It’s that time again! With a firm new expansion date looming and raid activities winding down, this is a great moment to take a collective breath and survey the squad. I especially recommend this for newer guilds who were recently established in Dragonflight and only began raiding from Vault or Aberrus onwards. It’s a time to reflect on the team’s accomplishments, understand players’ experiences, and plan for the future. One of the most effective ways to gather this information is through an exit survey. I used to do this in past guilds, and it’s something that we do in Death Jesters. Exit surveys provide insights that can help improve raid leadership, team dynamics, and just overall satisfaction.
Was there something the player enjoyed?
Did something happen that soured a raid night but they didn’t want to bring it up?
Is someone on the fence about moving on?
Crafting Your Exit Survey
When putting together your exit survey, make sure to ask the right questions. Here are a few I’ve used before and why they are important:
Do you have plans to play a new character and class, or remain on your current one?
This is an important one. Since we have new Hero Talents and a few reworks coming up (like them Shaman), a few players might want to opt and try something new. In our case, we have 4 healing priests, and a few of us were debating whether to make the switch to something else to diversify our healing roster. Any players switching to a new class might mean you have to plug missing class gaps by resorting to free agency and recruiting a class that can cover missing raid buffs.
Do you intend to stay and commit to raiding for the new, upcoming expansion?
Similar to the above, this is all about assessing players’ ability to raid. Everyone is now two years older from when they started Dragonflight, and life circumstances will change. Some players might be off to attend college, or others might be expecting a newborn, which could impact their schedule. Maybe someone on the team needs to miss out on the first tier of the expansion but will be ready to return on the next one.
Were you satisfied with the overall pacing of the tiers in terms of the team’s progression?
Feedback on the pacing of raid progression can help your leaders evaluate whether your progression schedule was too fast, too slow, or just right. This information will help plan future raid schedules and ensure that the pacing keeps players engaged without burning them out. We will discuss this further in the future when putting together a raid progression road map.
How would you rate the overall teamwork and collaboration within the raid team?
Was there anyone that was particularly difficult to work with? Did you find it okay to provide feedback to leaders or to other players on the team? As leaders, you’re hoping for more collaboration (but with a small dose of competition). If there’s a negative reaction here, it could be symptoms of a toxic conflict situation that you’re not aware of.
Were there any specific bosses that you found enjoyable or frustrating?
It doesn’t really mean much at first glance, but players often have their favourite encounters over the course of a raid tier. If there’s frustrating ones, it’s helpful to volunteer why but it could also reflect other lingering issues. I did not enjoy the Echo of Neltharion encounter even though I wasn’t in during any of the progression. Rasz wasn’t particularly fun for me either. I hated all the Weak Aura configurations required for Echo and how to interpret everything. Rasz just felt too long as a whole. I greatly enjoyed Rashok and Nymue because I felt it really pushed me as a healer.
Do you have any feedback on the raid addons or tools used during the expansion?
We started with Liquid’s Weakaura pack in season 1 before switching to Northern Sky in seasons 2 and 3. This question opens up feedback on potential suggestions for other tools that might be overlooked. We extensively relied on Northern Sky, MRT, and Viserio’s spreadsheets to coordinate the majority of our raid progression.
Do you have any suggestions for the leadership group or anything you’d like to see more of?
Encouraging players to share their potential improvements can lead to ideas to streamline or improve the raid. It also shows that leadership values their input, which can strengthen the team’s sense of community and collaborative efforts. Personally, I’ve been trying to tell my raid to give feedback that I am a terrible officer and derelict of my duties and that I should be fired from leadership. It’s not working though.
Would you recommend our raid team to friends interested in mythic CE raiding?
This question measures satisfaction and identifies how your raid group is perceived by everyone on the team. Plus, maybe they know a cool panda that can join and contribute!
Any other comments or feedback about the environment and atmosphere?
Open-ended feedback is where you’ll find the most honest insight. This allows players to express their thoughts on the raid environment, team dynamics, and overall experience. Basically a form where they can chime in and submit something that might not have been asked or addressed earlier.
Who is your favourite Panda?
And why is it Matticus?
Implementing the Survey
Make sure you consider the following:
- Anonymity: Being anonymous encourages honesty. Players are more likely to share their true feelings if they don’t fear repercussions.
- Accessibility: Use a simple and accessible platform, like Google Forms and Survey Monkey, to distribute your survey. Ensure it’s easy to complete on various devices.
- Set a Deadline: Give a reasonable deadline for survey completion to ensure timely feedback while memories are fresh.
- Communicate the Purpose: Explain the purpose of the survey and how the feedback will be used. This transparency can increase participation and the quality of responses.
Analyzing the Results
Once the surveys are collected, it’s time to analyze the data. Look for common themes and recurring feedback points. Look closely at any quantitative data (like satisfaction ratings) and qualitative data (such as open-ended comments). I had to pick this up fast in my previous jobs, but here’s a simple process to follow:
- Categorize: Group similar responses together to identify trends.
- Prioritize: Figure out which issues are most critical and require immediate attention (or correction).
- Create an Action Plan: Develop a plan to address the feedback. This might include changes to the raid schedule, recruitment needs, or leadership practices.
- Communicate Findings: Share the key findings with your raid team. Highlight the positive feedback and outline the steps being taken to address any concerns that were brought up.
Exit surveys are a great tool for raid leaders. This is valuable information that can help improve raid performance, team satisfaction, and everyone’s overall experience. It’s hard to forget that we spend hours of our weeks with the same people on a regular, weekly basis on the same nights and we don’t want to be sick of each other all the time. But by assembling your survey and analyzing the results, you can ensure that your team is ready to tackle the challenges of The War Within with renewed energy. It’s not always about killing bosses, it’s also about not hating yourself (or your team) in pursuit of that.