Links on this page have been removed to protect confidentiality of additional internal-facing Field Guide pages available to Automatticians.
Membership
Each ARG should have at least five members at any time. You can develop membership requirements for the ARG with those members, and that would include participating in projects, working toward the goals, and attending meetings, etc. Please keep in mind that participation in an ARG is voluntary, and membership is open to anyone at Automattic.
To that end, keep recruitment in mind as an ongoing goal for your ARG. To sustain the group you’ll want to keep finding interested Automatticians who are able to contribute some of their time and energy. Try to review your members’ interests every so often to make sure that your ARG’s goals match the goals of its members.
Who can help/support our group?
Other ARG leads monitor #arg-collaboration to catch questions we might be able to help with. We are a friendly bunch!
You’ll also find a very thorough guide to DEIB partnerships here.
Actionable Goals / Corresponding Updates
To make sure that everyone, including your own members, know that you are contributing great and worthwhile things to Automattic and helping out fellow Automatticians, your ARG must post clear impact-focused goals and the steps to accomplish them. We have lots of guidance around establishing impact for ARG and DEIB projects.
Be sure to post updates on your ARG’s P2 regularly – we suggest at least once per month – to maintain momentum and interest as well as to report your ongoing activity and existence (having a P2 is a requirement for ARGs).
Regular Meetings
Schedule regular meetings for the ARG and encourage people to join. Post your meeting day and time on your P2 and in your Slack channel. We recommend having a meeting at least once per month, which could be sync or async (or alternate!). Post the agenda for your meeting on your P2. Ask for a volunteer to take notes during the meeting and be sure to post a meeting recap on your P2 after the meeting. Be sure to follow the guidance on inclusive meetings.
Budget
Please visit this page to learn more!
Your performance as a lead, impact, and managing your ARG committee and project leads
We have guidance for DEIB volunteering in the performance context that touches on topics such as being managed in the role of ARG lead, compensation, performance reviews, advocacy and ‘getting time’ to work on ARG projects.
There’s also a specific section around how to write self-feedback that takes ARG work into account for your performance at Automattic, and you can point your team lead to this section where there are some examples of manager feedback.
We have guidance for ARG leads who would like some support with recruiting new leads or committees, and driving good performance from the volunteers and committees in your ARG.
Where can I find more information about ERG best practice?
Employee Resource Groups (externally known as) are pretty common in companies around the world. We have some resources including our Starting an ARG and ARG Guidance pages. But there are also a lot of great resources online about ERGs, how they work, and what you can do with them.
Here are some notes around ERGs and impact that we’ve compiled:
- Notes from webinar “ERG enhancement as part of a DEI strategy”
- Notes from “From Advocacy to Action: Empowering ERGs to Create Lasting Change in the Workplace”
- How our ARGs can create maximum impact
Here are some external ones we recommend, but keep in mind that not every site’s definition will align with Automattic’s setup and culture.
Automattic 