Proposal Ombuds Service

Grants/Funding Season 2 Proposals
1

Date: December 6, 2021
Author: Katarina ( :anchor: , :anchor: )#4518

SUMMARY:

The Ombuds Office is an informal, impartial, neutral, and confidential place for community members to address concerns that may arise while participating in the DAO.

At the request of any DAO member, the Ombuds Office can address complaints, hear the involved member/s, and it can suggest resolutions between the member/s. We listen and make non-binding recommendations for structural solutions.

BACKGROUND:

During Season 1, a discussion emerged with regard to situations in which members felt that their work had not been properly recognized within the DAO.

That’s the reason why authors Eagle , Larry_With_An_L and the goodnunes.eth submitted an “Ombuds Office” proposal on the forum, which was voted 93% "In Favor Of : The Bankless DAO Ombuds: A confidential, informal and off-chain dispute resolution mechanism that supports our social layer

DAO governance frameworks, as the COALA model law 3 for DAOs, suggest providing for an internal “Dispute Resolution Mechanism”, intended as an on-chain alternative dispute resolution system, such as arbitration. It seems therefore advisable to set up an Ombuds Office empowered to address/resolve members’ complaints and concerns.

MISSION & VALUES ALIGNMENT:

The DAO puts decision-making into the hands of the collective, in order to create legitimacy through an environment where the best ideas win. Every member is entitled to propose solutions and work in the best interest of the DAO. The DAO empowers the community to continually drive new initiatives by providing a space to self-organize and quickly move from idea to action. In this context, it is of paramount importance that every contributor feels protected and adequately considered for the work done among the community.

SPECIFICATION:

The Ombuds Office was setup end of August 2021 with the first member’s complaint end of September 2021. As we did not know how many complaints would arise, we decided to wait until the end of the season to submit a funding request. Since then we’ve noticed that the Ombuds Office is certainly needed and we have new cases regularly, about 4 per month up to now.

The Ombuds Office is composed of 5 members with gender and geographic diversity. Every DAO member, except Genesis squad members and Grants committee members, can apply to be part of the Ombuds. The duration of the mandate is set on 1 year.

Depending on the request, the Ombuds Team follows up on chat or voice call and with 1 or more Ombuds Office members. We are on stand-by 24/7 as we are in different timezones and aim to respond as soon as possible.

Elected Members:

  • "Delgadoge"
  • "Rotorless"
  • "Marvel"
  • "mgoesdistance.eth" ( replacement Eagle )
  • "Katarina ( :anchor: , :anchor: )"

Main Administration Role: Katarina ( :anchor: , :anchor: )#4518
→ proposal, notion, sobol, creation lettucemeets and setting up chat/call groups, airtable with cases info and follow-up, sending out feedback form after the case is closed,…

Initial proposal & active member until 11th of October: Eagle#2979

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:

The calculation for Season 2:

A fixed amount per member for first follow-up and always being on stand-by:
5 Ombuds Members x 2000 per member for the Season = 10000 BANK

Administration role: 20000 BANK ( min 2hr/w )

Extra per case, based on the first months:
about 4 cases per month x 3 months x 4 hours per case x 4 ombuds = 192 x 1000/hr = 192000

Total: 222000 BANK

We propose the same for Season 3 and will evaluate after that.
We keep track of cases and hours and which member(s) assisted and will reward accordingly.

We will calculate the remaining balance after Season 3 and then make a proposal for Season 4.

Total for S2 & S3: 222000 x 2 = 444000 BANK

SUCCESS METRICS OR KPI’s:

  • Number of cases: 8 cases since 28/9/2021
  • Community appreciation:
    "Thanks for listening to us, you played your part perfectly
  • I agree with the Ombuds Office Budget Proposal
  • I don’t agree with the Ombuds Office Budget Proposal

0 voters

2 Likes
2

I have been working in the Ombuds for some weeks before the end of Season 1. I can testify that it is a lot of work. You need to understand the case, discuss with many people, carefully assess the situation and come up with a suggestion/proposal.

Moreover, I want to point out that the Ombuds has been a success in the light of the available data. It has been used frequently by the community and Ombuds members showed to be capable of managing the cases.

6 Likes
3

I voted yes and I think your second KPI could be improved. Perhaps you could ask members who go through arbitration what they felt of the process?

3 Likes
4

Yes indeed, great point !
I just created a feedback form that I’ve sent to all the members that contacted us so far this morning and that we will use from now on to get feedback and keep on improving our service.

4 Likes
5

An easy yes. Thank you for all your hard work! This is a necessary, but difficult to provide, service to the DAO. Conflict resolution is really tough, so I’m thankful to have a guild dedicated to it.

3 Likes
6

I’d like to suggest that the Ombuds also consider building a set of principles that define the boundaries of their power. I believe the Ombuds should be powerful enough to make real, significant change and yet limited enough that they don’t become a junta running a kangaroo court. (No offense frens, just thinking of a worst-case scenario.)

1 Like
7

I found Ohmbudfolk to be quite helpful, thanks Katrina, Marvel and the working group involved in developing this space !!

8

I will always support a proper complaint management process. I approve.

1 Like