The sandwich method of criticism

Few people enjoy receiving criticism. On the contrary, employees are often even de­mo­tiv­ated after hearing it. It is precisely this effect that managers should avoid, and with the so-called “sandwich method” it could be. Criticism in this method follows a fixed sequence. Similar to the structure of a sandwich, the criticism is flanked between two comments of praise. The sandwich “filler” is, therefore, the criticism. This makes it easier for employees to receive negative feedback, and the con­ver­sa­tion is more pleasant for both sides. However the danger exists that the criticism isn’t com­mu­nic­ated clearly enough, and there is no no­tice­able change.

The sandwich method is a form of feedback that wraps negative feedback in praise. This means that the feedback dis­cus­sion starts with positive comments, and is followed by negative criticism, before ap­pre­ci­at­ive words are used again. The term “sandwich method” comes from the fact that the negative feedback, in this instance the cheese and the ham, is packed between words of praise, which are the slices of bread. The aim of this method is to create a pleasant at­mo­sphere for dis­cus­sion and to relax the severity of the negative criticism. The person cri­ti­cised in this way should become more receptive and ul­ti­mately leave the con­ver­sa­tion with a good feeling.

The sandwich method is mainly used in pro­fes­sion­al life, es­pe­cially in appraisal in­ter­views in which the manager evaluates the per­form­ance of the employee. However, the sandwich method is also fre­quently used for spon­tan­eous feedback so as not to attach too much im­port­ance to negative feedback. For example, the following quote could be a way in which the sandwich method is used for feedback:

“Your project was very well struc­tured and thought through from the start. However, there were some topics missing from the present­a­tion that we had discussed at the last meeting. Nev­er­the­less, your present­a­tion was very suc­cess­ful and you certainly noticed yourself that some topics were missing, and you worked them in af­ter­wards.”

The sandwich method is also used in everyday life, when telling friends or family something they may not want to hear. The sandwich method is also extremely popular in sales and retailing – salespeople use it to try and sell potential customers a product. Instead of criticism, however, sales people pack the in­vest­ment or the price into a sandwich – the bread slices are then the ad­vant­ages or possible uses of the product. These should be so con­vin­cing that the price hardly seems important any more to the customer.

One criticism often voiced about the sandwich method is that it could take away the value of truly being praised. The reason for this is that employees quickly see through this tactic, es­pe­cially if it is used fre­quently. Positive feedback is therefore no longer received as honest praise, but merely as an in­tro­duc­tion to negative feedback. In addition, the sandwich method hides the actual points of criticism in positive eval­u­ations, so the actual criticism is lost, or the employee doesn’t grasp how important it is to un­der­stand what they’re being told, and make changes ac­cord­ingly. According to those who do not like the sandwich method, in order for the employee to un­der­stand criticism, accept it, and improve their per­form­ance for the benefit of the company, criticism must be expressed clearly and un­am­bigu­ously.

You will be the best person to determine whether or not this style of lead­er­ship suits you, and if you think your employees would respond well to it. Bear in mind that you shouldn’t use it to shirk con­front­a­tion, otherwise those who just need a gentle push will feel as if they’re getting the same treatment. You could always find a balance between harsh criticism and vacuous state­ments, however, and the method has the benefit of being so simple that you can adjust it to suit your needs with other com­mu­nic­a­tion styles and comments.

Please note the legal dis­claim­er relating to this article.