Building A Feedback Loop For Knowledge Sharing

Your Team’s Brain is Leaking. Here’s How to Stop It Your company’s intelligence is leaking every single day. You’re hiring great people, they’re learning on the job, making decisions, solving problems… and then? That knowledge evaporates into thin air the moment they move on, switch roles, or simply forget. Meanwhile, you’re constantly asking, Why are we solving the same problems over and over? The truth is, most organisations treat knowledge like a one-time transaction instead of a strategic asset. → Training programs? Already outdated by the time they’re implemented. → Standard knowledge management? Too rigid. → SOPs? Too static. What we need is 'corporate collective intelligence'. An evolving, self-scaling system that captures, refines, and distributes knowledge seamlessly, so our team gets smarter as it grows. Here’s how you start: - Turn conversations into intelligence. Your best insights happen in Slack threads, meetings, and problem-solving sessions. Capture and refine them as they happen. - Make tacit knowledge explicit. The way your best performers make decisions? That’s gold. Codify it before it disappears. - Use AI and automation wisely. Stop treating AI as a gimmick. It should be actively structuring, indexing, and surfacing knowledge, not just summarising documents. - Create a feedback loop. Your organisation should be learning from itself in real-time. No more one-and-done knowledge drops, continuous refinement is key. → Teams that scale without bottlenecks. → Faster decision-making with fewer mistakes. → Institutional knowledge that doesn’t walk out the door. The companies that master this won’t just scale - they compound. Those that don’t? They will keep reinventing the wheel. Which one do you want to be? Found this useful? Repost ♻️ to help your network.

You finish a study, the team nods, someone says, “Great work.” Then everyone moves on. Six months later, you find out that flow you redesigned cut drop-off by 30%. Nobody remembers the research that made it possible. No one links the win back to you. We measure research by the moment it’s delivered, not by the change it caused. But ROI doesn’t live in your deck, it lives downstream. Here’s how I fixed that: After every project, I track what happened 3-6 months later. Not just numbers, but decisions, behavior, momentum. I ask five questions: 1. Did someone request research earlier next time? 2. Did the thing leadership ignored turn into the next fire drill? 3. Did the feature perform differently because of the research? 4. Did leadership finally use your findings as evidence instead of background noise? 5. Did your “nice-to-have” recommendation suddenly become roadmap-critical? The first time I did this, a client realized their “low-impact” onboarding study saved over £150k in support tickets the following quarter. That single insight paid for six more projects without another justification meeting. That’s what ROI looks like when you stop treating research as a deliverable and start treating it as a timeline. If you’re a UXR done watching your work disappear the minute it’s shared, read my article and learn how to build a traceable feedback loop so six months from now, you’re not chasing validation, you’re showing results: https://lnkd.in/epaiafgm

Did Netflix take a page from the Blue Angels by flipping performance reviews upside down? Many companies wait 365 days to tell a teammate they're off course. At the Blue Angels, that would have been fatal. For a second, imagine flying in a jet... Inverted. 18 inches from your teammate. If you drift off your CenterPoint, would the other pilot wait until December to tell you? No, they'd tell you immediately. Power up. A little right. Steady. Netflix figured out what the top 1% of pilots have known for decades: Speed of feedback is crucial. What Netflix eliminated: - Traditional annual performance review cycles. - Formal rating systems and numerical scores. - Standardized evaluation templates. - Rigid review schedules. What Netflix implemented instead: - Continuous informal feedback - Quarterly informal conversations between managers and employees. - "Start, Stop, Continue" framework for actionable discussions. - Real-time feedback integrated into daily work. - Peer feedback mechanisms without formal structure. - Open dialogue about performance expectations. - Radical transparency as a cultural foundation. Which is very similar to what we did back at the Blue Angels... We landed, went to the debrief room, and laid it on the table immediately. Observe: See the error with clarity. Orient: Understand the context with situational awareness. Decide: Make the fix from your knowledge and gut. Act: Take massive action and then learn from it again. That’s the OODA Loop cutting right to the heart of elite execution. But it's also a methodology that works not only in aviation but also in critical decision-making and any aspect of our lives. So if one of the biggest tech companies and most elite pilots in the world use this model... Why not use the same model to create your high-performance team? So here's my challenge to you: Don't wait 365 days to tell your team they're off course. Start the debrief. Lay it on the table. Get better together. Because the best teams build a culture of excellence where feedback is a gift, given with respect, in real time. Glad To Be Here, John "Gucci" Foley #Leadership #Teamwork #HighPerformance #GladToBeHere

