A lot has been written about giving feedback, but what about receiving it? Many judges focus on preparing quality feedback and sharing it with the recipient through reviews, exemplars, and conversations. What happens to that feedback after it is shared?
Sometimes it can be implemented immediately. Sometimes it is dismissed as incorrect or irrelevant. Sometimes it’s earmarked for an arbitrary ‘later,’ and promptly forgotten. Even the best feedback can go in one ear and out the other if the recipient does not invest some time and effort in accepting it and translating it into useful, actionable guidance.
Feedback arrives in many forms and can be subdivided in innumerable ways, but for the purpose of this conversation, we’re going to define three types of feedback: good, bad, and ugly. Good feedback refers to what we commonly call strengths or things that went well. Bad feedback addresses areas for improvement. Ugly feedback encompasses feedback that is confusing, convoluted, or just plain wrong. In this article, we’re going to focus on good feedback. (But don’t worry, we’ll come back to bad and ugly feedback in future posts!)
Everyone enjoys hearing that they did well. But then what? Do we smile and go on with our day? Does that feedback actually impact what we do in the future?
Most judges look to the “Areas for Improvement” section of their reviews in search of changes to make or things to do differently. However, let’s first explore a few ways to actively engage with positive feedback and allow it to shape future changes in our judge behavior.
Ask “Why?”
When someone gives you praise for a specific thing, stop and ask why. Obviously it impacted that person enough for them to mention it in a review. What made it stand out? How did you do it differently that you have done it in the past? How is it unique from the way other judges do it? What details or facets have you recently changed?
For example, you Head Judge a local PPTQ and the floor judge mentions that your opening announcements were really great. Ask him “why?” What specifically caught his attention? Maybe it was that you remembered to point out the restroom location since they are difficult to find at this store. Maybe it’s that you spoke up loudly enough for even the players in the back to hear. Perhaps the organization of your information was better than the HJ he had at the last PPTQ. Sometimes it might be that it was just an overall feeling, but generally the person providing you the feedback can add more details, . . . if you ask!
Make it a habit.
If you did it right, and it was worth mentioning, it’s probably also worth repeating. Make note of the consistent behaviors for which you receive positive feedback. Do your customer service skills shine? Are you always the fastest deck checker in the room? Do other judges continually ask your secret to remembering layers? Identify the areas in which you excel, and commit to continuing that success. You might even find that an unintentional behavior achieved great results and you want to emulate it next time.
For example, when I was tasked with redesigning registration for an event, I spent time at the end of each shift doing an individual debrief with each staff member. I intended that few minutes to be a time to give and receive feedback that would allow me to improve the process. I later received a number of reviews and even an exemplar mentioning that judges really liked these little chats. Since then I have added them as a regular part of my team leading, even when I’m not retooling a process.
Expand it.
Take your positive feedback a step further by finding more ways to use your talents. If you are particularly good at a task you may be able to teach it to other judges, offer insight to TOs, or join a project to share your ideas. Of course we need to work on improving our weak areas, but working with our strengths provides a lot of value as well.
For example, if you find yourself mentoring several new judges and your Area Captain mentions you are a talented mentor, perhaps you should consider presenting on mentorship techniques at your next regional judge conference. Or you could write an article about mentoring new candidates for a judge blog or perhaps host a judge breakfast a local store for new judges.
There are many possibilities for how to use positive feedback to impact and improve your judging, so the next time you someone says you did well, take a deeper look at that feedback and determine how you can best apply that observation.
Whatever you decide to do with your positive feedback, do something!
The Bad
We previously looked at how positive feedback can prompt you to make changes in your actions. Now let’s continue our series on the good, the bad, and the ugly of feedback by discussing how negative feedback can be useful. We all know that an “Area for Improvement” lists a thing that we can do better, but the question is often, how? Let’s consider a few specific ways to turn negative feedback into actionable items.
Ask for Help.
When you’re struggling with a thing, there is a good chance you know someone who excels at it. If you don’t, ask a friend or mentor to point you in the right direction, or look for resources online such as tournament reports or blogs posts, then contact the author. Whether it’s a local judge, someone you know on Slack or the author of a great forum article, reach out and ask for advice. Most judges are thrilled to share tips, answer questions, or provide mentoring, especially regarding a skill in which they are proficient.
For example, when my deck checks took too long, I talked to a friend who consistently completes them quickly. He offered me several different sorting options and practiced with me at home to improve my times. He also showed me the Polish method of checking a deck, which can be faster in some situations. With his coaching, my times quickly improved.
Prepare for success.
Many problems can be avoided or minimized with good preparation. By knowing what skill you want to improve and planning ahead on specific steps you will take, you can focus your efforts during an actual event on executing the task. Preparation can include reading forum posts, working with mentors, or writing notes to jog your memory.
For example, if you want to become more proficient at using WER to scorekeep your next PPTQ, take some time before the event to log in and try out features you haven’t used. Ask your favorite scorekeeper some questions and make notes of features that may be helpful to you. Then arrive 15 minutes early to the PPTQ and spend some extra time setting up your event in WER and tape your notes sheet to the bottom of the screen. These steps will set you up to be ready to solve problems as they arise.
