{"id":1284,"date":"2018-01-16T11:01:34","date_gmt":"2018-01-16T16:01:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/feedback\/?p=1284"},"modified":"2018-01-16T11:09:25","modified_gmt":"2018-01-16T16:09:25","slug":"1284","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/feedback\/2018\/01\/16\/1284\/","title":{"rendered":"Things You May Want to Know About Reviews (Before You Write Your Next Review)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/feedback\/files\/2018\/01\/23172536_10155504408397655_367691231790719424_n.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-1285 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/feedback\/files\/2018\/01\/23172536_10155504408397655_367691231790719424_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"239\" height=\"239\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/feedback\/files\/2018\/01\/23172536_10155504408397655_367691231790719424_n.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/feedback\/files\/2018\/01\/23172536_10155504408397655_367691231790719424_n-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/feedback\/files\/2018\/01\/23172536_10155504408397655_367691231790719424_n-125x125.jpg 125w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 239px) 100vw, 239px\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Quite often someone will bring me a concern they have about a review, something that is keeping them from submitting it and providing their feedback. For my first contribution to <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Feedback Loop<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in 2018, I\u2019ve decided that I want to take some time to address some misconceptions and drop some knowledge bombs to help clear the air and get some people\u2019s pens moving.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>\u201cWho can read reviews?\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">That\u2019s a good question, in fact the one I received the most while doing some research for this post. I reached out to Paul Baranay and Dan Collins from the JudgeApps development team to understand the visibility of reviews on JudgeApps.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">As of writing this the following people can read a review and its comments:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The review\u2019s author and recipient.<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0The Regional Coordinator(s) of the author and recipient.<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0Anyone the author or recipient has shared reviews with.<span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Additionally, as part of the L3 advancement process a small subset of users can create Review Shares: the L3 Testing Manager, the Verification Committee Lead, and the Pre-Event Interview Lead. If any of them set up a Review Share, the affected user would see a record <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/apps.magicjudges.org\/reviews\/share\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">here<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">On top of that, all of this only applies to submitted reviews; drafts are still private. Some JudgeApps Administrators technically have the ability to access any review, but don\u2019t do so unless they are debugging.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Not knowing who could be reading your feedback can create insecurity, especially a fear that people could be reading your reviews and thinking badly of you. As you can see above, the people who can read your reviews are people that will be invested in your success or the success of your recipient. Even a review of purely constructive criticism is something your recipient\u2019s Regional Coordinator can use to help make them a better judge.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>\u201cWhat if I don\u2019t have enough content for a review?\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Well, there are really a few issues to address here. The one I\u2019ve heard the most is that you should have both praise and constructive criticism in your review. While both kinds of feedback have merit, the most effective kind of feedback is one that fits its audience. Communicating your ideas effectively is more important than adhering to a specific format.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>In our old \u201cthree box\u201d system we had three set categories, \u201cStrengths,\u201d \u201cAreas for Improvement,\u201d and \u201cComments.\u201d In reality these were really just suggestions, but the page always had them and they couldn\u2019t be left blank. As a result our default in JudgeApps uses the same boxes, but with much more flexibility. You can add customized sections, or you can delete sections altogether. You can tailor the format of your review to meet your needs. Suddenly you aren\u2019t having to use boxes you don\u2019t need or want! Breaking away from the three boxes gives you the freedom to find your own voice.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I have also had people tell me they didn\u2019t see enough to write a review. Have you heard of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/feedback\/2017\/07\/25\/flash-feedback\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Flash Feedback<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">? A review doesn\u2019t have to be a novel. It isn\u2019t about word count; it\u2019s about being example-driven and actionable. If you have even one incident at an event to talk about, it is still worth submitting if it can help that judge improve.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>\u201cWhat could I possibly teach a higher level judge?\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lots. We all have different perspectives at a tournament, and they make up different parts of our reality. It doesn\u2019t have to be about being right or wrong &#8212; If the actions of a higher level judge impacted you at an event, positively or negatively, you can provide feedback on those actions. Maybe they were a compassionate team lead, delivered a ruling really well, or they provided you some key mentorship. Feedback on their positive impact can help perpetuate those behaviors.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Talking about ways they can improve shows them how their actions negatively impacted someone\u2019s day or the event. They could have forgotten half-round breaks, been a little short with players during a call, or criticized you or another judge too harshly. Even if they succeeded in their task, this feedback can give them another perspective to consider the next time they take the role.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Also, did you know that feedback starts to dry up at Level 3? It\u2019s true: In 2016, the year I was promoted, I received 20 reviews. In 2017, my first full year after advancement, I received 5. While this may not be the case for <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">every<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Level 3 judge, my experience lines up with that of many others. Someone taking the time to provide us feedback means they are investing in our success, and that\u2019s awesome.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">That\u2019s what a review is at the end of the day; it is an investment in someone else\u2019s success and continued growth. It\u2019s an investment into the Judge Program, our team. Writing a review can be daunting, but it\u2019s also heroic, because you\u2019re helping our team. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Quite often someone will bring me a concern they have about a review, something that is keeping them from submitting it and providing their feedback. For my first contribution to The Feedback Loop in 2018, I\u2019ve decided that I want to take some time to address some misconceptions and drop some knowledge bombs to help [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":396,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[30,135,25],"tags":[84,56,82,38],"language":[78],"class_list":["post-1284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-eric-dustin-brown","category-judgeapps-reviews","category-strategy","tag-edited-by-erin-leonard","tag-eric-dustin-brown","tag-judgeapps-reviews","tag-strategy","language-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/feedback\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/feedback\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/feedback\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/feedback\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/396"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/feedback\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1284"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/feedback\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1284\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1297,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/feedback\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1284\/revisions\/1297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/feedback\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/feedback\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/feedback\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1284"},{"taxonomy":"language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/feedback\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/language?post=1284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}