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All, as we prepare for elections at the March meeting I recommend reading an excellent article on Standards Development, written by Michael B. Spring, from the Department of Information Science and Telecommunications at the University of Pittsburgh. The article is noted on our own LMSC web site, http://www.ieee802.org/devdocs.html with the hyperlink http://www.ieee802.org/Mike_Spring_Article_on_Stds_Process.pdf

The entire article is worthwhile reading and I encourage every participant to do so. There are two sections that I found particularly important, especially as we prepare for election of our WG chair. I have copied those two sections here:

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FIRST SECTION:

Over the past ten years standards development has moved from the formal Standards Development Organizations such as ANSI and the IEEE to consortia such as IETF and W3C. Many people say the reason for this shift is to speed up the process. A study* was made to determine:

1. What can be done to overcome the slow pace of committee work?

2. What can be done to insure effective coordination of committee activities?

3. What can be done to avoid the introduction of irrelevant standards?

One result stood out among the many results of the study, that is the chairperson of the working group is key to what and how fast a standard is produced.

The study generated a wealth of data. The interested reader is referred to the original documents for details and analysis. Space limitations here make it possible only to share the major findings. Four points constituted a leit motif for the study.

1. The success of any given standardization effort is tightly coupled with the quality of the leadership provided. While it is possible that this leadership will come from an individual other than the chair of the committee, it is most likely that this responsibility will fall to the formally appointed/elected

chair.

2. The characteristics expected of the chairperson of a standards committee differ significantly from the characteristics of members of the committee. While technically competence was most important for members, chairpersons should demonstrate leadership, diplomacy, and negotiating skills.

3. The single most important problem that must be addressed by the chairperson is the resolution of conflicts which may be technical, political, or personal in nature.

4. There was general agreement that technology is being underused in the standardization process as a tool to overcome the slowness and generally unstructured nature of the process.

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SECOND SECTION:

Regarding the Chairperson’s Role

The chair of the committee acts as a facilitator with little power to legislate. The chair must be knowledgeable about the subject but also know how a standard may be used by various segments of the industry. A chairperson should be a leader-diplomat-observer, in equal proportions. Also, the chairperson should not be a doer, perfectionist or obstructionist. This is consistent with the view of the chairperson as a skilled leader with strong negotiation skills who delegates. The interviews suggested several skills that might be developed in chairpersons:

1. Skills in problem definition so that underlying issues are uncovered, without forcing excessive constraints that favor a given solution.

2. Skills in avoiding conflict, such as identifying the problem before proposing solutions, maintaining open communications, and avoiding back-room decision making.

3. Skills in group dynamics to help identify when to rein things in and avoid conflicts, how to develop win-win situations by getting agreement on pieces of the problem and then piecing their way back to a solution, and how and when to coax shy members into giving their opinions and when to control others so they do not disrupt the rest of the group.

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The above are just two excerpts from the article. I encourage you to follow the hyperlink and read the entire article.

stds-802-mobility: 802.20 Upcoming Elections

Regarding the Chairperson’s Role