Six months ago, I offered you my opinion<\/a>\u00a0about one of the advanced roles of the Magic Judge Program: the Program Coordinators.<\/p>\n Today, I\u2019m offering a quite special article, as it\u2019s the FULL version of my application to become Program Coordinator\u2026. which has been successful<\/a>\u00a0^___^<\/p>\n Most of my activity<\/strong> as a judge is limited in three \u201cenvironments\u201d:<\/p>\n One of the aspects that I\u2019ve been recently insisting on is transparency<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Over the years, I noticed that\u2026<\/p>\n \u2026 lack of knowledge leads to ignorance, ignorance leads to assumptions, assumptions lead to rumors, rumors lead to false information, false information lead to the dark side!<\/p>\n I am aware that full transparency is risky, that confidential information has to remain confidential, that the truth will never please anyone\u2026<\/p>\n \u2026 you may not like others\u2019 choices, you may have different opinions, but at least you will have real information instead of rumors and badmouthing.<\/p>\n OK, time to show you the application, enjoy it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I should be a Program Coordinator because it would have a positive impact on many judges.<\/p>\n In the last year, I saw people quitting the role and I heard about people having a quite low activity (both surprise me a lot); I am aware that the role is not easy at all, and that it requires patience, diplomacy, acceptance of limitations; I am very confident that I will be able to have a high level of participation, in a continuous way.<\/p>\n From the outside, I have the doubt that discussion and decision processes might be slow or have some issues (which cause lack of replies to messages or big delays in replying to messages); I am willing to make efforts to build a more solid discussion system and to contribute to a faster decision process.<\/p>\n Speaking about discussions and decisions, listening to others\u2019 points of view and supporting group\u2019s decisions even when they are different from our opinion is very important; I am confident that my international\/intercultural\/interracial judge and life experiences will allow me to be open minded and I count I have demonstrated multiple times on the GPHJ list that I am very willing to follow the group\u2019s decisions (about policy) as long as decisions are taken, much more than many others.<\/p>\n These three aspects together bring to a committed and active member, willing to make efforts to contribute to focused and goal oriented conversations and subsequent actions.<\/p>\n Members of a community (and, in minor part, of a workplace) have a commitment that is influenced by the commitment and by the reputation of their coordinators.<\/p>\n I am very confident I am known as a very committed and respected judge, who cares about the activities he participates into and about the people who ask him for assistance.<\/p>\n I am aware that there are other judges who would be more effective in building an infrastructure, coordinating series of projects, writing the appropriate messages\u2026 (and I will be very happy to recommend them!) \u2026 but I am also aware about the importance of the \u201chuman touch\u201d, as the judge program is not a mandatory government infrastructure; instead, it\u2019s a quite unique system of volunteers, and it benefits from a good amount of both technical organization and personal commitment.<\/p>\n Then, I should be a Program Coordinator because I would bring a great amount of passion, a very high awareness of the importance of putting together opinions from different people and the following collaboration to achieve common goals, and also many ideas.<\/p>\n In the two answers below, you will find a single idea, expanded with some details and some explanation.<\/p>\n I would also like to (quickly) mention other aspects of my role as PC:<\/p>\n These are just general descriptions of the ideas; if you want more details about the specific actions I thought about, please contact me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Among the several goals and ideas I have, I would like to focus and give some more details (see next answer for specific examples of actions) about one specific area:<\/p>\n External communication<\/strong><\/p>\n The \u201cwhat\u2019s the role of PCs?\u201d, \u201cwhat do PCs do?\u201d\u00a0are questions I heard many times since the creation of this role.<\/p>\n It seems that there is still a mystery around this role, even among many L3s, and this has unfortunately caused a significant frustration in many judges (mainly L3s) and may also have damaged the reputation of the PC as a role and, I hope not, even the reputation of the individuals.<\/p>\n From my point of view, the cause was not that the job was of a low quality; I worked for years with all the people who had the role of PC, I learned a lot from each of them and I know their strengths; I can barely imagine the constraints they had to face in the past, and I may imagine that, especially in this period of high sensitivity to delicate topics, communicating in a safe way to the broad public is all but easy. My impression is that the cause of frustration was the simple lack of expected communication and knowledge of their role and practical activity.<\/p>\n All the work behind the curtain is of course necessary; then, another aspect has to be taken into account: the visibility of the work itself is very important too.<\/p>\n One of my favorite description of a role is \u201chow it impacts the entire judge program\u201d; in the case of PCs, which is a key role, an aspect that affects its impact is the trust that judges have in that role; judges are volunteers, willing to dedicate their time and energy to contribute to a system that is bigger than any of them, a system they need to trust to be able to commit at a level that would make them satisfied and proud.