Hungry for Change? Try a Feedback Sandwich!
Like it or not, we all have to dish out a little constructive criticism from time to time. So how do you make negative feedback easier to swallow? Some experts suggest serving it up in a “Feedback Sandwich.”
The idea here is that in order to change someone’s behavior, you need to sandwich your criticism between two compliments.
Say, for example, you work in advertising, and one of your junior account executives (we’ll call him Reginald) has spent weeks helping you prepare for a client pitch. On the morning of the presentation, you are suited up, ready to go, and Reginald enters the conference room looking as if he’s been tossing and turning all night in a landfill. He smells like a giant corn chip.
After the meeting, you might give Reginald this Feedback Sandwich:
“Reginald, I really appreciate all the work you did to prepare for that presentation.
In the future, I want you to dress for a pitch as if you are going to a job interview. This lets the client know you really take their business seriously.
Judging from their initial response, though, I think they were very receptive to the concepts we presented.”
Simple. Straightforward. Humane.
As a non-confrontational person who generally prefers that people read my mind, I like this gentle approach. I’m just not sure it works as well in situations involving strangers.
Take, for example, Loud Sweaty Grunter Man at the gym. I’d like to give that guy a deluxe deli tray of Feedback Sandwiches. But how?
"Hi there. Nice Jams.
So, listen. I can’t help but notice you grunting and moaning like a deranged wildebeest during your daily workouts. It got me thinking that your performance would be much more convincing for everyone if, when you reach the peak of your grunting, a baby shot out of your crotch.
Speaking of giving birth, you’re still living at home with your mom, right? I bet she is really impressed with how your muscles are coming along!”
It’s tempting.
And yet, as Feedback Sandwiches go, that one just doesn’t have the same good taste.