As Summer PD kicks off in many Northeast charters, I’ve been thinking about what it really takes to build a culture of feedback and learning—not just deliver professional development. One thing I learned based on my years as a principal and then supporting principals and leaders in designing professional development is this: A culture of feedback doesn’t start with a protocol. It starts with a habit. One of the most powerful: short, focused reflection surveys. And this isn’t just for summer onboarding. It works any time you're introducing a new initiative, tool, or workflow. But if the goal is learning—not just collecting data—how you use those surveys matters. Whether you're onboarding teachers or leading a change effort on your team, here are three lessons I’ve learned: ✅ Ask better questions. You get the data you ask for. Make sure you ask about both content and format. For content: • What’s one practice you’re excited to try? • What’s still unclear? • Where will you need more support? For format: a quick Keep–Start–Stop works wonders. ✅ Review the feedback as a team. Don’t just collect feedback—process it. Spot patterns, add context from your own observations, and adjust your plan. That might mean reshuffling sessions, re-grouping folks, or offering targeted support. ✅ Close the loop. If you want people to be honest, show them that their feedback matters. Share what you heard and how you’re responding—even if the answer is, “Not yet, and here’s why.” For individual concerns, follow up 1:1. This approach doesn’t just improve your rollout. It models the kind of learning culture we want in every classroom and team. And while I’ve seen this most in schools, these lessons apply anywhere—nonprofits, startups, corporate teams. If you’re leading any kind of team learning experience, these small moves build trust, responsiveness, and real feedback loops. You’ve heard me say it before: clarity is a process, and it’s bidirectional. This is one simple, powerful way to get there. What are your favorite moves or 1% solutions for building a culture of learning?

I believe you should place Nex’perts at the heart of your knowledge strategy. It’s tempting to build your knowledge management program around your experts. After all, they’re the ones with the deepest experience. So why not just ask them to contribute content to your intranet or manage sections of your knowledge management platform? And if you can get their time, that’s great. But the reality in most firms is that your experts are also your most billable people. They’re in high demand with clients and project teams. Their calendars are full. And while they may want to share what they know, they usually don’t have the time to do it consistently—or the bandwidth to structure and maintain a knowledge base over time. It’s also not a long-term solution. Relying on experts doesn’t create pathways for knowledge transfer. It doesn’t prepare your next generation of leaders. It just centralizes knowledge in the heads of a few already overloaded people. That’s why we place Nex’perts at the center of the process. A Nex’pert isn’t the current practice leader—they’re the one who’s next. Someone with around 10 years of experience. Not new, but not yet senior. They’ve done the work, they’ve got context, and they’re motivated to grow. They’re also close enough to day-to-day project work to understand what’s useful and what’s not. We ask each Nex’pert to take ownership of a domain—say, Sustainability. They spend time with the expert, ask questions, and pull that knowledge out of their head. They organize it, maintain it, and connect with others across the firm doing similar work. Over time, they become the go-to person in that space—not just for information, but for relationships and context. And when the expert retires or moves on, the Nex’pert is already there, ready to step in. You haven’t just preserved knowledge—you’ve grown a leader. The Nex’pert model makes knowledge sharing sustainable. It keeps your content fresh, your people engaged, and your leadership pipeline strong. And it turns your knowledge strategy into a developmental strategy, too. We unpack this model more in my conversation with Evan Troxel on the TRXL Podcast—watch the full episode if you want to go deeper: 💡👉 https://lnkd.in/g2EdftND Thank you to Carla O'Dell of APQC for introducing us to this idea! #AEC #KnowledgeManagement #Intranets #SmarterByDesign

