Everyone knows feedback is important, but how to give effective feedback often leaves us confused. This post :

• Introduce the basics of micro-feedback and show how micro-feedback is a more effective way to motivate learners to change behavior.
• Examine micro-feedback at three levels (task, process, and self-regulation).
• Connect micro-feedback to Kolb’s four-phase experiential learning model.
• Overview of some research-based best practices.

Why is micro-feedback important?

Micro-feedback, or a specific, just-in-time nano dose of information or ideas,
reduces skill gaps between goals and reality. Think of it as a “microscope” used to diagnose a learner’s understanding and behavior and prescribe
micro-interventions to tune performance and avoid errors. Microfeedback is typically implemented in a microlearning or nudge environment where
complex tasks and the goals are
scaffolded in many
more simple and
specific learning
Tasks.

People often give their opinion after a series of actions. Comments generally focus on a few key observations for future improvements; however, in a situation where the actions and sequences are quite complicated and interdependent, this would not provide useful information to improve performance. Micro-feedbacks can potentially avoid critical errors and mitigate risk in sectors such as healthcare, finance and manufacturing, where security and conformity are critical.

For example: A nurse practitioner wrote an inpatient admission order indicating that a patient should be admitted to the fourth floor. The prescription was deemed invalid and the patient’s entire stay was denied.

General Comments was provided after the incident: “Designate appropriate personnel to write the patient’s admission notice in the correct terms.” As a result, the nurse still does not understand what went wrong and how to improve performance next time.

Micro-feedback will be provided during the incident. A micro-feedback will be provided once the nurse writes the order: “Check if the nurse practitioner is the right person to submit the admission order. With this feedback, the nurse will realize that only mid-level providers can write such admission orders on their own authority. The second micro-comment will be provided after the order is created: “Check if the order contains ‘admit as inpatient’ to remain valid.”

With this timely information and easy-to-achieve learning goals, learners are more likely to gain deep clarity and stay motivated to change their performance. Like a result micro-feedback, the patient can be admitted and begin treatment. By using this micro-feedback as a reflective activity, nurses will know what went wrong and how to adjust behaviors next time.

The 3 levels of micro-feedback

Micro-feedback is a type of micro-consequence of performance. Based on the basic types of feedback, effective micro-feedback can be categorized into three levels:

1. Task-based micro-feedback focuses corrective or suggestive information on the content of a task. For example, “Please provide the patient with a list of all providers of these services in the area when referring them to nursing homes and home care. Research has also shown that to provide learners with higher impact on new behaviors, managers need to focus micro-feedback on correct actions rather than incorrect performance.

2. Process-based micro-feedback focuses on learning processes and works best to foster critical thinking in a complex environment. For example, “This customer complaint can be addressed further based on the decision tree strategies we discussed earlier.”

3. Micro-feedback based on self-regulation aims to provide suggestive ideas or guidelines to help learners better manage and regulate their own learning. For example, “Pause once you have completed the required task and ask yourself a series of questions following the SMART formula.”

Micro-Feedback Timing and Kolb’s Experiential Learning Model

David Kolb, an expert in experiential learning, published a four-stage learning cycle model in 1984 to illustrate how a learner can transform abstract concepts into new behaviors and develop new knowledge. His model has been validated by many researchers.

According to the four continuous stages of Kolb’s experiential learning model, learners:

1. Encountering new concrete learning live.

2. Observe, reflect, and identify any gaps between experience and understanding. This step requires significant micro-feedback from managers or multiple sources of external partners, such as customers, colleagues, subordinates, and other stakeholders.

3. Conceptualize and modify previous understanding and develop new understanding, ideas and behaviors.

4. Apply transform the new internal paradigm into new behaviors and continue to receive micro-feedback from the environment for future learning and development.

An ongoing process of the micro-feedback loop plays a vital role in guiding learners’ consistent transformation and adapting to their weaknesses. As a result, learners can build a continuous process of goal-oriented learning actions throughout the learning process and increase the chances of adopting new behaviors.

Evidence-Based Micro-Feedback Practices for Behavior Change

• High-impact microfeedback occurs when goals are specific and challenging, but task complexity is low.
• Before sharing any micro-feedback, a manager or instructor should equip learners with a certain level of proficiency through clear instructions and elaboration.
• Aim to bridge the gap between where the learner is and where they want to be.
• Well-strategic micro-feedback can help learners move from a task-oriented to a process-oriented approach.
• Provide continuous micro-feedback throughout Kolb’s experiential learning stages, especially the second and third stages.
• Micro-feedback is most effective when learners receive it well and act on it.
• Provide specific cues or reinforcement toward a well-understood task and focus on task, process, or self-regulation levels.
• To encourage new behaviors when managing change, provide positive micro-feedback on correct, rather than incorrect, performance.
• Positive comments such as “You are a great learner” are not performance or task related and are not effective. Negative comments about self or personality create threat and distract from learning. Try to avoid negative comments directed at yourself, your role or your personality, as these can easily demotivate the learner and reduce the courage to make mistakes and grow.

Conclusion

Micro-feedback is a nano dose of information or ideas to
reduce skills gaps between goals and reality. It is usually implemented in a complex environment where
complex tasks and the goals are
scaffolded into much simpler and more specific learning tasks. Microfeedback can be provided at three levels: task, process, and self-regulation. It will have maximum impact if given with consideration of Kolb’s model of experiential learning as learners move through
livereflective
observationabstract
conceptualizationand active
experimentation. A continuous micro-feedback loop process plays a vital role in guiding learners’ consistent transformation and adapting to their weaknesses, and as a result, learners are able to build a continuous process of learning actions focused on objectives throughout the learning process and to increase the chances of proposing new behaviors. As learners become more fluent and proficient, they will have more confidence to tackle difficult tasks and goals.

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