More often than not, running a competition requires multiple phases of collecting information form participants. The multi-round feature allows you to qualify participants from one submission round to the next, then require them to fill more application forms, based on their progress.

Running a multiple submissions round competition, is time consuming by nature. Managing and evaluating submissions requires a lot of repetitive tasks. That is why you need to run submissions on a platform that supports multiple rounds or phases, to help make your data and tasks more organized.

What is a multiple submissions round feature?

The core benefit of this feature is to break down the submissions process into phases (i.e. rounds), then qualify participants from one phase to the next based on the potential they show.

Benefits of a multi-round applications process:

• Participants are only required to submit information based on the competition phase, instead of having to fill out a long application form.
• Cuts down the filtration time, since you will only score applications based on concrete criteria relevant to the submission data.
• Breaks down the competition process into phases. Where only participants who show potential for a particular phase gets qualified and moved to the following one.
• Creates focus, allows you to collect relevant information for every phase, matching the phase requirements.
• Created control over judging criteria, as it allows you to define the criteria for each phase independently.

How to get the best out of a multiple submissions round feature:

1. Plan your competition phases beforehand

Set the competition timeline even before the launch. Define the competition phases along with the requirements for each phase. Make clear for your team as well as potential participants the application form questions and the judging criteria for each phase.

The phases could be as simple as, registration, idea submission, project submission, interviews or final pitch,…etc

2. Define the start and end dates for each phase

Aim to have the durations of each phases set and to actually stick to them. In order to do this you need to at least make sure the deadline for each phase is communicated with participants, and the evaluation duration for judges is reasonable.

Don’t make durations too long or too short, typically the evaluations can take up to one week, the applications could be longer. The application form length and difficulty should be your guide for applications deadline. Also, number of submissions and judges for the evaluations deadline.

3. Be flexible

Whenever you realize the need to add more layers, whether in applications or evaluations, be flexible enough to just go for it. At the end of the day, the reason behind the multiple phases is to make your competition easier to manage. If you need to collect more information from participants, you should be able to easily add more application forms and communicate them with your participants.

Sometimes, you will need to break the judging in phases, this usually happens in later staged of your competition. Other times you will need to use different judging modes, such as scoring versus simple yes or no.

Untap platform facilitates the process of collecting and judging submissions, through a multi-round engine that is built for efficiency, how?

• Set-up round submissions start and end dates.
• Use our drag-and-drop form builder to create the application form for each round.
• Easily create the evaluation form, defining the judging criteria for each phase.
• Move qualified applications to the following round, with just one click.
• Repeat for as many rounds as your competition requires.

Our mission is to help you manage a successful competition with ease. Book your demo if you with to learn more about this feature.