{"id":647,"date":"2016-07-14T15:36:43","date_gmt":"2016-07-14T15:36:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/conferences\/?p=647"},"modified":"2017-01-25T20:39:45","modified_gmt":"2017-01-25T20:39:45","slug":"theres-a-we-in-weapon-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/conferences\/2016\/07\/14\/theres-a-we-in-weapon-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"There\u2019s a \u201cwe\u201d in \u201cweapon\u201d! \u2013 Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-caption alignright judgeimg\"><a href=\"https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/dci\/49361110\"><img src=https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/dci\/avatar?dci=49361110&size=200 alt=\"William\u00a0Tiddi L2, Denmark\"><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">William\u00a0Tiddi L2, Denmark<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em>Focus Groups <\/em><em>at Judge Conferences<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oh great! If you got this far, you may be now eager to volunteer and bring an incredible focus group experience to your fellow Magic judges at the next Conference. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/conferences\/2016\/07\/04\/theres-a-we-in-weapon-part-1\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Last time<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0we introduced some general guidelines behind setting up such an infrastructure, and I hopefully convinced you <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">how<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> it can be done, and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">why <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">it can be great. It is now time to delve into <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">what<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is actually going to happen during this session\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Three is the Magic\u2122 number<\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In order to maximize the educational value of this opportunity, the participant should experience a progressive evolution during their involvement. The points of view, the solutions proposed, even the mood of the discussion: everything flows and progresses from the personal dimension to a community-wide reflection. And the structure of the session should reflect this, in a three-step process. Let\u2019s see it in detail.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_656\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-656\" style=\"width: 980px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-656 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/conferences\/files\/2016\/07\/Arrow_MonoW-1024x503.png\" width=\"980\" height=\"481\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/conferences\/files\/2016\/07\/Arrow_MonoW-1024x503.png 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/conferences\/files\/2016\/07\/Arrow_MonoW-300x147.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/conferences\/files\/2016\/07\/Arrow_MonoW-125x61.png 125w, https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/conferences\/files\/2016\/07\/Arrow_MonoW.png 1287w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 980px) 100vw, 980px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-656\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The three-step evolution of knowledge transfer in focus groups<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/h2>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Step 1: Group discussion<\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The first step is kind of obvious: discussing. Each focus group is given a topic, and should spend the allotted time to deconstruct it. Each and every member should voice their opinion on the matter, and provide constructive feedback to other opinions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A good discussion depends on many factors:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The <\/span><b>topic<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> must be something which can be discussed about, and often has no clear answer. \u201cIs cheating good or bad?\u201d or \u201cHow many sub-layers of layer 7 exist?\u201d do not offer much learning value. Instead, even something simple as \u201cWhen is it ok to do backups?\u201d can yield a surprising amount of interesting counterpoints.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">All members are active in both offering and receiving input. One of the mantras I like to repeat in these situations is <\/span><b>\u201c<\/b><b><i>Listen<\/i><\/b><b>, not <\/b><b><i>hear<\/i><\/b><b>\u201d<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">: it\u2019s not a matter of waiting for the person in line to finish their talk and finally let us express The Only Real Truth \u2013 it\u2019s important to assimilate points and counterpoints outside our own ideas.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Every judge is given their <\/span><b>fair share of time<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. There will always be people more at ease with speaking out loud articulated thoughts, or enthusiastically commenting <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">every<\/span><\/i> <i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">single contribution<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, while others prefer to lurk in the shadows. The group dynamic (aided by the designated facilitator for that group) should ensure everyone gets their moment in the spotlight.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Step 2: Group work<\/span><\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_654\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-654\" style=\"width: 216px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-654\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/conferences\/files\/2016\/07\/Councils-Judgement-216x300.jpeg\" alt=\"It is my experience that most groups will converge in a common vision even without you threatening them. YMMV.\" width=\"216\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/conferences\/files\/2016\/07\/Councils-Judgement-216x300.jpeg 216w, https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/conferences\/files\/2016\/07\/Councils-Judgement-90x125.jpeg 90w, https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/conferences\/files\/2016\/07\/Councils-Judgement.jpeg 223w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 216px) 100vw, 216px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-654\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">It is my experience that most groups will converge in a common vision even without you threatening them. YMMV.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The best way of ruining a promising discussion is by getting lost in trivial issues, going out of topic, or simply ending up with a feeling of missing closure. That\u2019s why after the initial period in which the group gets to know each other, and ends up dividing in factions of different points of view, it is important to get them to stop arguing and start to work towards a <\/span><b>common end goal<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. This forces them to <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">cooperate<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, find an agreement (including \u201cagree to disagree\u201d) among the group members, and structure their thoughts into some concrete and definite result. The outcome of the group work should preferably be some form of <\/span><b>material deliverable<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, such as text and images. You\u2019d be amazed by how easy it is to uncover a false sense of agreement when it is time to put it in written words \u2013 the simple act of putting stuff down in black and white ensures that the group has actually found a <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">consistent<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> common ground in what they learned and will later transfer it undistorted to their local communities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A common deliverable is typically some kind of <\/span><b>presentation<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> (e.g. Powerpoint slides) intended for being presented to the broader audience of the Conference: it has the advantage that many people will be familiar with this structure from school or work, and can easily result in some entertaining time, but it\u2019s important to remember that a good presentation requires time to be developed \u2013 time \u00a0which may not be available. A faster option may be a small poster which can be shown around, but according to the focus topic a <\/span><b>table<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a <\/span><b>list<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> of bullet points, or some kind of <\/span><b>action plan<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> can also be suitable.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Step 3: Follow-up<\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">We have now reached a point where we recognize multiple groups, each expert in its own focus issue. That\u2019s bad: the whole point was to <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">maximize<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> the knowledge transfer, and instead we <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">confined<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> it to 10 people tops!