How to give effective feedback

Even if you haven’t heard of the feedback sandwich; you’ve probably been given one.

Many people have been taught to give feedback this way: the negative feedback is sandwiched between two pieces of positive feedback.

That is, you open by giving some positive feedback, then give the actual feedback (which is negative) then finish up with some positive feedback.

Managers have been diligently following this advice for many years¹, so most people now have an expectation that if your manager is giving you positive feedback, the negative is coming.

The feedback sandwich has the unwanted side effect of diminishing the value of the positive feedback, which might be genuine, and creating resistance against the negative².

The constructive feedback gets diluted by the sandwich.

People are braced and prepared for the negative as they know it’s coming. Many studies show¹², it isn’t effective.

“Giving a compliment sandwich might make the giver feel good, but it doesn’t help the receiver”.- Adam Grant³

Feedback is important. It helps you know what you’ve done well and what you need to improve on.

Experts describe it as one of the most powerful influences on performance and achievement⁴.

Whether that influence is helpful or not depends largely on how the feedback is given.

Organisational Psychologist, Adam Grant, cites research⁴ that finds that a focus on the task not the person is more important than whether feedback is negative or positive.

Being specific about exactly what an employee has done well “this is what I liked” and what they have not done well “this is what I didn’t like”.

Further, framing feedback as coaching with a future focus helps. “Give a tip not an evaluation” is more likely to result in improvement.

Grant suggests following these four steps:

1. Explain why you’re giving the feedback

Showing that you care about the person you are giving feedback to will help that person be more open to what you are going to tell them.

Let them know that you have high expectations, you have confidence in their ability to perform well.

Theodore Roosevelt — 'People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care'

2. Take yourself off a pedestal

Nobody is perfect.

Acknowledging your own failings, mistakes and imperfections can help people hear your feedback because you are a lot less threatening.

Specifically, acknowledging occasions when you’ve benefited from feedback, and learned from your mistakes can help people receive feedback as it is intended.

3. Ask if the person wants feedback

Once people agree to receive your feedback they are likely to be more open to it.

4. Have a transparent dialogue, not a manipulative monologue

The best feedback is a conversation. Invite people to give feedback on their own performance. What do they think they did well?

Where do they think they could have improved? It can be very annoying to have someone point out a mistake you’ve already identified yourself. Share what you have observed.

Always be future focused. Invite people to contribute to a plan going forwards.

You can finish by inviting the person to give feedback on your performance, or even on how well you gave feedback.

If you’d like to learn more about giving feedback, or if you want to practice with an expert, contact the Manager Assist through your EAP 1800 629 277 support@maxsolutions.com.au

[1.]     Jakub Prochazka, Martin Ovcari, Michal Durinik,(2020); Sandwich feedback: The empirical evidence of its effectiveness, Learning and Motivation, Volume 71

[2.]     Amy J. Henley &Florence D. DiGennaro Reed (2015); Should You Order the Feedback Sandwich? Efficacy of Feedback Sequence and Timing; Pages 321-335

[3.]    Stop serving the compliment sandwich - by Adam Grant (substack.com)

[4].     John Hattie & Helen Timperley: Visible Learning and Feedback - VISIBLE LEARNING (visible-learning.org)

[5.]     Keller, James D,M.D., M.H.S.A., & Iriye, B. K., M.D. (2023/08//). Feedback: Valuable to give and receive. Contemporary OB/GYN, 68(8), 30-32. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.slq.qld.gov.au/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/feedback-valuable-give-receive/docview/2856289358/se-2