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When the \u201cFrom the PCs desk\u201d blog was created, I was very happy and I thought \u201cThis is what I was looking forward to seeing\u201d.<\/p>\n After some months, I had the impression that the amount of communication decreased.<\/p>\n One of my specific goals in to increase the frequency of the publication of news from the PCs desk.<\/p>\n Though there will be months when \u201cnothing special happens\u201d, I see value in having a monthly article that may contain information about the activities of the previous month and especially a message about a topic that is considered to be important; I\u2019m confident that we will be able to find 12 important topics to highlight in a year, and also the time to write some lines about each of those topics (they may even be a short reminder of an important aspect like being up-to-date with the most recent version of rules&policy, with links to the documents and to the \u201cupdate or practice tests\u201d).<\/p>\n In addition to the frequency, there is also the content. I see value in giving more information about the specific activity of the PC group, in a way that is similar to the GPHJ list monthly summaries.<\/p>\n Point 1 already mentioned the idea of a \u201ctopic of the month\u201d; another idea is a summary of the requests received and processed in the last period (with results, whenever possible; there might be confidential topics, of course); another idea is the most frequent requests or advice from polls (see point 4 below).<\/p>\n I guess the PCs receive requests, comments, advice\u2026 and this is the first step of the interaction.<\/p>\n The second step is the discussion among the PCs, who need to determine the best course of action, which varies from \u201cI can reply to them\u201d to a long activity that involves an entire sphere or a delicate communication with Wizards and its legal department.<\/p>\n In addition of \u201cmaking things happen\u201d, the third step is replying; replying is very important, and replying promptly is fundamental.<\/p>\n Quick discussion and decision processes should be applied and used; the number of PCs is low, so we may need just very simple tools (simplified example: 24 hours of conversations, 24 hours for a \u201cvote\u201d, finished).<\/p>\n Regarding the private replies, ideas vary from a standardized reply once the request is received and starts being discussed to a simple shared file with the status of the \u201cticket\u201d.<\/p>\n Finally, a follow up some time after the end of the activity (to check for its effectiveness) is the icing on the cake!<\/p>\n Communication goes both ways; depending on the workload to address incoming communication and behind the curtain activities, I see a big value in actively asking for information, comments, ideas\u2026 both to individuals and to the broad public.<\/p>\n The creation of a common mail address was a first step, that can be followed by a series of polls (generic or topic oriented; limited to L3s, RCs, L2+\u2026, people who offered feedback in the past\u2026).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In a working group, it\u2019s normal that there are disagreements.<\/p>\n \u201cDisagreement\u201d may sound like a negative word, but I actually see it as a positive word.<\/p>\n The meaning is \u201cdifferent opinions\u201d, which is an *added value* that we need to nurture without any prejudice of \u201cdisagreements are to be avoided\u201d.<\/p>\n A group with members who have different mind\/opinions\/thought_process is without doubt stronger, more reactive and more robust than a group with a single opinion; the idea that \u201cno disagreements\u201d is absolutely positive is narrow and, despite the advantages in the very short term, may bring to a weaker ability to produce long term results.<\/p>\n Opinions should be shared and discussed in the group; each person\u2019s opinion has value and should be both expressed without concern (many current procedures have been created from a \u201ccrazy\u201d idea in the past\u201d) and without prejudice (again, a different opinion is an added value to a group that operates in harmony). Constructive disagreements should be encouraged, opinions respected, diplomacy applied.<\/p>\n With a mutual esteem among the members of the group, everyone can feel free that a different opinion is never a \u201cpersonal attack\u201d; instead, it\u2019s a contribution to reaching a common goal.<\/p>\n When it comes to taking a decision, if there are differing opinions, a very simple voting would bring to a decision (think about the Werewolf system of voting ^__^, with also the final voting among the two most voted options); this might be just a starting point. A single person may then take care of putting into practice the details, while higher-level (initial or more delicate) decisions would be group decisions.<\/p>\n Note: how to build mutual esteem and group-feeling is a very broad topic, which I will be happy to discuss in details.<\/p>\n This is a MUCH broader topic; I will do my best to explain it effectively, while keeping it relatively short.<\/p>\n The \u201cFrom the PCs desk\u201d seems to me the only platform that PCs used so far for their communication to the broad public (is it linked or duplicated in local channels of communications? Is it translated? Is it appropriately advertised?). The L3 forum has been used a few times, with debatable results.<\/p>\n When it comes to communication, my preference is to have a much more frequent communication, starting from L3s and RCs (I have no information about the communication between PCs and RCs, so I will limit my thoughts below to the PCs-L3s only); we may discuss about the need of PCs-GPHJs communication; then, another key part is the \u201cbrand\u201d communication to all judges.<\/p>\n Note: if you want, we can discuss more about the technical systems and platforms and format of the messages, but I insist that the most important type of improvement about communication that I\u2019m suggesting is about how the communications make people *feel*; do they feel taken care of?