Among family, friends, and colleagues, compliments and criticism are parts of daily life – one is an expression of admiration while the other is the act of evaluating or judging the qualities, abilities, and faults of something or somebody. While praise is easy to the ears and the psyche, criticism, on the other hand, produces a negative reaction. Some go into a defensive mode of thinking (during a performance evaluation conversation), others lash back thru a cutting remark.
Constructive criticism, however, is meant to create space for growth. Companies hire independent consultants to assess management skills and styles of its middle level managers. In much the same way, supervisors evaluate personnel to assess career tracks that may be available to them.
For recipients of criticism, keep in mind that it is impossible to see a fleck in one’s eye without the use of a mirror. Equipped with this image, here are four steps to ease acceptance of constructive criticism.
- Evaluate. In constructive criticism, managers cite areas for improvement. At the same time, suggestions are made to achieve the goal of improving work performance. Adopting a mindset of someone who is positive in most situations, this can be an opportunity for career advancement.
- Source. While evaluating the criticism itself, consider the source as well. If it doesn’t come from a manager, teacher, or a coach, think about the motivation. People can be jealous, envious, or simply without tact.
- Thank and acknowledge the feedback provider. Even if the discussion was strained, thank the manager. An attitude of appreciation for constructive criticism often surprises the critic. It shows one is ready to take on the work of improving and learning from the criticism provided.
- Make the areas cited for improvement a priority. For example, if the feedback is that of missed deadlines for projects, examine where the bottleneck is and find a solution. If the criticism focuses on the manner of answering the phone, read up on telephone answering skills or even better, sign up for training.
Changes will not happen overnight but the learning can start immediately. It begins with the mindset that an employee’s excellent performance inside the company shows in the improved business/client relationships.