Saltmere Tutoring weekly feedback loop
Two step cycle slide for the smallest feedback loop
A two step cycle slide shows the smallest loop there is, two actions where each one feeds the other, so a team can see that the work never finishes and why that is the point. This one maps the weekly feedback loop at Saltmere Tutoring, a fictional tutoring business: collect on Friday, improve on Monday.
What is on the slide
- Title
- Collect Then Improve.
- Collect
- Each Friday, Saltmere students rate the week, tutors log missed topics and parents answer one question.
- Improve
- On Monday, tutors fix the top three issues, adjust the week's lessons and tell families what changed.
When this is the right slide
Choose this slide when a process is two moves that repeat and feed each other, each with a trigger and a few actions, and the audience needs one simple loop they will remember.
What to swap it for
Comparison: Two-Circle Overlap Statements. Swap to the two circle overlap statements when the two parts are related statements with shared ground rather than steps that repeat in a loop.
What this slide shows
A centred title reads Collect Then Improve. Below it, two large circles overlap in the middle of the slide, the left in dark teal and the right in a lighter teal, with a round loop icon where they meet. The left circle is labelled Collect, with the sentence: each Friday, Saltmere students rate the week, tutors log missed topics and parents answer one question. The right circle is labelled Improve, with the sentence: on Monday, tutors fix the top three issues, adjust the week's lessons and tell families what changed. The text is white on teal and centred in each circle. There is no framing line or sidebar; the layout is the two steps and the loop between them, which makes it one of the simplest slides a deck can hold and one of the easiest to remember. The template takes exactly one sentence per circle, so each step's three activities are written as one sentence of three clauses.
When this is the right slide
Use it when a process has two moves that repeat and feed each other: listen and respond, measure and adjust, build and test, sell and serve. It suits team meetings, training sessions, parent information evenings and the opening of a quality section in a report, where the audience needs one simple idea they can carry away. It is the wrong slide when the loop has distinct planning and checking stages that people need to follow, which a four stage PDCA cycle shows with dates. It is also the wrong slide when the two parts are not a loop but two related statements, such as a shared mission between two teams, where two overlapping circles with statements carry the relationship without implying repetition.
How to adapt it
First, check that the second step changes something the first step measures, so the loop is real. Second, give each step a trigger, such as a day of the week or an event, and three concrete actions written as one sentence. Third, keep the labels to a single word, because the circles are large and short labels give them weight. For a software team, the steps might be ship on Tuesday and review usage on Friday. For a clinic, they might be survey patients after each visit and change one practice each month. For a retailer, they might be count returns weekly and fix the top reason with the supplier. In each case, keep the slide this simple and put the evidence that the loop works, such as a trend in ratings or returns, on the slide that follows rather than inside the circles. A two step loop that needs a paragraph per circle is probably a four step process in disguise.
What makes this slide work
Each step has a day and three actions
Each Friday, students rate the week, tutors log missed topics and parents answer one question. On Monday, tutors fix the top three issues, adjust the week's lessons and tell families what changed. The two sentences name the day and three concrete actions each, so the loop can be run from the slide without a separate procedure.
The improve step feeds the next collect
Telling families what changed is the last action of Improve, and it is also what encourages parents to answer the next Friday's question. The loop closes in the content as well as in the drawing. A two step cycle where the second step does not touch the first would be two tasks drawn as a circle.
The cycle icon sits where the circles meet
A loop arrow in the middle bridges the two overlapping circles. It tells the reader, without a sentence, that the steps repeat and feed each other. With only two steps there is no need for numbered arrows or a sequence; the icon and the overlap carry the idea that this never finishes.
Questions people ask
When is a two step cycle better than a four stage cycle?
When the loop really has two moves and adding stages would be padding. Collect and improve is a complete loop for a small team: the check and act stages of a PDCA cycle are folded into improve. If the team needs to plan and test changes formally, use four stages. If they simply listen and respond each week, two is honest.
How much text fits in each circle?
A label of one or two words and one sentence of about 110 characters. The circles are large but the text sits in the middle, and longer sentences shrink. Three short clauses in one sentence, as each circle here uses, carry three activities without needing bullet points, which the layout does not provide.
What makes the loop close?
The second step must change something the first step will measure. Saltmere's Monday changes are tested by the next Friday's ratings, and families are told what changed, which encourages them to answer again. If the improve step does not feed back into what is collected, the diagram shows a loop that is really two separate tasks.
When should a two step cycle be split into more slides?
When the audience needs evidence that the loop works. A line chart of weekly student ratings across a term, with the changes marked, would show whether improvement is happening. Put it after the cycle. The cycle explains the habit; the chart shows its effect, and both are needed to persuade a sceptical parent or board.
Should the two steps carry days or dates?
Yes, when the loop runs on a schedule. Friday and Monday tell the team exactly when each step happens and make the loop easy to check. For a loop that runs on events rather than a calendar, such as after each project, write the trigger instead, so everyone knows what starts each step.
How should a two step cycle slide be presented?
Read both circles, then point to the loop icon and say what has changed since the loop started. A concrete example, such as a missed topic logged on Friday and retaught on Monday, makes the loop real. Keep it short: a two step cycle is the simplest idea in the deck, and its strength is that everyone remembers it.
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