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Despite their experience and broad vision, the PCs are only three individuals; they are judge-professionally very similar, as they all come from the same small subset: technical and experienced L3s; their point of view is limited, therefore they would great benefit from external input.<\/p>\n Useful input may be asked to several sources, especially sources of opinions that are different from the PCs\u2019; here you some examples (non-comprehensive):<\/p>\n The PCs should have the necessary \u201cwisdom\u201d to correctly put together the opinions and select the areas that need more support; rather than expressing my opinion about what *I* consider more important, I see value in using approach I\u2019ve just described, based on other profiles\u2019 opinions and analysis.<\/p>\n The areas might vary, therefore the kind of support may vary (I\u2019ll be short, as it may be very different).<\/p>\n If it\u2019s a specific project\/sphere, a person or a team gets put together (for example with a \u201chelp needed\u201d approach, counting on the desire of judges to contribute to a system they trust); the support varies from the technical\/software aspects to the advice about the content to an appropriate advertisement (and use!!!) of what got created. Some people are motivated by material compensation, others by public recognition, others by evidence of real usefulness of what they produced. This is a concept similar to the \u201cbrand\u201d above: don\u2019t underestimate the psychological analysis of the judge population, the vast majority of them is made of good-hearted volunteers who want to be part of a trusted and efficient system (not by lazy employees who just want the stipend working as little as possible); knowing the population we need to deal with and serve, we can surely adjust our methods.<\/p>\n If it\u2019s a general concept or a new idea, the goal is to raise awareness of the importance and needed tools are the \u201csponsors\u201d (people in key positions who highlight the importance of the concept), the possible reward (a budget like the special-project-foils), the potentially most invested or affected people (think about the current initiatives about diversity).<\/p>\n In short, as it\u2019s just a collection of concepts expressed earlier: judges are highly motivated when they feel their contribution is appreciated. Involvement, regular guidance and feedback, advertisements, evidence of practical use and results. I insist, judges who feel looked after have a much higher motivation; this feeling exists in most (if not all) regions, while may be improved at the global level.<\/p>\n Projects:<\/strong> one of the most visible areas the PCs have been working on it the past are \u201cprojects\u201d, and some past messaging mentioned that the main focus of PCs was on projects; though I would envision a different role, \u201cprojects\u201d remains an area of responsibility of the PC group. The structure exists and is good; as I still see duplication of effort, a possible improvement might be a more efficient use of resources through a higher level of sharing of results, with a central coordination of efforts.<\/p>\n Feedback:<\/strong> feedback is a fundamental part of our improvement system based on peer to peer support, and I see a quite significant difference between now and ten years ago and between L3s and L2s (we may discuss the psychological reasons). It seems to be working well at the regional level (at least in some regions I have higher visibility on), while I see potential improvements at the L3 level. There are now a few initiatives, while I think it deserves a higher level of support (PCs highlighting its importance would have a higher impact). Such support may vary from messages that increase the awareness of the importance to a control of the GPHJ->L3 feedback to a new L3 maintenance (more based on reviews?) to an invite to select some judges for major events based on their quality and quantity of feedback.<\/p>\n Drama:<\/strong> this is a complex aspect, that would deserve many pages on its own, and also a psychological analysis. In short, PCs should operate in an internally constructive environment (high mutual support), as I expect they will frequently face pressure from the outside (and sometimes inappropriate \u201cdrama\u201d). Externally, the concept of \u201clead by example\u201d applies well; PCs should make an effort to act without drama and especially reduce the amount of drama that sometimes pops up; they should (sometimes) get involved in situation where drama is present. This simple, not accurately measurable and important goal (maybe not to everybody, but it\u2019s very important to me!) needs to be achieved by a group effort, with both internal (\u201cDo you really want to send this message\u201d or \u201cSpeak here if you are troubled\u201d) and external (\u201cHello reviewer-of-important-messages, can you please take a look at this?\u201d) doublechecks.<\/p>\n If you want more details on any these aspects, I will be happy to write more… do you really want me to write more? ^__^<\/p>\n I hope you enjoyed this article, and I\u2019m looking forward to reading your comments.<\/p>\n Contact Riccardo<\/strong><\/span> All comments, feedback and advice are very welcome \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" My application for the role of Program Coordinator.