Feedback loops determine how fast organizations improve Improvement speed is rarely limited by talent. It is limited by feedback quality and timing. Research shows that organizations with tight, accurate feedback loops correct faster, make fewer repeated mistakes, and adapt more effectively than those relying on periodic reviews or delayed reporting. Slow feedback equals slow learning. What research shows Studies in organizational learning and performance management indicate that rapid feedback significantly improves accuracy and execution. Delayed or indirect feedback weakens cause-and-effect understanding, making it harder to know what actually worked. Research also shows that feedback loses effectiveness as time passes. The longer the gap between action and feedback, the lower the learning value. Study-based situations Situation 1: Product development Research found that teams receiving immediate user feedback iterated more effectively and avoided costly late-stage changes. Teams relying on quarterly reviews accumulated errors. Situation 2: Performance management Studies on employee performance show that real-time feedback improved outcomes more than annual or semiannual reviews. Frequent, specific feedback reduced repeated mistakes. Situation 3: Strategic execution Research on execution systems shows that organizations reviewing leading indicators weekly corrected course earlier than those reviewing lagging indicators monthly. How effective leaders strengthen feedback loops They shorten time between action and review They focus feedback on specific behaviors and metrics They prioritize leading indicators They remove intermediaries that distort information Organizations do not improve by intention. They improve by feedback.

Communication gaps and weak feedback loops hurt business success. [Client Case Study] A large hospital network noticed declining patient satisfaction scores. Even with state-of-the-art facilities and technology, patients reported feeling unheard, frustrated, and confused about their care plans. The executive team assumed the problem was with staff training or outdated workflows. ‼️ Mistake: Relying on high-level reports and not direct frontline feedback. Nurses, doctors, and administrative staff communicate differently based on their backgrounds, generations, and roles. - Senior physicians prefer face-to-face or email communication - Younger nurses and tech staff rely on instant messaging and digital dashboards - Patients (especially elderly ones) need clear verbal explanations, but many received rushed instructions or digital paperwork ‼️ Mistake: Differences weren't acknowledged and crucial patient information was lost, leading to errors, frustration, and decreased trust. Frontline staff experienced communication challenges daily but lacked a way to share them with leadership in a meaningful way. ❌️ Reporting structures were too slow or ineffective. Feedback was either ignored, filtered through multiple levels of management, or only addressed after major complaints. ❌️ Executives made decisions based on outdated assumptions. They focused on training programs instead of fixing communication systems. ❌️ Systemic decline Employee burnout increased as staff struggled with inefficient systems. Patient satisfaction declined, leading to lower hospital ratings and reimbursement penalties. Staff turnover rose, increasing costs for recruitment and training. 💡 The Solution: A Multi-Channel Communication Strategy & Real-Time Feedback Loop ✅ Physicians, nurses, and patients receive information in ways that align with their preferences (e.g., verbal updates for elderly patients, digital dashboards for younger staff). ✅ Digital tool that allows staff to flag communication issues immediately rather than waiting for annual surveys. ✅ Executives hold regular listening sessions with frontline employees to better understand challenges before making changes. The Result - Patient satisfaction scores improved - Employee engagement increased - Operational efficiency improved Failing to adapt communication strategies and strengthen feedback loops affects reputation, retention, and revenue. (The 3Rs of a successful organization.) Frontline operations directly impact customer and employee experiences. This hospital’s struggle isn’t unique. Every industry faces the risk of misalignment between leadership decisions and frontline realities. Weak feedback loops and outdated communication strategies create costly inefficiencies. If your employees don’t feel heard, your customers won’t feel valued. Business suffers. Are you listening to the voices that matter most in your business? If not, it’s time to start.

Being smart doesn't matter if people don't like collaborating with you. In my commitment to continuous improvement, I value constructive feedback. As part of this process, I regularly posed four questions to my colleagues to enhance our working relationships. How did I use these? - Approximately every six months, I reach out to team members with the four questions listed below. I express that responses are entirely voluntary, with no set timeframe for replies. - Recognizing that not everyone may be comfortable providing direct feedback, I offer an alternative option. Team members can share their thoughts with my manager, who can then incorporate the feedback into a performance review or discuss it anonymously during our 1x1. - I use a spreadsheet to organize the insights. Each question gets its own column, and I fill in the rows with the feedback I get. This enables me to identify recurring themes, helping us focus on areas that contribute positively or require adjustment. The outcomes of this feedback loop have been instrumental in shaping my working relationships but also come through in my performance reviews: 🌟 2023 “Phyllis’ greatest strength is her constant drive to make things better – the product, processes, and relationships with those around her. Phyllis is always open to asking for feedback and incorporating the feedback quickly.” 🌟 2022 “A very consistent theme in your peer feedback is your constant focus on seeking feedback and improving upon it.” 🌟 2021 “You continue to be a culture add to the team and care about making the team better through sharing information, feedback, and creating an environment where everyone feels welcome.” The four questions I asked are: 1. What are things I’ve done that you’ve found helpful? 2. What are things I’ve done that you’ve found frustrating or confusing? 3. What do I need to know about you or how you work that could help our working relationship? 4. What are some challenges you’re facing at the moment? Please let me know: how do you navigate the world of peer feedback? Share your wisdom or give it a shot and let me know how it goes! I’m sure those around you will appreciate it.

