Criticism is a basic piece of any organization, right? All things considered, to guarantee that all employees are adjusted and on the correct way to advancement, they need to know how they are succeeding and the way in which they can in any case move along. In this unique circumstance, administrators love to make this appraisal utilizing the sandwich criticism procedure.
You may have never heard of the term, but you have probably already given feedback using this methodology, or even received a professional evaluation using this technique. This happens because “sandwich” feedback is a way of softening the critical and negative parts of an evaluation, which is why they have become so common in the corporate world.
But are they really the best option? What are the alternatives? And in the end, what exactly is the feedback sandwich technique?
Below, you will find answers to all your questions and, as a result, you will be able to offer much more efficient and fair feedback from now on.
Sandwich feedback: what is it?
Sandwich feedback gets its name because it has a snack-like structure. Imagine that a sandwich is made up of a slice of bread, filling and another slice of bread. In the evaluation metaphor, we would have the following equivalence:
1 – Bread
The first part of the sandwich, the bread, is the beginning of the evaluation. It should be a positive note, praising the employee’s development or deliveries, their strengths, contributions to the team and highlights.
However, the purpose of this type of feedback is not praise. In reality, the manager wants to provide a constructive assessment, but to alleviate the negative situation, he begins his speech with positive reinforcement.
2 – Filling
Then, after offering the compliments, the manager will move on to what he would actually like to convey. It is constructive feedback, detailing points that are not satisfactory, situations that deserve attention and other negative scenarios.
This part is called “filling” in the analogy with a snack, precisely because it is preceded and followed by two equal parts: the positive points.
3 – Bread
After passing on the message of attention, explaining why the results delivered were not as expected, what needs to be improved or a scenario that cannot happen again, it is time to “sweeten the pill” again.
Here comes the other slice of bread, which represents a new wave of compliments, positive reinforcements and encouraging words to end the conversation in a pleasant way.
In short, the feedback sandwich technique consists of inserting a critical assessment in the middle of two compliments, with the aim of making the situation calmer and less traumatic for the person being evaluated.
This way, the manager would be able to get his message across without creating a hostile and burdensome environment for the employee. But does this methodology really work?
Is the technique worth using?
Although it may seem like a great idea at first, sandwich feedback can be a big problem for teams. The good intention behind the methodology is truly genuine, however, it runs the risk of getting lost among several flaws present in this type of assessment.
Firstly, it is not very effective. By starting and ending the conversation with praise, you take the focus off the main issue, which is constructive feedback. This way, the chances of the employee not paying as much attention to the critical points of the chat are very high.
Furthermore, the receiver may be confused by the dynamics, leave the conversation thinking everything is fine, and even assume a distrustful attitude towards you. After all, he will never be sure how genuine your compliments are, as they may just be there to mask attention-grabbing moments.
Therefore, the ideal is to leave sandwich feedback for very specific moments, replacing it, on a daily basis, with more strategic and effective tactics. See some examples below.
1 – One-on-Ones
By having regular, individual meetings with your collaborators or mentees, the famous 1:1 meetings, you will always have the opportunity to give constructive feedback, without fear of generating insecurities or emotional problems in the person evaluated.
2 – Continuous Feedback
In the same way, companies with a culture of continuous feedback are also able to create a safe environment for critical moments. After all, employees already know that they will have conversations to talk about their performance and development, and are aware that their strengths and weaknesses will be addressed.
3 – Netflix Method
In addition to the curious name, this technique is based on three principles, which can greatly help managers who have difficulty providing genuine feedback to their employees.
In it you must point out what the professional should continue doing, what he needs to stop doing and what he can start doing. This way, the predictability of the conversation will make everything calmer and more frank, giving objectivity and confidence to the process.