Status: Draft for team discussion
Type: New meeting format proposal
Proposed by: @rfluethi, @sumitsingh, @saif2002 @sibokul
Date: 3 February 2026

TL;DR

We propose introducing a monthly “Office Hour Meeting” video format to complement our existing Tuesday SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. meetings. These sessions will focus on actionable discussions, concrete task assignment, and helping new contributors get involved. The format emphasizes accountability, diverse moderation, and inclusive scheduling across time zones.

Background

Currently, the Training Team meets weekly on Tuesdays via Slack chat. While valuable, this format has limitations for in-depth discussions and real-time collaboration.

For several months, we also experimented with Zoom Coffee Hours. These sessions were helpful for getting to know each other, but they had two main challenges:

• The same people attended repeatedly
• Ideas discussed rarely led to concrete implementation

We learned that social connection alone isn’t enough. We need a format that combines community building with concrete action.

The Proposal: Office Hour Meeting Format

What is an Office Hour Meeting?

The Office Hour Meeting is a structured video meeting where team members can:

• Get to know the team in a face-to-face setting
• Ask questions about team tasks and activities
• Learn about the status of various projects and initiatives
• Discuss new ideas and plan their implementation
• Receive specific task assignments
• Create accountability and increase team output

Key Details

Frequency: Once per month (or more often if needed)

Duration: Maximum 1 hour (to prevent unproductive discussions)

Organization: Organized by the main Make WordPress Training Team. Any team member can organize a meeting, but at least one Team Representative, Admin, or Guide must be present.

Regional Variants: Regional groups are encouraged to host their own Office Hour Meetings in their respective languages.

Flexible Scheduling: Meeting times will rotate to accommodate different time zones regularly.

Code of Conduct: All participants follow the WordPress Community Code of Conduct and Mozilla Participation Guidelines.

Meeting Structure

0. Welcome & Onboarding (5 minutes)

• Brief introduction round if new participants present
• Quick overview of format and goals for newcomers

1. Topic Presentation (Optional, max. 10 minutes)

If available, a current topic or project will be presented.

2. Discussion & Planning

Focused discussion about the topic with concrete implementation planning. Questions to answer:

• What concrete steps are needed?
• Who can take on which tasks?
• What resources or support is needed?
• What are realistic timelines?

3. Open Q&A

Participants can ask questions about:

• How to best approach and implement an idea
• Getting started with a specific contribution
• Understanding team processes and guidelines
• Technical questions about tools and platforms

Moderation & Scheduling

Rotating Moderation

Goal: Different people should moderate to give everyone the opportunity to overcome their fear of facilitation.

Process:

• Moderators and dates will be determined during the Tuesday meeting
• Moderators will be published in the team calendar
• Support and guidance available for first-time moderators

Moderator Support:

• No one should moderate more than once every 3 months
• Buddy system: Each moderator has a co-moderator for support
• Template and checklist provided for preparation
• Optional prep call with experienced moderator
• Right to decline without explanation

Decision Making in Meetings:

• Moderator facilitates but does not decide alone
• Consensus-seeking approach
• If consensus not possible: Document different viewpoints, escalate to Team Reps
• Decisions documented in protocol with rationale

Inclusive Scheduling

• Meeting times will vary to regularly consider all time zones
• Regional groups encouraged to organize their own meetings in local languages and time zones

Documentation

After each meeting, a brief protocol will be created including:

Required Documentation

1. Moderator(s): Name(s) of meeting moderator(s)
2. Key Questions Discussed: Main topics and questions addressed
3. Decisions Made: Agreements and decisions reached
4. Action Items: Task list with:

• Specific task description
• Assigned person responsible
• Target completion date (if applicable)

1. Achievements: Successfully completed tasks from previous meetings

Follow-up Process

For questions that couldn’t be answered:

• Add to action items list
• Assign someone to research and respond
• Track status until resolved

Documentation Location: [To be determined – Make WordPress Training handbook, GitHubGitHub GitHub is a website that offers online implementation of git repositories that can easily be shared, copied and modified by other developers. Public repositories are free to host, private repositories require a paid subscription. GitHub introduced the concept of the ‘pull request’ where code changes done in branches by contributors can be reviewed and discussed before being merged by the repository owner. https://github.com/, Google Drive, or other]

Technical Platform

Current Considerations

The meeting should be held in a video conferencing tool. We need to evaluate options that are:

Priority Criteria:

1. AccessibilityAccessibility Accessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility): Works well for participants globally, including regions with limited bandwidth (e.g., Ghana, other Global South regions)
2. Privacy-friendly: GDPR compliant and ideally less dependent on US-based services
3. Open/Free: Free for participants, ideally open-source
4. Reliable: Stable connections, good audio/video quality

Options to Evaluate:

• Zoom (currently used, familiar but US-based)
• Jitsi (open-source, can be self-hosted)
• BigBlueButton (open-source, education-focused)
• Other WordPress community-approved platforms

Action Required: Technical evaluation and testing with international participants before launch.