Make a Change.
As scary as it may seem, try something new and different. Doing it the same way every time is likely to produce the same results. If you want to see improvement, you have to be willing to change. Maybe tardiness at 0/10 will make your event go faster? Maybe trusting that new floor judge to run end of round will let them shine? Maybe giving that Head Judge feedback won’t make him hate you? Maybe the change won’t go as planned, but the results could be even better than you anticipate.
For example, if you’ve been criticized for cutting off other judges to correct them while discussing a situation, try taking the time to ask them about what they are saying instead of accusing them of being wrong. While you may be concerned that it will slow you down, taking the time to understand can reveal many things. In answering your inquiry, the other judge may realize their own error, or you may see that they were correct. Even if you do need to instruct them, understanding why they believe the way they do can shape your feedback for them and enable you to communicate more effectively.
While receiving “bad” feedback can be difficult, using it as a tool to help you grow and improve is essential to your continued development as a judge. Sometimes it will make you angry or frustrated when you initially read it, but take a few minutes to relax and consider, you’ll often find that you already knew that you needed to improve in that area. Take a deeper look at those areas for improvement and implement changes.
Whatever you decide to do with your negative feedback, try doing something different!
The Ugly
We’ve talked about “good” and “bad” feedback as being things we did well and things we can work on, but what about when you get “ugly” feedback? The kind when someone says something that is confusing, difficult to conceptualize, or just plain wrong. What do you do with feedback like that? It’s hard to know how to address it or how to utilize it when the feedback itself is unclear.
Ask for clarification.
Feedback isn’t set in stone – it’s an ongoing process. Don’t be afraid to ask for more information about the feedback you receive. Questions like, “Why do you say that?” or “What did I do that makes you think that?” can prompt the person delivering the feedback to give you more detail. You can also ask for them to give you a specific example of what they observed. These details can help you reframe the initial feedback and will often sharpen an unclear observation into an actionable item.
For example, a judge on my team once told me that I needed to communicate better. The comment initially baffled me because I believed that I had explained his task clearly, he had not asked any questions about it, and he seemed to be executing it successfully. I asked him for more detail and he added, “When you tell me to hurry, it causes me anxiety and makes it harder for me to be successful. While I’m learning this task, please let me slow down and take my time.” That more specific feedback allowed me to understand what aspect of my communication needed improvement - not the explanation of the work itself, but my supervision of him while he did it. The conversation allowed me to adjust my expectations and set the tone for a better working relationship for the remainder of the day.
Check yourself.
Carter once told me, “The first thing you should do when someone says you’re being an asshole is ask yourself, Am I being an asshole?” While we don’t always like the answer, taking an honest look at ourselves often unlocks opportunities to grow and improve. Especially if you receive similar feedback from multiple sources, sometimes shifting our perspective can show us things we didn’t see before. Maybe we thought a certain method was best, but we haven’t tried a new way. Maybe that other person’s interpretation of policy could be correct. Maybe we thought our advice was helpful when it actually frustrates others.
For example, a member of a team I lead told me that she felt like I didn’t trust her. It surprised me because I view her as an extremely capable judge and I trust her to handle things completely. As a team lead I often take on the more difficult and complicated tasks assigned to our team intending to lighten the load for other folks. I had no idea that this practice could send the opposite message. In the future I will consider how I delegate tasks to ensure that I take into account both the workload and what message those assignments send.
Watch for it later.
Sometimes when initially receiving feedback, it may seem untrue or irrelevant. In that case, it may be best to file that information away for later, but make a mental note of it. Being aware of a potential issue can allow you to identify it if and when it recurs. Then, when it does happen, your mental light will go on and you’ll say, “Ohhhhh . . . that’s what that feedback meant.” Connecting the feedback and the behavior may not be instantaneous, especially if the feedback was not very specific, but if you’re looking for it, you’ll likely find it.
For example, if someone mentions that you flip rounds too slowly at your FNMs, you may think, “I always make good time. Why would they say that?” But a few weeks later at FNM you are talking to a player and look up to realize that the last slip has come in and you weren’t looking. As you quickly end your conversation and grab for the slip, you realize that this is what that person was talking about.
Often feedback that may seem unclear can actually be very beneficial; you just have to invest the effort to decipher it. Give yourself time to think about and mentally process each bit of feedback you receive. It may start out as convoluted, confusing, or condescending, but when you set aside your initial emotional reaction and look a little deeper you will often find that it’s also on point. Even if it’s not, you can find useful things within int to take away from it.
We’ve now considered feedback that is good, bad, and ugly. While feedback comes in all shapes and sizes, and sorting it into categories can help process it into bite-sized chunks that you can turn into real change on the floor of your next event. Positive feedback tells you where you are strong and which practices to continue. Areas for improvement help you focus your efforts on places that you can do better. Ambiguous or incorrect feedback poses the greatest challenge to finding ways to apply it, but it also offers the greatest reward when you discover its hidden meanings.
Whether the feedback you receive is good, bad, or ugly, the most important part is what you do with it!
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