Words by Tiffanie Sutanto, XLFL Batch 3

For the 7^th XLFL workshop, I joined Surabaya class the other day. Like most of the workshops, we were supposed to work and present as a team and gave feedbacks for other team at the end of the presentation. But regardless, I found the workshop in this class was quite unique, and at the very least, thought-provoking.

The one that I found interesting was the second day of the workshop. It was a normal day when we were supposed to give feedbacks on other team performances during the previous day, when all of us gave a presentation about our Social Innovation Project in front of judge panel. Now here is the interesting part: all of the feedbacks were given in a very friendly manner which very calming for me.

In daily life, I often encounter a working environment where it felt awkward just because someone cannot accept critics well. My fellow friends in Surabaya workshop, however, built a very nice environment in which they were not only pointing out their critics but also sharing their thought on the solutions for those problems. During the workshop, I can feel that they sincerely want to help their friends to get the best out of their projects.

The feedback session, therefore, was filled with laughter and brainstorming session. There were some groups who should revise their idea, but they were not left alone to do that. A number of solutions and ideas had been shared to them for their revisions inputs. An effective feedback could definitely flip something which potentially destroyed your relationship with someone to become a valuable learnings for both party.

By giving an effective feedback, we are not focusing only on other people’s so-called flaws, but we are also forced to think beyond that. We are urged to be more critical and become solution-oriented rather than problem-oriented. We are triggered to figure out the solution together, rather than just identify the problems and hand it over to other people to solve it. Most importantly, by giving an effective feedback, you can build a constructive environment that minimize the chance of people holding grudge against each other.

Another valuable lesson from the workshop came from a senior journalist, Mak Tin, who shared about her experiences in journalism area. Writing is clearly not my forte; I could spend an ineffective amount of time just to write a one-page report. During the workshop, Mak Tin shared basic lessons about writing. But it was her personal experience that were truly invaluable.

All in all, I feel that my trip to Surabaya was more than worth. Although I was a bit anxious at first, as I have never been to Surabaya before, I came home with a lot of new learnings and new friends. Thank you for taking care of me Surabaya! 🙂