The power of feedback: three questions that drive learning

Published 2026-07-02 · The research behind Project-simulator

"Great job!" It feels nice to hear – but it teaches you almost nothing. What was good? Compared to what? And what should you do next? The difference between feedback that changes behaviour and feedback that simply washes over you is well documented, and few works are cited more often in this field than John Hattie and Helen Timperley's 2007 article The Power of Feedback.

Their review of the research shows two things: feedback is among the most powerful forces for learning that we know of – and at the same time, its effect varies enormously depending on how it is given.

What does the research say?

Hattie and Timperley synthesised a large body of studies on feedback and learning. Their conclusion: feedback works when it helps the recipient answer three questions. Where am I going – what is the goal? How am I doing – where do I stand in relation to the goal? And where to next – what is the next concrete step? Feedback that leaves any of these questions unanswered loses its power; a grade with no direction forward, for example, is merely a verdict, not a help.

They also distinguish four levels that feedback can target: the task (was the result correct?), the process (how the work was done), self-regulation (how the recipient monitors and manages their own work), and the person ("you're talented"). The research is clear: feedback about the task and the process produces the most learning, while praise and criticism aimed at the person produce the least – it says nothing about what to do differently, and it draws attention to self-image instead of the work.

That doesn't mean encouragement is wrong. But as a tool for development, "you stated the risk without blaming anyone" is infinitely more useful than "you're a good communicator".

What does this mean for you as a project manager?

When you give feedback to team members: build it around the three questions. Remind them of the goal, describe concretely where the person stands in relation to it, and suggest a next step. One sentence per question is often enough – what matters is that all three are there.

Stay at the task and process level. Point to what was done and what happened, not to personal traits. "The status report left out the deviations, so the steering group was caught off guard" is something you can act on; "you're sloppy with your reporting" only triggers defensiveness.

The same model works upwards and outwards. A progress report to the steering group is, at its core, feedback to the project: where we are going, where we stand, what happens next. Reports that answer all three questions produce calmer steering groups and better decisions. And when you receive vague feedback yourself – "it felt a bit scattered" – you can use the questions as a fishing rod: ask whoever gave the verdict to point out where in the material it was scattered and what a better next step would look like.

How to practise this

Project-simulator's feedback is built directly on this research: after every practice conversation you learn, criterion by criterion, what the goal was, how you did – with quotes from your own lines – and what you can try next. Never a judgement of you as a person, always about what you said and did. Try it free for a week and experience the difference between a grade and real feedback.