TPS

• What? Tactical Priorities Syndicate. MoFo leaders who help translate our strategic goals into tactical priorities each two-week cycle.
• Why? A more agile working style, distributed leadership, and short, time-bound initiatives that tie back to our quarterly and yearly goals.
• Who? David Ascher, Paul Johnson, Chris Lawrence, Geoffrey MacDougall, Cassie McDaniel, Ben Moskowitz, Andrew Sliwinski, Matthew Thompson, Michelle Thorne, Simon Wex (tps [at] mozillafoundation [dot] org)
• How? Through weekly TPS meetings. In a collaborative production cycle we design together.
• When? The TPS meets every Monday (time TBD) in the TPS Vidyo room. Dial-in: 650-903-0800 93 8810#

Links

• TPS notepad https://etherpad.mozilla.org/tps
• Webmaker wiki https://wiki.mozilla.org/Webmaker (Links to project briefs, key priorities for the current Heartbeat, etc.)
• Project Brief Template (new) (draft) https://wiki.mozilla.org/Webmaker/Project_Brief A standard project brief template (aka "TPS Report") for teams to use. Outlining the project's goal, roles and tasks.
• List of active Webmaker projects and modules. (coming soon) A list and visual that explains the varying # of initiatives, using examples of initiatives that will connect w/ impact (e.g. "EOY rapid response team")
• [Please add your links here]

Our production cycle

• We work in two-week "Heartbeat" cycles. A well-designed, two-week production cycle helps us do collaborative production better. Working across teams with the right mix of cohesion, empowerment and communication.
• The TPS helps design and optimize this cycle. Meeting at the beginning and mid-point of each Heartbeat to prioritize and allocate resources. More details taking shape here.
• Key points:
  • Not everything requires two weeks. Work gets shipped whenever its done, not just at the end of the sprint. And emergencies get handled as they deserve.
  • There are planning phases at the beginning of each Heartbeat. We do planning and communicating up front, then let take agency to get stuff done.
  • We report large progress bi-weekly. At the end of each Heartbeat, we take stock, demo our best work, and use what we learned to inform the next cycle.

How it works

The life-cycle of a Heartbeat:

• Plan on Monday. Small groups and cross-functional teams get together on the first Monday of each Heartbeat. To discuss what their team wants to get done together over the next two weeks. The TPS then meets to review everyone's proposals.
• Communicate on Tuesday. The entire Webmaker tribe gathers on Tuesday. To review and talk about about the finalized list of priorities set by the TPS. Everyone leaves with a shared sense of what we're all working on together that Heartbeat.
• That's it! The rest of the two weeks are your own. You can add on additional meetings or stand-ups as you and your manager see fit. The TPS meets at the mid-point to look ahead and ensure we're on track. And we get together at the end of the cycle to demo and celebrate what we got done.

The result: Fewer meetings, smarter communication, more time to get stuff done. Much more detail on our Heartbeat production cycle here.

'How do I get stuff into the queue?

• How to get stuff into the Heartbeat production queue.
• Need more detail here
• TLDR: File a TPS report! :) https://wiki.mozilla.org/Webmaker/Project_Brief

TPS Roadmap

[oct3]

• DAVID: share the URL of "top 5s". Put it in a spreadsheet.
• CASSIE: prep for how to do this next week
• MATT:
  • create this TPS wiki.
  • document our production cycle in draft form.
  • set up TPS mailing list and Vidyo room

• SIMON:
  • prep for how to do this next week
  • help w. component map

[oct17]

• (milestone)

[oct31]

• (milestone)

[nov14]

• (milestone)

[nov28]

• (milestone)

[dec12]

• (milestone)