We’ve all heard ofthe “sandwich” methodof giving feedback.
While this is effective for small stuff, it can make serious critical feedback less useful.
If it’s an important problem to address, use a “mutual learning” approach.
The presentation you gave to the senior leadership team this morning may have created confusion about our strategy.
Let me tell you how I’d like to approach this meeting and see if it works for you.
Then we can decide what, if anything, we need to do going forward.
How does that work for you?
The key difference in this approach is that it separates the problem issue from the people involved.
In HBR’s example, Alex and Stacey are not the problem.
The presentation itself didn’t go as planned.
The boss doesn’t need to couch the criticism with compliments because Alex and Stacey aren’t the issue.
The “Sandwich Approach” Undermines Your Feedback| HBR
Photo byAndrew.
