How to Give Designers Feedback
https://www.invisionapp.com/inside-design/give-designers-feedback/
For as long as I’ve been in positions of leadership or learning how to do leadership in my education, I’ve heard theories and ideas on how to help make a team better. The idea of the feedback “sandwich”, in which feedback takes the shape of positive feedback then negative feedback then positive feedback, has always been a prevalent one. I’ve heard it preached time and time again as an effective way of delivering constructive criticism. During my time as a drum major for my high school marching band back in 2017, I’m sure I said something like the following multiple times: “Hey I just want to say, your posture is great right now! Any chance you could bring your trumpet up a little higher in the air? Keep up the good work!” I’ve been trained to do this my entire life, but this article has something to say about it.
Sandwiching negative feedback between two pieces of positive feedback was once a popular technique. However, its popularity has made it predictable. As a result, many employees simply ignore the positive feedback, seeing it as insincere, and focus entirely on the negative feedback, which they perceive to be the only reason they’re receiving feedback.
The article then proceeds to explain that it’s a selfish approach to criticism, as it tries to sprinkle positivity around the negative feedback to make the receiver more comfortable. This is a revelation to me, as I’ve never thought about feedback in this way. The article makes it clear that the best way to give feedback is to try to redirect the receivers energy into doing something different or to give them say in the matter. Ask questions instead of demand results. Give them ideas about how to improve, but don’t sugarcoat things. The idea of criticism is to make people better, not make yourself feel better, and that’s something I wish I had thought about a long time ago.