Planning ahead is the most important part of code of conduct enforcement

The goal of a code of conduct is to explicitly define the boundaries of acceptable behavior in a community so that all members can voluntarily abide by it. Unfortunately, people will occasionally violate the code of conduct. When this happens, you have to take some kind of corrective action. This is where many communities struggle.

Too often, the community lacks a well-developed plan for responding to code of conduct violations. The first reason I’ve seen for this is the belief (hope?) that the community members will behave. This is too optimistic, but totally relatable. We all want to think the best of our communities. The other reason I see is a general reluctance to create policy before it’s needed. This makes a lot of sense in almost every other situation, but code of conduct enforcement is different. Developing processes on an as-needed basis is usually my suggested approach, but you cannot build your code of conduct enforcement on the fly. Here’s why.

Ad hoc processes seem unfair

Even if the outcome is correct, a process that’s made up on the fly will be perceived as unfair. If someone is given a timeout from the project because they were clearly harassing another community member, you won’t get much push back. On the other hand, if someone is subtly being a jerk while advancing a controversial opinion, a decision to suspend them could be seen as a punishment for their controversial opinion. People inclined to a bad-faith interpretation can always find a reason to cry foul, but most potential critics will understand if you’re following an established process.

Sometimes the on-the-fly process seems unfair because it is unfair. If two similar incidents occur a year apart, they may be handled very differently. This isn’t because of malice toward the more harshly dealt with person or favoritism toward the more leniently dealt with person. It’s because a year has passed and different people are potentially handling the cases. This is a recipe for inconsistent response.

Code of conduct response can be complicated

The other reason to plan ahead is that code of conduct response can be complicated. In minor cases, someone talks to the offending party, and everyone moves on with life. Those cases are easy. But in more severe cases, like where someone is temporarily (or permanently) suspended from the project, there are more steps to take. You may have to coordinate disabling one or more accounts (including social media accounts). If funding for travel or events is involved, you may need to pause or revoke that. If the person is a maintainer of some component, you need to ensure that someone else is available to handle those responsibilities.

Trying to figure out in the moment what needs to be done almost guarantees missing something. And the people with the ability to make the necessary changes might reasonably hesitate to do it in response to a request out of nowhere. In the case of temporary suspensions, you need to remember to re-enable access. Again, without a defined process, you might forget entirely, or at least forget to re-enable certain privileges.

With severe incidents, the situation is already distressing enough. A pre-defined process doesn’t make it easy, but it reduces the strain.

This post’s featured photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash.