Don't Use the "Sandwich" Technique When Giving Feedback!
Source: Image
I'd like to ask you to think about one of your kids or imagine that you have a child if you don't have one. Let's say that your child loves chocolate, especially the Snickers candy bar.
Source: Image
Now imagine that every time you come back home and give your child his/her favorite Snickers candy bar, you slap him/her right after that. You do it every single day for a full week.... guess what will happen? The next time you come home, and your child sees the Snickers candy bar he/she will panic, get scared and and will run away from you. When he/she grows up, that Snickers candy bar will be a haunting nightmare for him/her. Not only will he/she hate it, but he/she will have bad feelings every time he/she sees or hears about it. Do you know why? Because you've negatively conditioned your child to this reaction. You've negatively programmed them by continuous conditioning and thus a negative trigger has been created for them and associated with that Snickers candy bar. The Snickers candy bar is now associated with pain and humiliation for your kid. He/she will feel the pain and humiliation every time he/she sees it even if the slapping stops.
Source: Image
Now, think of managers who use the so-called "Sandwich technique" when giving feedback to their employees. "The Sandwich" technique, for those of your who are not familiar with it, has the following formula: Positive / Negative / Positive. You say start by saying something positive first, then you mention the negative aspect of their work, then you end up by saying something positive about them again.
Source: Image
I personally say that this is one of the most devastating techniques ever used in management and it doesn't have any positive effects. On the contrary it takes away trust and credibility. It kills the meaning of appreciation and it makes it hard to motivate your employees. When you want to reprimand or give negative feedback to one of your employees, if every time you do that you start by saying something positive first or appreciate them in one way or another, then you're using the killer "Sandwich" technique. Not good at all. If you've been guilty of using this method, I say leave it right now and never go back to it. You're giving a chocolate to your employee and then slapping them right after that...Remember the negative effects of doing so with the example of the Snickers candy bar? Eventually, your words of appreciation and encouragement will lose their meaning and effect. Over time, when you want to say something nice to them, they will take it negatively and in a defensive way and will be waiting for the negative message to come, even if there was no negative message to follow.
Source: Image
How would you give feedback then? Just be simple, honest and straight to the point. Don't make the employee's identity or personality the subject of criticism, but focus on the negative action or task in a supportive, coaching and empowering way.
For example, instead of saying: "Hey Peter, the quality of your work is very bad which shows how lousy you are"!, say something like: "Hey Peter, the report you sent me yesterday had few errors in the data analysis section, I would like to show you how to fix those errors so that your future reports will be perfectly done. I trust you can do it".
Source: Image
If you look at this last example, you'll see no Sandwich technique used...You don't start by positive and then go into negative, you start with the point you want to fix right away and offer help and support in an empowering non-threatening way. You offer coaching which is very much needed and appreciated. No one can be offended if you do it this way. Of course, I don't need to comment on the first example I used with Peter, obviously his manager was having a bad day and just vented on him. People get defensive when you criticize their identity and character, it's their core and nobody can tolerate their core being threatened. So, cut to the chase, don't sugar code your negative feedback, make it straight to the point, yet descent with no threatening of the core or identity of your employees. This will make them enjoy the candy bar when you give it to them and be more appreciative and accepting to the negative feedback you give.
Will have to use that. Constructive criticism on a whole different level. Effective.
Good stuff @yurisincero Yes, it's a totally different level of communicating effectively.
Good post it has me thinking if I have used that technique myself a lot or not. I know there were a few places that did encourage that sort of theory, but now I see they were not all that correct about it. I definitely agree that you need to be encouraging to fix the issue when you point out a negative issue. Telling someone they are bad without a remedy is just adding another wrong to the situation, two wrongs never make a right.
Well said @paced.financial. Two wrongs never make a right. Can't agree more. And yes, a sound person instinctively wouldn't use such an destructive way to get what he/she wants from others.
شكرا للمشاركة الجميلة و النصائح المفيدة! فعلا فن اتقان اعطاء النصيحة امر هام جدا
حصلت على تصويت من
@arabsteem curation trail !
و تم اختيار مقالتك ضمن مقالات يومية مختارة للنشر اليوم في مقالنا! :)
by firing squad
I never knew that there is a beautiful term for such feedback technique.
By the way, from your reading, it is apparent that this sandwich technique should be avoided.
Keep up the good work :)
Thanks Dr. Hafiz. And yes, this technique should be avoided as it's proven ineffective. Thanks for reading.
I think there are applications for the sandwich technique. It's all about knowing your people and dealing with the situation at hand. In the case of a single deficiency, clear and direct communication and instruction is usually the best method, however, when doing an overall assessment, as in a yearly assessment, it may be beneficial to employ the sandwich technique depending on the individual, especially when that individual is valuable to the organization. Even then, the emotional fortitude of the individual still matter. The most important thing is fostering a relationship in which team members can trust each other to provide open, respectful, honest and necessary communication.
Thanks for the great read.
You're very welcome. Thanks for sharing your insights @moeknows. I can see you capture the essence of my message. For the annual assessment, yes it needs to be comprehensive covering all aspects of the employee's performance, the good the ugly and the bad. I see this specific situation as a bit of special one. Here's how I do it with a team member reporting to me: I'd tell him all the good points about hims with not buts. I do that with proof and evidence to be genuine. Then I point out all deficiencies and nonperformance dimensions without sugar coating them. Just straight to the point with development action plan suggested. Then I would end on a positive note. This might seem like a sandwich but it actually isn't because each performance issue handled separately without mixing it with others. I see we're on the same wavelength.
@originalworks
I really enjoyed this post. I've always found that many of my managers used the sandwich technique. It just leaves you feeling worthless. Honestly, I became so fed up with it, I became self-employed, lol. When I start a business, I'll be sure to take a more constructive approach towards my employees.
Congratulations on breaking out of the employment imprisonment. I'm sure you'll be a very effective manager and leader just by avoiding the mistakes you saw in other managers. Go for it and start that business and make a difference.
Great post and I remember being taught this concept about 30 Years ago and I have used it ever since it is very effective and gives people guidance without destroying their ego or motivation
Thanks @tattoodjay... Yes, giving feedback the right way makes a big difference not just with people we might be in a position to manage at work, but also with our kids, spouses and even friends. It does make a big difference in the way we are perceived and the way other get motivated / demotivated.
Yes it is a good habit for all areas of our lives without a doubt
Great post. I think this is one of the reasons I want out from the 9-5 grind. I've dealt with too many people that were good or even great engineers and terrible managers.
I've had one good manager and the only thing he did to make him a good manager in my eyes, was to make me feel like a human being and not just a resource used to make some CEO hundreds of millions of dollars.
You're very right @gniksivart. That's a very good reason to be independent and break free from the prison of employment. Another reason for me is the freedom to do whatever I want whenever I want to. I see you're well on your way to do that with your work here. I hope we can break free through our work on the steemit platform.
Resteemed by @resteembot! Good Luck!
Curious?
The @resteembot's introduction post
Get more from @resteembot with the #resteembotsentme initiative
Check out the great posts I already resteemed.