Initiatives

Initiatives are mission-oriented projects that are executed by a self-organising team of 2-4 Hypha members who have the skills and tools to design, build, gather feedback or test, and finalize/release on the project.

Setting up an Initiative

An initiative proposal should be brief and provide and overview and argument and use the template. You can add more sections as appropriate, including sample code, project roadmap, etc. Examples can be found in our initiatives archive 🔒.

Once a proposal has been drafted and approved, the squad will set up a new initiative with support from the Operations squad.

Leads, Opportunities & Client Proposals

While the Opportunities squad is mainly in charge of sales lead generation, all members may pursue leads as they come up.

If a member decides to pursue a lead, they can reach out to gauge potential interest in working together. If the lead expresses intention to proceed with a concrete project in mind, this becomes an opportunity.

The member now heads up this sales effort and drafts an Initiative Proposal with support from the Opportunities squad, then present it (e.g., at a meeting, or via virtual channels) to see whether the co-operative wants to move forward. In this meeting, we should discuss any concerns by other members, and gauge team capacity given project timelines.

Below we have the list of active initiatives as of 2022 Q4. Detailed information about our client projects is in our initiatives database 🔒.

Dripline

Initiative for developing Hypha’s writing practice by publishing monthly public-facing articles on our website.

📅 Calls: Monthly
👪 Squad Members: aa (lead) and others
✅ Tasks: GitHub board > init-drip label

Hello Hypha

Initiative for meeting neighbours, potential collaborators, and the co-op curious to deepen our relationships through 2-3 calls per month.

📅 Calls: Weekly
👪 Squad Members: aa (lead) and others
✅ Tasks: GitHub board > init-hello label

Hiring

Initiative for shepharding the hiring proces: identifying and refining roles, forming hiring committees, writing job descriptions, and interviewing.

📅 Calls: bi-weekly
👪 Squad Members: bl (lead) and others
✅ Tasks: GitHub board > init-hiring label

Improving Tech Stack

Initiative for improving workflow, testing and adding new tools as new requirements emerge.

📅 Calls: Monthly
👪 Squad Members: yj (lead) and others
✅ Tasks: GitHub board > init-improvetech label

Organisation Homeostasis

Initiative for leading the creation and execution of strategy and governance, including quarterly planning meetings and AGM.

📅 Calls: As needed
👪 Squad Members: uv (lead) and others
✅ Tasks: GitHub board > init-homeostatis label

Open Collective Fiscal Host

Initiative for operating as a fiscal host using Open Collective to aid small projects and informal groups aligned with our mission-work.

📅 Calls: Biweekly
👪 Squad Members: bl (lead) and others
✅ Tasks: GitHub board > init-ochost label

Social Spaces

Initiative for maintaining Hypha's social media accounts (e.g., Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn) and other platforms we use that have a social element (e.g., OpenCollective, Arena, GitHub).

⏲️ Status: Launched
📑 Timeline: Ongoing
📈 Scale and Est. Hours: Medium
📅 Calls: Weekly
👪 Squad Members: open (lead) and others
✅ Tasks: GitHub board > init-socials label

Back office

Contains core business activities for sustaining Hypha's virtual office. These are not set up in the same way as the above initiatives:

Finance

Initiative for stewarding the financial sustainability of the organization, this includes establishing accounting practices, maintaining financial accounts, processing invoices, expenses, and payroll, and creating reports on our financial statements and tax obligations.

📅 Calls: As needed
👪 Squad Members: @finance
✅ Tasks: GitHub board > finance label

Infrastructure

Initiative for providing support and maintaining our "virtual office" and public services.

📅 Calls: Monthly
👪 Squad Members: @infrastructure
✅ Tasks: GitHub board > infrastructure label

Operations

Initiative for stewarding our shared practices and policies for effective remote collaboration.

📅 Calls: As needed
👪 Squad Members: @operations
✅ Tasks: GitHub board > operations label

Opportunities

Initiative for pursuing business opportunities.

📅 Calls: As needed
👪 Squad Members: @opportunities
✅ Tasks: GitHub board > opportunities label