I love sandwiches! They are great food and continue to be my favourite fuss-free lunch fix. However, if you are using the sandwich technique for feedback – I would recommend you stop. It’s ineffective and can do more damage than good.
If you are not familiar with the sandwich technique for feedback , it simply means you sandwich your negative feedback between two positives. A lot of books and training courses recommend using it when providing negative feedback. I’m sure there are a lot of leaders who diligently follow this advice – but I’m not sure that they understand the negative consequences – it makes your feedback less effective and it damages your credibility and trust with your team members.
Why is the sandwich technique for feedback popular? Leaders that I work with have mentioned the following as potential reasons – softening the blow, ensuring the recipient does not get discouraged and for ensuring they maintain a balance between positive and negative feedback.
I invite you to think a bit deeper about these reasons
Softening the blow – Do you really think it is possible to take the edge off your negative feedback by saying something positive before and after your negative feedback? I don’t think it works. And when it does, you might find that the message you intended to convey is lost! People have a tendency to selectively hear what they like.
Ensuring the recipient does not get discouraged – Assuming your corrective feedback did register, do you think it is possible that your appreciation of, for example, my “punctuality” and “dedication” is likely to reduce my anxiety over the fact that you think I “suck at writing proposals”? OK, I picked some inane examples there. It would be even worse if you had something meaningful to convey!
Maintain a balance between positive and negative feedback – leaders are aware that they need to give both positive and negative feed back. Positive feedback is important for maintaining motivation and helping people understand their strengths. It is also effective in getting people to look beyond their immediate success to even greater possibilities. The leader needs to do this on a regular and timely basis. Do not save such positive feedback to use as palliative when delivering negative feedback. It takes away from the purpose of both – the positive feedback as well as the negative feedback that you intend to convey.
The reasons mentioned by the leaders are valid ones – however the sandwich technique does not really meet these objectives. So what works? Try this:
Reframe your negative feedback – focus on the positive outcome that you are trying to achieve rather than the problem (or worse – the person!) that needs to be fixed. This is not about avoiding difficult issues : put the focus on what you are trying to achieve rather than what needs to be avoided. This will soften the blow as well as ensure the recipient does not get discouraged.
Deliver the message in a calm, polite and respectful manner. It is true that the message needs to be authentic and tough. However, you don’t have to deliver your message in a nasty or threatening manner.
Be more consistent about providing positive feedback regularly and timely. Many leaders find that they often tend to take good achievements for granted. If you are one of them, work on catching people redhanded when they do well! This will help you maintain the balance between positive and negative feedback.
What has been your experience with the sandwich technique for feedback?
