Contribution Best Practices for Organizations

There are excellent benefits that companies stand to gain as they participate in Five for the Future. Some advance planning can help your company make the most of your pledge. Each company’s contribution plan needs to be determined by the respective company. To support that, here are some best practices shared by other Five for the Future participants.

Creating a Contribution Strategy

As you head into the world of Five for the Future contributions, it helps to start by spending some time to plan and create a strategy for the contribution journey. Here are some factors for your consideration that will help you create a contribution strategy:

• Estimate how much time you can contribute
  It can be tempting to commit a lot of time – after all, contribution is fun! However, contributions should not come at the expense of your business needs. Pledge what time you feel is reasonable for your company. A more accurate estimation is also helpful for other WordPress contributors who rely on sponsored contributors to show up consistently.

• Align company goals with your contribution plan
  Compare the goals and motivations of your organization and explore the WordPress project to find areas of alignment. Take some time to research various Make WordPress Teams by going through their blogs and Slack channels to determine which teams best match your company’s projects and priorities (The Make/Contribute tool can also be of assistance here). Building WordPress with the mindset of its practical applications is immensely helpful for the project and many organizations that benefit from WordPress! 
• Align with WordPress Project goals and consider the impact
  Consider impact when making contributions and alignment with WordPress project goals. By reading the team’s blog or talking to active team members or representatives, you can better determine tasks and projects crucial for the team’s success. High-impact contributions for sponsored contributors often address pressing issues, enable self-sponsored contributors to participate, require a specialized or advanced skillset, or require dedicated and ongoing time. A good amount of this work may not be immediately visible but it is essential for keeping WordPress running smoothly and creating an improved contributor experience.
• Match employee skills with Make/Team needs
  When employees from your team are interested in contribution, consider how their skills and interests might match a Make/Teams’ work. While some contributors are interested in providing their expertise, this is not a requirement. In fact, if employees are interested in building or strengthening certain skills, WordPress contribution is also a great way to do so. 

Example Contribution Strategies
Each company has its own unique needs, and there is no one-size-fits-all contribution plan. Here are a few broad example strategies to give you an idea about contribution alignment:

• If you are a Web Hosting company with the goal of building an industry-standard WordPress hosting product, it would make sense for you to contribute to the Make/Hosting, Make/Core, and Make/Performance teams. These contributions directly support their business by improving the WordPress Hosting experience, helping them offer a polished user experience for their clients, and potentially even providing learnings to help them build improved onboarding experiences. 
• For a mid-size agency that creates websites for clients, it might help to have some of their team members be involved in the community team, so that they can bolster their client engagement or community building skills that could in turn support their own business.
• It could make a ton of sense for a translation services company to contribute to Polyglots, as that matches their experience, and the contribution directly aids their work.

Starting your contribution journey

Once you have a contribution plan in place, your organization is ready to kick-off its contribution journey. Here are some recommendations on how you can effectively start contributing.

1. Start Small
   Starting the company contributor journey one step at a time is a sustainable way of gradually integrating into the WordPress ecosystem and allows you to adjust as you go.
2. Focus on Onboarding in the beginning. 
   If your company is new to contributions, start with onboarding. Every team has a handbook that offers detailed instructions on how to get started. Many teams have dedicated volunteers that help with getting started too. Participating in weekly team chats (or even hosting or taking notes for chats) is an excellent way to get started. Don’t be afraid to ask questions or reach out to other contributors for friendly chats.
3. Commit to your pledge with consistent contributions
   Consistent contributions are important for your organization to benefit from Five for the Future and the WordPress Project. When you pledge to Five for the Future, you commit to contributing this dedicated time. If you find you’ve over- or under-committed in your initial pledge, it is OK to adjust! It is better to have an accurate pledge that works well for your company. 

Settling into a consistent contributor pace

Once your organization has started contributing to WordPress, the following ideas will help your employees settle into a comfortable contributor pace:

