Optimism Code of Conduct Council Internal Operating Procedures (season 6)
The code of conduct council is a group of elected community members who will support the Optimism Collective facilitating the management of disputes, conflictive situations, and enforcement of sanctions for violations of the rules of engagement.
Reporting mechanisms:
- Any Optimist can directly contact the CoCC members for the purpose of their role.
- CoCC members can report cases based on their activity and perception of what is happening in the community.
- Any Optimist can fill this reporting form anonymously or on their behalf, signaling an issue that may result in a case for code of conduct council.
Scale of conflicts:
The following framework draws from the current enforcement process and shows the boundaries of scope from the CoCC regarding the cases that may arise.
| Scope | Description of possible actions: |
|---|---|
| Small | Any instance of inappropriate language or other behavior deemed unprofessional or unwelcoming in the community. Rude, disruptive, or inconsiderate behavior likely to escalate conflict that may involve minor breaches of the rules of engagement. |
- First effort is to de-escalate public conflict.
- Third party Mediation can be requested.
- Guidance required from members of the CoCC
- Process documented, privacy preserved.
- May result in a warning or alternative restorative actions.
| Medium | Breakdown of team communication, impacting work, or a serious violation of community standards, including sustained inappropriate behavior. |
- Third party Mediation looking for restorative actions.
- Process documented, privacy preserved
- Outcome published to the forum.
- May result in a warning or temporary suspensions.
| Large | Repeated violation of community standards, including sustained inappropriate behavior, or severe violations. The CoCC is only responsible for breaches of the Rules of Engagement. Other sections of the Code of Conduct fall under the responsibility of other councils of the collective, such as the Grants council. |
- Deliberation of sanctions (temp ban, permanent ban)
- Process documented, privacy preserved
- Outcome published to the forum
COCC conflict management steps and times
1. Identification: communication phase. Estimated time, up to 5 working days.
It shouldn’t take longer than a week after a triggering fact, for the CoCC to inform the parties that a case has opened and that cooperation will be requested to advance on the next steps of the process.Were the informed party not reply within 5 working days after being reached out by the Code of Conduct Council, the Council will decide unilaterally the course of action to be taken and whether to advance to the Screening stage.
No member of the board will seek to react directly to any conflict, but rather to gather the opinions of other members in order to define the next steps.
2. Screening: Gathering of information. Estimated time, up to 5 working days.
After a case is identified, If the violation is clear and manifest, the council can deliberate without further mapping. If the issue requires to raise more information to make an informed decision, the council will be able to decide if the following week can be a deliberation week, if the case pivots to the mediation provider, if they are ready for voting on the next steps of the case, or if it’s considered to extend the screening process up to 10 additional working days.
In the event that a member commits a severe violation and immediate action is required, the COCC will suspend the member from the spaces while the screening process is complete.
The COCC will maintain constant contact with the suspended member to maintain a flow of information.
3. Deliberation: Estimate time, up to 5 working days.
Once the screening phase is complete, an informed decision is made by consent or by simple vote in the council. This decision contains next steps on the case, including if, and what sanction applies.
A decision can be made by consent when there is no objection (i.e., a warning that the decision could pose a danger to the collective) from the members.
4. Follow up: 3 month period (half a season)
Since the CoCC is a persistent structure in Optimism governance starting in season 6, If this follow up period happens between seasons, the previous CoCC members would have to handoff the issues and share the registry of cases to the new council, considering that members may change.
After the deliberation phase, follow up is where we will review if the proposed actions were effective to deal with the situation, by having accountability on the parties responsibilities. If during the follow up period, new information arises, reconsideration can be made by the council, returning to the screening phase, for a new deliberation on the case.
Definition of warnings:
A warning is a response to inappropriate behavior that has the intention to prevent scaling of conflicts. Warnings play a pedagogic and corrective role in an incremental structure of graduated sanctions.
As stated in the Rules of Engagement,
Additional considerations
-
Registry of cases will be handled privately between the CoCC and the foundation.
-
These Internal operating procedures can be updated twice per season after being published in the forum.
-
Mid and season reports are expected with analysis of patterns on conflicting cases and self evaluation of the council for transparency.