Working Groups
Purpose and scope
Each working group should have a charter that defines the problem it owns, the outcomes it seeks, what is explicitly out of scope, who may participate and how decisions and outputs are approved.
Why it matters
A clear scope prevents duplicated work and gives contributors confidence that their effort leads toward an accepted result.
In brief
Each working group should have a charter that defines the problem it owns, the outcomes it seeks, what is explicitly out of scope, who may participate and how decisions and outputs are approved.
A good charter states the problem, included and excluded work, expected outputs, decision process, dependencies and review date. That lets a prospective contributor decide quickly whether to join, propose a project elsewhere or ask the Board to resolve an overlap.
Key considerations
1. Purpose
State the adoption or technical barrier the group exists to address and the audiences it serves.
2. Boundaries
List interfaces with other groups, standards bodies and projects, including an escalation route for overlaps.
3. Operation
Define leadership, membership, cadence, decision process, deliverable lifecycle and review frequency.
Evidence and caveats
Group scope and names evolve with ecosystem needs. Use the live charter and record the version considered by a project.
Use the live charter, project record or published output for current status. Name owners and dates for work in progress.