01/ 18/ 2006
by Charles R. McConnell
Anyone who runs a business or manages the work of others in any setting faces the necessity to criticize someone’s actions or performance at times. The need for criticism can't be avoided; hardly anyone’s work or behavior is always perfect, and obvious shortcomings must be addressed. But criticism, even done properly, can be difficult for the critic and discomforting to the recipient. Done incorrectly, criticism can be hazardous, if not outright damaging.
Regular feedback is essential in a complete one-to-one relationship between a manager and an employee. Criticism plays an important part of that person-to-person feedback, so it’s necessary to ensure the completeness of the relationship. Criticism ignored, diluted or approached incorrectly weakens the manager-employee relationship.
Criticism doesn't always happen when and how it should. Often out of the fear of being disliked, some managers avoid confrontation by ignoring the need for criticism or by watering down deserved criticism, so that it means little or nothing. No matter how well-intended criticism may be or how diplomatically you deliver it, it most always stings the recipient at least a little and frequently carries the potential to cause resentment.
So how should you handle criticism in the context of day-to-day working relationships? Consider the following:
Criticism should always be specific, precisely identifying what’s wrong and what needs to be fixed. Generalizations are always inappropriate. For example, “Your bad attitude is causing problems at the reception desk” is a generalization that tells the employee little. Rather, the individual needs to hear: “Yesterday alone, there were three complaints concerning how you spoke with people at the front desk,” adding the times and specifics of each complaint. Criticism that’s harsh and non-specific can practically paralyze employees who are, in effect, being told they're behaving wrongly, but not how they are doing so.
Criticism must always be private. Perhaps the greatest transgression a manager can commit concerning criticism is doing it in the presence of customers, employees or other managers. What transpires when one is criticized is the business of only the critic and the recipient.
You should target the criticism toward the inappropriate action or offending behavior, never the person. You should focus at all times on the results of behavior, never on the inferred cause of that behavior. For example, you should say “This was not done according to instructions” instead of “You're careless and don't do what you're told.” Attack the problem, never the person.
Criticism must always be timely. It should occur as soon after the errant behavior or performance as practical. The more time that passes between incident and criticism, the less meaningful the criticism is. Late criticism is ineffective; criticism “saved up” for a later time, such as performance review, is useless in correcting behavior or performance and serves only to alienate the employee.
Criticism inevitably means addressing negatives or at least perceived negatives––that’s what makes it criticism. However, criticism is inappropriate unless you sugarcoat the negatives—the perceived barbs and “zingers”—with politeness and diplomacy and offer instructions and advice for correcting the problem. Criticism delivered without guidance for correction is destructive; including guidelines for correction makes criticism “constructive.”
Politeness and diplomacy should be considered as much of a given in criticism as privacy in its delivery. Nagging, scolding, insensitivity, name-calling and the like put workers only on the defensive. When defensiveness arises, the likelihood of an employee accepting the criticism is greatly reduced.
Also, it’s essential to regularly balance necessary criticism with deserved praise. Employees who hear about what they're doing wrong, but nothing about what they're doing right have legitimate cause to wonder whether they're regarded as performing superbly, barely marginally or somewhere between.
If you find yourself uneasy with the notion of criticizing others, relax—what you're feeling is normal. Even with significant experience, we should always feel at least a slight edge of uneasiness when delivering criticism. After all, you're doing something that may cause others to feel wronged or perhaps badly about themselves. The individual who can consistently criticize without feeling should probably not be managing people.
The practice of the fine art of criticism requires a polite, considerate, diplomatic approach that should always encompass:
- Praising when praise is earned or due and acknowledging what’s done right
- Specific delineation of what was done wrong
- Why what’s wrong is, in fact, wrong
- What can be done to correct the errant conduct or performance