Innovation within an organization is tough—it doesn’t just happen by accident. You have to be intentional about how you collect and apply insights, whether they come from market research, customer feedback, or even new R&D in areas outside your core market. The real challenge lies in figuring out how to take those insights and spread them throughout the rest of the organization in a way that drives meaningful change. At ZoomInfo Labs, one of our core frameworks is built around this very idea. Our job isn’t just to innovate in a vacuum. 1/ It's about going out into the market. 2/ Listening to our customers. 3/ Exchanging best practices. We want to hear what’s working for them, what isn’t, and how they’re going to market alongside us. But here’s the key: it’s not enough just to gather these insights. We need to bring them back into our organization and use them to drive real progress. That could mean pushing our product innovation and roadmap forward, or it could mean applying those insights to fuel our own internal go-to-market strategies. At the end of the day, what we’re really doing is creating a continuous loop—an innovation flywheel. We gather insights from the market, feed them into our product development, and then use those improved products to deliver even more value back to the market. It’s a constant cycle of innovation, ensuring that we’re always improving both for our customers and for ourselves. The takeaway? Innovation isn’t a one-time event; it’s an ongoing process. You need to keep that flywheel spinning, making sure that you’re delivering maximum value to your customers while constantly evolving in response to what you learn from them. That’s how you stay ahead—by ensuring that every insight, every piece of feedback, and every bit of innovation gets fed back into the system to create something even better. 💡 How are you doing this at your organization today?

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 🗣️ Ever feel like your Learning and Development (L&D) programs are missing the mark? You're not alone. One of the biggest pitfalls in L&D is the lack of mechanisms for collecting and acting on employee feedback. Without this crucial component, your initiatives may fail to address the real needs and preferences of your team, leaving them disengaged and underprepared. 📌 And here's the kicker—if you ignore this, your L&D efforts risk becoming irrelevant, wasting valuable resources, and ultimately failing to develop the skills your workforce truly needs. But don't worry—there’s a straightforward fix: integrate feedback loops into your L&D programs. Here’s a clear plan to get started: 📝 Surveys and Questionnaires: Regularly distribute surveys and questionnaires to gather insights on what’s working and what isn’t. Keep them short and focused to maximize response rates and actionable feedback. 📝 Focus Groups: Organize small focus groups to dive deeper into specific issues. This setting allows for more detailed discussions and nuanced understanding of employee needs and preferences. 📝 Real-Time Polling: Use real-time polling tools during training sessions to gauge immediate reactions and make on-the-fly adjustments. This keeps the learning experience dynamic and responsive. 📝 One-on-One Interviews: Conduct one-on-one interviews with a diverse cross-section of employees to get a more personal and detailed perspective. This can uncover insights that broader surveys might miss. 📝 Anonymous Feedback Channels: Ensure there are anonymous ways for employees to provide feedback. This encourages honesty and helps identify issues that employees might be hesitant to discuss openly. 📝 Feedback Integration: Don’t just collect feedback—act on it. Regularly review the feedback and make necessary adjustments to your L&D programs. Communicate these changes to employees to show that their input is valued and acted upon. 📝 Continuous Monitoring: Use analytics tools to continuously monitor engagement and performance metrics. This provides ongoing data to help refine and improve your L&D initiatives. Integrating these feedback mechanisms will not only enhance the effectiveness of your L&D programs but also boost employee engagement and satisfaction. When employees see that their feedback leads to tangible changes, they are more likely to be invested in the learning process. Have any innovative ways to incorporate feedback into L&D? Drop your tips in the comments! ⬇️ #LearningAndDevelopment #EmployeeEngagement #ContinuousImprovement #FeedbackLoop #ProfessionalDevelopment #TrainingInnovation