What Canberra workplaces can learn about giving better feedback
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“Your enthusiasm and commitment are appreciated! Lately, though, you’ve missed several deadlines, which has affected the team. But I’m confident you’ll get back on track!”
If this sounds familiar, chances are you’ve experienced the classic ‘feedback sandwich’ at least once in your career. It’s a simple idea based on a simple formula – praise, critique, praise – and it’s often used by leaders to make difficult conversations feel easier.
However, leadership coach Dr Kim Vella says research shows it is rarely effective, and those on the receiving end may even perceive it as fake or passive-aggressive.
“Giving feedback is more nuanced than most leaders realise, and we have some really interesting research to back that up,” says Kim.
“For example, a synthesis of performance research over 30 years found that giving positive feedback consistently enhances performance, while negative feedback almost always requires a high-quality relationship between the giver and receiver to be effective at all.”
Other research has examined why leaders choose not to give feedback, even in critical situations. It suggests that some leaders may lack the confidence to deliver it or be uncertain about whether it is their place to do so.
“When leaders are unsure whether they should give feedback, it puts them in a tough predicament because feedback is essential for helping individuals and teams grow,” says Kim.
“The same applies when they want to give feedback but don’t know how to deliver it, so they resort to haphazard conversations using outdated techniques like the feedback sandwich, hoping something will magically shift.”
According to Kim, giving feedback is a skill that can be learned. The trick is to use evidence-based methods that are proven effective and inspire change.
“Before anything, we need organisations to embrace feedback as part of everyday culture,” she says. “This means feedback for individuals, within teams, and across the organisation as a whole. When frameworks exist that embrace the effective use of feedback, the whole process is normalised, and the perception of it changes.”
The next step is to understand what effective feedback looks like. Kim notes the evidence overwhelmingly supports a strengths-based approach, which she has also seen in her many years as a leadership coach.
For example, she worked with an organisation that had been performing very poorly in its annual feedback survey for years. They even decided to run the survey monthly after making internal improvements to see if the results became more positive. They didn’t. Month after month, staff provided negative feedback and the level of demoralisation grew.
“When we started working together, I suggested they flip to a strengths-based approach. Feedback questions and internal conversations changed to ‘What do we do well, and how can we do more of it?’. We also employed the 3-2-1 method: name three things we should keep doing, two things we should start doing, and one thing we should stop doing. The dynamic completely changed.”
Kim recommends the same approach at an individual level. Where negative feedback is necessary, she suggests helping the receiver see different points of view and allowing them to decide how it should be resolved.
“For example, if a team member is consistently late to meetings, it needs to be addressed. You could say, ‘I’ve noticed you’re often late to our meetings. I’m concerned that when you do this, people will think you don’t value their time. I’m wondering what you think might be possible to address this?'” says Kim.
“This is not a feedback sandwich, and it’s not disingenuous. It’s calm, polite, professional, and an honest two-way conversation. When leaders become skilled at having conversations like these, and consistently model giving and receiving feedback in effective ways, the organisation’s culture of openness and trust changes for the better.”
To learn more about evidence-based methods of giving feedback, or establishing feedback frameworks within your organisation, contact Kim Vella.
