiring and firing of workstream contributors.
Budget
A budget is an estimate of income and expenditure for a set period of time.
The Workstream Leader shall be delegated the authority by governance to have full discretion over how an approved budget is spent.
The Workstream Leader shall not be able to spend more than the approved budget by a proposal, without a proposal to amend said proposal.
Workstream proposals must include timephased budget estimates broken down by each month of their proposed cycle (e.g. $15,000 July, $10,000 August, etc.).
The Workstream Leader shall be responsible for coordinating with DAO treasury multi-sig signers to ensure sufficient funds are made available in Colony to ensure expenses can be paid monthly or on-demand.
Benefits
An explicitly defined and shared understanding of how workstreams and their leaders operate will remove the ambiguity that currently exists within the DAO.
Without a defined and granted delegated authority - a Workstream Leader is unable to lead. The leader role becomes that of a secretary, coordinator or spokesperson.
Drawbacks
There could exist a perceived centralization risk that arises from delegating authority to Workstream Leaders.
This is mitigated by the following
- Delegated authority is well defined and scoped to an individual workstream.
- A Workstream Leader can be removed via a governance proposal at any time.
- A Workstream Leader’s term is always limited and thus up for renewal and potential replacement at the end of any given term.