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":604,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[],"language":[],"class_list":["post-603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-announcements","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/riccardotessitori\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/riccardotessitori\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/riccardotessitori\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/riccardotessitori\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/riccardotessitori\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=603"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/riccardotessitori\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":610,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/riccardotessitori\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603\/revisions\/610"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/riccardotessitori\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/riccardotessitori\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/riccardotessitori\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/riccardotessitori\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=603"},{"taxonomy":"language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/riccardotessitori\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/language?post=603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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<\/p>\nWhy should you be a Program Coordinator?<\/u><\/strong><\/h3>\n
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What would you expect to accomplish in this role?<\/u><\/strong><\/h3>\n
How do you expect to accomplish this?<\/u><\/strong><\/h3>\n
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How would you handle internal disagreement among the PCs?<\/u><\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Your action plan to achieve better communication is mainly to expand the “From the PCs desk” platform. What makes you think that platform is good enough to reach the right audience?<\/u><\/strong><\/h3>\n
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\nCompared to the last couple of years, I would like to see a higher communication between PCs and L3s as a group (the L3 forum looks to me the best platform at the moment, adding a sticky topic with conclusions, for better reference); I would like to see PCs asking for more feedback, both on general and also on specific topics, and then giving reasonable answers (this is VERY important, as asking for feedback\/opinions must be followed by answers, so to make people FEEL that the time they invested was worth); such communication must be both ways.<\/li>\n
\nThe \u201cFrom the PCs desk\u201d is a good start, and it can act as a very effective repository of communications; the section of \u201cquarterly newspaper\u201d is very good, as it gives a regular overview of what happened in the last period or what will happen next. In addition to this type of publications, I see advantages in publishing a yearly \u201cstatus of the judge program\u201d, and a regular series of in-depth analysis (a single sphere, a single project, a specific aspect we want to highlight\u2026). Then, in addition to the content and the repository, \u201cmarketing\u201d is very important; judges should know that the content exists (and also that they can get in touch with PCs, see next point); there might be a few changes to increase the penetration of the message (a dedicated JudgeApps forum, messages forwarded by the RCs, other platforms \/ social media accounts\u2026).<\/li>\n
\nThis is a key point. Currently, I\u2019m afraid that many people think that PCs are not accessible and that communication to the PCs is a \u201cblack hole\u201d that doesn\u2019t send any answer. The entire structure of communication that is requests\/feedback\/comments\/answers is a *relationship*, which has to be nurtured, to create trust. Trust is very important and it\u2019s an area that, at this moment, seems to me with high possibilities of improvement. Trust is not a feeling that gets easily created; it has to be built and it takes time; it is based on individual situations, that vary from a worldwide communication to a single mail to a single person; it is based on expectations (that must be very clear); it is based on reputation\u2026 which brings to the next and final point\u2026<\/li>\n
\nThis is a complex aspect, that I really hope I will be able to express correctly.
\nProducts are sold when they have a known, respected and strong brand.
\nI currently see \u201cProgram coordinators\u201d as a weak brand; I actually have a bet with a L3 that, in short, says \u201cif you become PC, the PCs\u2019 reputation may get better or your reputation may get worse; we will determine the outcome at the end of 2018 and the winner will\u2026\u201d.
\nAs a judge, *I* am a brand, and I consider myself a strong brand. In addition to the technical skills (which are not universally loved, but are highly appreciated in some \u201cmarkets\u201d), my brand is based on the \u201cpersonal touch\u201d; judges who have esteem in me know that they can count on me when they are in need, as my words will be honest and truthful and my actions will be guided by passion and good will (I would never hide behind the wall of bureaucracy or act as little as possible to avoid damage; on the contrary, I would be transparent and work hard to get a concrete result, as the goal is to create in a constructive way; my style is to look after the others!!!).
\nVery important for this application: it\u2019s not a matter on skills or ideas, it\u2019s a matter of reputation, I would use communication to improve the brand awareness and reputation of PCs, and I would like to see them taking the responsibility of being the \u201cleaders\u201d that many people still expect.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nHow do you plan to identify those areas that need more support? And when you do, what kind of support do you believe you can give them? There is only 1 of you, after all\u2026If you plan to motivate other judges to help, how do you motivate them?<\/u><\/strong><\/h3>\n
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You state in your goals that you only expect to accomplish things in relation to communication, but you mention in “Why should I be PC” that Projects, Feedback and Drama! are why you should be PC. Are these also goals, and how would you accomplish them?<\/u><\/strong><\/h3>\n
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