Tldr: The Phase 2 Restructuring and Refocus proposal approved the creation of “Guild Councils” for oversight. This proposal draft aims to fulfill that through “Mission Wardens”. The below outlines the responsibilities of Mission Wardens, how they are selected/nominated and the report card (or mission assessment) that could be used to evaluate Guild performance. We’ll be doing first discussion tomorrow.
Background
DXdao has a unique organizational structure where autonomous teams (Squads) work on projects to realize a unified vision. Squads are organized into Guilds to streamline governance overhead and combine resources when possible.
In the past, squad participants submitted individual worker compensation proposals that were individually voted on by REP holders. Recent process changes consolidate this proposal process in the guilds themselves. Guilds are now responsible for requesting the funds to pay the contributors who will do work for them in their semi-annual budget requests.
This shift moves the responsibility of REP holders from reviewing individual contributions to a project to reviewing the overall performance of the projects themselves. In consolidating the funding and compensation requests to guilds and squads, DXdao is able to give teams and contributors more autonomy while creating opportunities for more focused reviews of each squad and project, adjudicated with the standards that they define for themselves in their proposals.
Mission Wardens
REP holders hold guilds and squads accountable via existing governance mechanisms, specifically with the ability to grant or retract funding. This is a powerful mechanism, but it requires time and effort to wield effectively. REP holders are often busy with their own work and may not have time to do the required research and outreach to determine whether a Guild or Squad is meeting expectations. To remedy this, we propose the creation of a new, advisory accountability layer: the DXdao Mission Wardens.
The Mission Wardens are elected community members tasked with reviewing and grading the work of different squads. Their role is to facilitate the decisions making of REP holders by interacting directly with squad and guild members to determine how a project is progressing and communicate their findings on a quarterly basis. As their name suggests, the Mission Wardens are primarily responsible for evaluating whether they think teams are successfully completing the missions that they lay out for themselves in their funding requests.
Warden responsibilities
Wardens are tasked with evaluating the effectiveness of a guild’s execution of the scope of work outlined in a guild’s budget proposal as well as adherence to the DXdao Priorities Board. This requires them to be familiar with the ongoings of the guild throughout their tenure through periodic checkups.
Mission Wardens have two clear responsibilities. First, is to attend and provide feedback on a halfway checkin provided by the guild team in March or April. Second, to fill out a Mission Assessment one month prior to the conclusion of the 6 month budgetary term. This will be posted in the forum and presented on a public call. This will be used to determine the next budget allocation.
Nominations & Elections
The ENS working group elections are a great start. Much of this is modeled off of this. Open nomination process could start a couple weeks after announcement?
First Step would be an open nomination process for all interested candidates. Maybe 1 or 2 weeks from the announcement?
Nomination Process
To nominate yourself as a Mission Warden, follow these three steps:
Step 1 - DAOtalk post
Reply to this post with the following information:
- Link to Snapshot: (fill this in after Step 2)
- Preferred Name and/or ENS name:
- Which Warden Group you want to join (Organizational or Technical):
- DaoTalk username:
- Twitter profile link (optional):
- Why you would be a good Mission Warden:
Step 2 - Nomination Vote
Create a Snapshot vote in the DXD snapshot space Here’s sample template:
- Title: [Mission Warden - [type]] Nominate [your preferred name or ENS name]
example : [Mission Warden - Organizational] Nominate Bob DXD-Lover - Body: copy and past your forum reply from above which includes:
- Your preferred name/ENS name
- DaoTalk username
- Twitter profile link (optional)
- Why you would be a good Mission Warden
Step 3 Selection Process
There will be a minimum number of votes needed to qualify for the sanpshot vote. All accepted nominees will then be included in a snapshot vote determined by DXD token holders, also on Snapshot. The top 3 vote recipients for each Mission Wardens team (Organizational and Technical) will become the wardens for the next 6 months. The voting methodology should be a ranked choice vote.
Mission Assessment (report card)
See draft document at the following link:
Compensation
Mission Wardens should be compensated for their work. Assessing performance takes time and this can only be done well when a warden is following along with the guild’s performance throughout the six months.
We suggest $5k for a six month period, $1k in stablecoins and $4k in DXD vested for one year. The payments will come once the mission assessments are completed and presented.
How many Mission Wardens?
Proposing to have two sets of 3 mission wardens. One set focused on Operations & Voice Guild, and another set focused on DXgov, Swapr and Carrot Guilds. This can expand and we don’t need to have a certain number of Mission Wardens per Guild. A guild could even just have one Mission Warden if DXdao governance felt so.
The number of wardens will also factor into how the wardens are compensated.