• Keep track of your contributions
  Keeping a record of contributions in any format can be a great way for organizations to stay motivated and committed. Tracking contributions can also be helpful for companies to understand the importance of continuing to contribute to the project. 
• Document your contributions and track the impact of your efforts.
  It can be as simple as maintaining a spreadsheet where employees add new rows to note their contribution efforts, or using a project management tool (such as Trello, Asana, or GitHub projects) where employees enter the work they have done in the project. Some organizations ask employees to track and note the hours they spend on contributions too. While it is not necessary, it may be helpful for organizations to maintain their level of commitment. Keeping a record of contributions in any format can be a great way for organizations to stay motivated and committed. 
• Share Learnings Internally
  It can be helpful for sponsored contributors to regularly share the knowledge and experience they have gained from contributions. Regularly updating your team on progress, challenges, and successes can keep everyone informed and motivated. This can be done in different forms – sponsored contributors could have a periodic debrief call with other stakeholders to share their learnings or could publish regular updates about their experiences and learnings from the project in an internal project management tool or blog. Sponsored contributors could also organize learn-ups for other employees to share their learnings so that it helps the organization formally. For example, Organizational learn-ups on WordPress coding standards, project management best practices, etc., could be quite valuable.
• Training and Skill Development
  WordPress is evolving, and contributing to WordPress can be a great way for your employees to acquire skills such as project management, writing and communication, web development, community management, and so on.
• Ongoing sync sessions with Product Teams
  If your company builds WordPress-based products (such as plugins, themes, blocks, Hosting or SaaS based products), it would help to have dedicated sync sessions where product teams explore the direction of WordPress. There could be immense value in making your products aligned with the general direction of the WordPress project.
• Improving Overall Client Experience
  If you have a large client base that uses WordPress, your project contributions can be a great way to improve their overall experience working with you. Some ways to maximize this include:
  • Updating and educating clients about new and upcoming release features so they can stay on top of things.
  • Identify bugs early on and offer fixes to clients.
  • Help test clients’ websites well in time for releases to ensure that their user experience is seamless.
  • Get them to stay excited about WordPress.
• Celebrate Wins
  Celebrate the achievements and milestones your team has reached. Recognizing and rewarding contributions boosts morale and encourages continued participation.
• Share and talk about your WordPress Contributions
  We strongly encourage you to talk about your WordPress contributions publicly; it is a great way for your current and future clients to stay updated and inspired by your work. Contributing is also a great way to raise your visibility, which can help you gain more business. Here are some accepted ways to do so:
  • Create a page on your company website that lists your efforts to support WordPress
  • Use your company blog to share about the latest release features or your efforts in contribution. 
  • Share about your contributions in your pitches to potential clients. 
  • Encourage your employees to attend local or flagship WordCamps and to talk about their contributions to others. 

Scaling up your Contributions

Settled into a consistent and sustainable contributor pace and seeing the benefits of WordPress contributions? Scaling up your WordPress contributions at this point could be a great idea. Here are some next steps you can consider for scaling up contributions.

• Build an Internal WordPress Contribution Team
  Consider forming a dedicated team focused on WordPress contributions. A specialized team can coordinate efforts, provide support, and ensure that contributions are making the most impact for WordPress and share relevant information with the rest of the company.
• Consider Sponsoring External Contributors
  A great way for an organization to make ongoing, consistent contributions is to sponsor current active contributors already working on various Make/WordPress Teams. Since they are already making an impact on the project, supporting their contributions financially can amplify this impact. Consider talking to these contributors and onboarding them as contractors or creating agreements with them. This approach not only supports their work but also allows you to receive valuable feedback and updates on your projects.
• Hire Full-Time Contributors
  Consider hiring full-time contributors dedicated to WordPress. Full-time contributors benefit from dedicated focus and time, and significantly enhance your organization’s contribution to the WordPress community. You could also dedicate some of your existing employees to contribute full-time to WordPress.

Company Contribution Example Formats

Thinking of setting up internal systems or processes to contribute consistently to WordPress? Take a look at some of the following approaches:

• Internal Company Contributor Days
  Organize internal contributor days where employees can dedicate their time to working on WordPress projects. These events foster collaboration within your team and create a focused environment for contribution. Provide guidance and support to help employees navigate the contribution process, ensuring they feel confident and motivated. You can refer to our contributor day handbook for more information on how to organize a contributor handbook. Many companies such as Yoast and WP Engine host public contributor days that invite contributors worldwide to participate in the internal contributor day event, which could be a great way to rally contributors and create excitement around contributions.  
• Contribution Sprints Alongside Projects
  Integrate contribution sprints into your regular project workflow. During these sprints, employees can focus on specific WordPress tasks related to their current projects. This approach aligns contributions with ongoing work, making it easier to find relevant tasks and ensuring that contributions are timely and beneficial.
• Contributing during downtime
  Several Five for the Future organizations contribute to WordPress whenever workload from their projects is less or during downtime between projects. Such contributions could offer a great way for employees to stay engaged and focused.
• Periodic Contribution Time: e.g., Five for the Future Fridays
  Designate specific days for contribution – such as spending every second Friday of the month to contribute to WordPress, for instance. During these periods, employees can set aside their regular tasks and focus on contributing to WordPress. Regular, scheduled contribution times create a routine that encourages consistent participation and makes it easier to plan and manage contributions.
• Allow Employees to Contribute at their own pace
  Many companies allow employees to contribute at their own pace and to monitor their own hours. This is perfectly acceptable too. However, since they are contributing on their work time, be sure that there is a system of accountability built around the same – for example, on a weekly or monthly basis, employees could report their contribution hours and share the tasks or relevant links connected to their contributions. 
• Five for the Future Rotations for Employees
  Implement rotations where different employees take turns contributing to WordPress. Rotations distribute the workload and allow a broader range of employees to participate and benefit from the experience.