Success Metrics

To evaluate if the Office Hour Meeting format is working, we’ll track:

Participation

• Number of participants per session
• Diversity of participants (new vs. regular members)
• Time zone representation

Output & Accountability

• Tasks created per meeting
• Task completion rate
• Time from idea to implementation

Community Health

• New contributor onboarding via Office Hour Meetings
• Participant satisfaction (quarterly check-in)
• Continued participation over time

Continuous Improvement

• Optional anonymous feedback form after each meeting
• Monthly review of feedback by Team Reps
• Quarterly adjustment of format based on learnings

Contributor Recognition

Moderator Recognition

• Moderators are named in the meeting protocol
• Mentioned in monthly or quarterly team updates

Participant Recognition

• People who take on tasks are publicly acknowledged
• Successful implementations are briefly celebrated at the next meeting
• Regular spotlight posts about contributors

Visibility

• Quarterly summary of all Office Hour Meeting achievements
• Before and after presentations of implemented ideas
• Team statistics (with opt-in from participants)

Risk Management

Low Participation:

• If fewer than 3 participants: Convert to async discussion in Slack
• After 3 consecutive low attendance meetings: Evaluate format

Moderator Unavailable:

• Co-moderator takes over
• If both unavailable: Reschedule with 48h notice minimum

Technical Issues:

• Backup platform identified in advance
• Meeting can continue via Slack if needed

Conflicts or Code of Conduct Issues:

• Meeting can be paused
• Team Representative handles according to WordPress Community Guidelines

Timeline & Next Steps

Phase 1: Discussion & Approval (Current)

• Present proposal to team
• Gather feedback and suggestions
• Refine based on team input
• Timeline: [To be defined]

Phase 2: Technical Setup (After approval)

• Evaluate and test video conferencing platforms
• Set up calendar and registration system
• Create documentation template
• Recruit first moderators
• Timeline: [To be defined]

Phase 3: Pilot Phase (3 months)

• Host first 3 Office Hour Meetings
• Rotate meeting times across time zones
• Test different moderators
• Gather participant feedback
• Timeline: [To be defined – first session]

Phase 4: Evaluation & Adjustment

• Review success metrics
• Collect team feedback
• Adjust format as needed
• Decide on continuation
• Timeline: [After 3 months]

Continuation Criteria (after pilot)

The format continues if:

• Average of 5 or more participants per session, OR
• 3 or more concrete outcomes/tasks per session, OR
• Team vote to continue despite lower metrics

If discontinued:

• Document learnings
• Archive protocols
• Thank all contributors publicly
• Consider alternative formats

Open Questions for Team Discussion

1. Meeting Platform: Which video conferencing tool should we use? Should we test multiple options?
2. First Moderators: Who would be willing to moderate the first few sessions?
3. Documentation: Where should we store Office Hour Meeting protocols? (Handbook, GitHub, Google Drive, Make blog?)
4. Regional Variants: Which regional communities might want to start their own Office Hour Meetings?
5. Starting Date: When should we aim for the first Office Hour Meeting? [Open – to be determined]

Promotion

The Office Hour Meeting will be promoted through the following channels:

Regular Promotion:

• Announcement at Tuesday Slack meetings
• Reminder before each Office Hour Meeting with planned content/agenda

Meeting Start & End:

• At the start of the meeting: Post in Slack with tag <office hour meeting> and link to video conference
• At the end of the meeting: Post in Slack with tag </office hour meeting>

This structured tagging helps team members easily identify when an Office Hour Meeting is in progress and join if available.

What We Need from You

To move forward with the Office Hour Meeting format, we need:

1. Your feedback on this proposal
2. Volunteer moderators willing to facilitate sessions
3. Technical testers to evaluate video platforms
4. Your ideas for first topics to discuss

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Questions about this proposal? Please comment below or join the discussion at the next Tuesday meeting.

Want to help make this happen? Reach out in #training Slack channel or comment below.

Let’s make 2026 the year of increased collaboration, accountability, and impact for the Training Team!