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I don't personally think the "hamburger method" is overrated (partly since I often see it criticised), even if it is cliché, and even if there are joke examples

I don't personally think the "hamburger method" is overrated (partly since I often see it criticised), even if it is cliché, and even if there are joke examples of taking it to an extreme. Feedback is improved by saying what you liked about someone's approach - by giving positive reinforcement to the parts that you liked and distinguishing the parts that would benefit from improvement. Maybe closer to my rule of thumb would be: 1. give genuine positive feedback whenever it is possible to do so, and negative feedback whenever it is necessary. 2. all negative feedback/criticism should be constructive. It should regard only how things could be improved when related situations comes up in the future (and in an achievable way). 3. on the receiving end, I also think you should demand that negative feedback is constructive - rather than wallowing in the negativity, you can normally train people to give you more useful and productive feedback. If the problem is something you can't do anything about, it's useful to identify that and reflect it back. People are much more receptive to constructive negative feedback if they know that you're recognising their positive efforts and have understood a more complete context. I've observed that people who say they dislike the hamburger method will still respond positively to it, compared to bluntly negative feedback.

hinkley 6y ago
A 'hamburger' tries to stuff all of the food groups into a single serving. What you're really after is a balanced diet of positive feedback, negative feedback, and neutral interactions. If you will, non-negative interactions are sort of the fiber that is missing from most of these diets. Being around someone where every interaction is going to be intense, regardless of whether it's a positive or negative interaction, is just exhausting.
jrumbut 6y ago
Where the hamburger gets ridiculous is when it's three totally unrelated items. The best criticism in my mind shows the path to success. So instead of: 1. You make a great cheese dip at office parties. 2. You gotta stop flaming people in code reviews. 3. Great presentation last week. Make it more like: 1. You're clearly committed to the project's success. 2. But the conversation on ticket #347 was too hostile, please don't call anyone an ignoramus again. 3. The way you handled #252 helped us settle a disagreement and reach a good compromise quickly. Showing the first step and general direction back to success is good. The next part is when it's over, it's over and not to hold grudges or play favorites, and hopefully get people to trust that you won't.

hinkley 6y ago

A 'hamburger' tries to stuff all of the food groups into a single serving. What you're really after is a balanced diet of positive feedback, negative feedback, and neutral interactions. If you will, non-negative interactions are sort of the fiber that is missing from most of these diets. Being around someone where every interaction is going to be intense, regardless of whether it's a positive or negative interaction, is just exhausting.

jrumbut 6y ago

Where the hamburger gets ridiculous is when it's three totally unrelated items. The best criticism in my mind shows the path to success. So instead of: 1. You make a great cheese dip at office parties. 2. You gotta stop flaming people in code reviews. 3. Great presentation last week. Make it more like: 1. You're clearly committed to the project's success. 2. But the conversation on ticket #347 was too hostile, please don't call anyone an ignoramus again. 3. The way you handled #252 helped us settle a disagreement and reach a good compromise quickly. Showing the first step and general direction back to success is good. The next part is when it's over, it's over and not to hold grudges or play favorites, and hopefully get people to trust that you won't.