If the discussion concerning a proposal looks like it is going to turn into an argument, then Fishing can be used to find the consensus of the interested. Fishing is based on the +1 -1 voting system but has the added benefit of being fairly quick. Also, all opinions are counted and archived for the future.
Fishing is a method of measuring the mood of a mailing list. It is not a set of rules that is written in stone but rather an extension to the etiquette of the list. There are many ways this has been done before and this is just an evolution of them. This page outlines the methodology. It may be used as a reference for discussion and further evolution.
To get a decision on the
proposal "EdLUG should spend £50 on Name Badges"
the List Moderator sends out two emails, with different Subject
headers. These are:
FISH BADGES AGREE
FISH BADGES DISAGREE
Here are two example E-mails that could be posted to the mailing list
TO: EdLUG
FROM: EdLUG List Moderator
SUBJECT:FISH BADGES AGREE
PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE THE SUBJECT LINE OF THIS E-MAIL
The proposal is
EdLUG should spend £ 50 on Name Badges
If you want to state that you agree to this statement please reply to
this e-mail.
When replying please do not add comments to the e-mail,further
discussion should be done Off Thread
A Decision E-mail will be sent out two weeks from the date of this
posting to confirm the totals
TO: EdLUG
FROM: EdLUG List Moderator
SUBJECT:FISH BADGES DISAGREE
PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE THE SUBJECT LINE OF THIS E-MAIL
The proposal is
EdLUG should spend £ 50 on Name Badges
If you want to state that you disagree to this statement please reply
to this e-mail.
When replying please do not add comments to the e-mail,further
discussion should be done Off Thread
A Decision E-mail will be sent out two weeks from the date of this
posting to confirm the totals
Subscribers can reply to either the Agree or Disagree e-mail.
Care must be taken not to add comments or start new threads.
This shows everyone on the list almost immediately how people feel
about Badges. They
also know that there are no comments in the e-mails and can delete
them.
When the e-mails are listed in the
EdLUG archive there will
be two threads Agree and Disagree which can be counted easily. It would
also be easy to see if anyone has
replied more than once.
This method is almost exactly the same as those who have called for a
vote on the list before
and then added +1 or -1 in the body of the e-mail. The difference is
that you do not need to open up all the
e-mails to find out how people have voted. With Fishing it will also
organise itself within the EdLUG Archive
Anyone can call for a fish, in fact there is no one to stop you. However constantly asking for peoples opinion by fishing is impolite and time wasting and will reduce your popularity. The majority of energetic disputes do not need a fish and tend to fade away. Very occasionally a fish does need to be called and this will be obvious to the long term subscribers of the list. When that happens I suggest that the appropriate people who can call for a fish should be the:
A time for closing the fish needs to be set. Fishing takes more time therefore subscribers have two weeks to add their fish. At the end of the week the caller totals the e-mails and sends out a decision E-mail.