<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_660\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-660\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-660\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/conferences\/files\/2016\/07\/mc17_mindslaver-300x238.jpg\" alt=\"During its early years, the Judge Program tested alternative solutions for optimal knowledge transfer\" width=\"300\" height=\"238\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/conferences\/files\/2016\/07\/mc17_mindslaver-300x238.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/conferences\/files\/2016\/07\/mc17_mindslaver-125x99.jpg 125w, https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/conferences\/files\/2016\/07\/mc17_mindslaver.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-660\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">During its early years, the Judge Program tested alternative solutions for optimal knowledge transfer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The immediate solution is of course to allow <\/span><b>transfer between groups<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">: this will provide a sense of natural conclusion to the session, by sharing the produced deliverables across the participants who weren\u2019t part of the initial discussion. If people created some slides or posters, each group can be allotted some minutes to present in front of the whole audience, or to a part of them e.g. shuffling all group members in brand new groups, or pairing groups two and two and having them confront their findings. Depending on the amount of time available, one of these solutions may be considered, but don\u2019t be afraid of just closing the session after step 2 in favor of leaving more time for the single group dynamics. And the transfer? Here comes the real deal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">What rarely happens, but I consider the most important part, is to have a <\/span><b>transfer to the community<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. You want to maximize knowledge transfer, remember? (I may have mentioned it a couple times already) If you stop at the previous steps, whatever is collected at the Conference <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">dies<\/span><\/i> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">at the Conference. <\/span><b>People will forget<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. For this reason, there should be at least a follow-up <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">after<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> the Conference.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Let people go back to their lives, let a week or two, or even a month, pass. And then, have them put what they learned in action: the easiest thing is to <\/span><b>share<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> the deliverables they created, if any, but you can also <\/span><b>create<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> a brand new follow-up activity. Use your community\u2019s resources &#8211; groups, mailing lists, forums &#8211; to stimulate discussion on the topics (preferably, one at a time) once again: in doing so those who already were exposed to them will be able to expand and present these concepts to those who weren\u2019t, including those who weren\u2019t at the Conference at all, which will in turn get their chance to reply and voice their own ideas. It is the best opportunity to increase community awareness on the topics you\u2019ve selected: we\u2019re well past the 10-people Area of Effect, your job is now <\/span><b>meaningful<\/b> <i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">and<\/span><\/i> <b>permanent<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Only when you have reached to (potentially) every single Judge in your community, you can consider your job really done and the discussion over.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I\u2019ll let you decide where to set the boundaries of \u201cyour community\u201d \u2013 nothing says you can\u2019t plan to involve the whole Judge Program, if you wish so: just be sure to reach the Conference attendees and their nearest peers first and foremost.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Summing it up<\/span><\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_650\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-650\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-650\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/conferences\/files\/2016\/07\/Image2.2-300x272.png\" alt=\"Some people are particularly committed to teamwork\" width=\"300\" height=\"272\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/conferences\/files\/2016\/07\/Image2.2-300x272.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/conferences\/files\/2016\/07\/Image2.2-125x113.png 125w, https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/conferences\/files\/2016\/07\/Image2.2.png 845w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-650\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Some people are particularly committed to teamwork<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It\u2019s import<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">ant to recognize that the focus groups are not the be-all and end-all of group workshops. They are <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">fun<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, but they suffer from a series of inconveniences: they are extremely <\/span><b>time intensive<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, if you want to do them right, and consequently they offer a <\/span><b>limited knowledge transfer<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> across groups, since often not enough time (or energy, or focus) will be left for that final part. Also, sometimes the participants are not enthusiastic to share their thoughts, and it takes a good facilitator to ensure these <\/span><b>\u201ccold\u201d elements<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> are part of a well-integrated group.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Focus groups also share a lot of characteristics with other kinds of sessions which you may encounter at Conferences: <\/span><b>simulation scenarios<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> for example offer some nice role-playing action for those topics which are better dealt with empirically than theoretically. Whether it is a made up Investigation, a new Deck Check exercise, or a simple practical on Rulings Delivery, a lot can be gained by having multiple judges approach a concept at the same time and offer suggestions and useful feedback, working actively towards a common solution. All I expressed was just what I found worked great in my experiences, but if you think you have a cool activity in mind for your Conference, do not hesitate to experiment or integrate different elements of what you learned here into a whole new concept. And don\u2019t forget to share it with the rest of the world, in a nice report for example!<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">What else can I say? See you at the next Conference\u2026 with some nice multiplayer action!<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><em>Is this an interesting read? Do you also have something to say about\u00a0slides and seminars? We are always looking for feedback, but even more\u00a0for collaborators! It doesn&#8217;t matter if you want to help writing\u00a0already scheduled articles, or share entirely new ideas. Contact\u00a0<span class='judge-tooltip'><a href='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/judges\/dci\/8102513564' >Theo<\/a><span class='avatar'><img width='200' height='200' src='https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/dci\/avatar?dci=8102513564&size=200'><\/span><\/span>, and let the\u00a0Judge Community know what you think.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Focus Groups at Judge Conferences Oh great! If you got this far, you may be now eager to volunteer and bring an incredible focus group experience to your fellow Magic judges at the next Conference. Last time\u00a0we introduced some general guidelines behind setting up such an infrastructure, and I hopefully convinced you how it can [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[11,10],"tags":[],"language":[13],"class_list":["post-647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-conference-presenters","language-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/conferences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/conferences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/conferences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/conferences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/conferences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=647"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/conferences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":661,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/conferences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647\/revisions\/661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/conferences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/conferences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/conferences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=647"},{"taxonomy":"language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/conferences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/language?post=647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}