Dealing With Criticism 101

If you’re getting criticized at work, it often means people care about you. Funny how that works, right? I want to point that out because getting criticized at the office shouldn’t be your eve to give up and stop trying. When people stop talking to you, that’s when you should be worrying! Let’s go through some simple tips that may lead you to grow stronger the next time your supervisor is on your case!

1. Evaluate the criticism and not the tone. A natural human tendency is to shut down or get frustrated when someone comes at you with an aggressive tone. Managers aren’t always perfect in how they deliver a message, but it’s important that you understand what the message is. If you get overly discouraged right out of the gate, you may miss the point that a manager is trying to push across.
2. Don’t get personal. Your manager will not want you to get personal during this session. They aren’t out to hurt your feelings, make your work experience hostile, or foster a mean-spirited attitude. They generally have a superior that they report to and are all about the bottom line. Your actions affect that bottom line, and they have to be proactive in getting things done the way they want it.
3. Be the bigger person. Have you ever been criticized for something that was way out of line? You’re not alone. All you can do is be the bigger person and not create a negative scene. Your manager is human and likely under a lot of pressure when he or she reacts like this. If you never lose your positivity, turn all work in on time, and show you’re doing your best these things tend to blow over. However, creating an enemy with the wrong person is never the best move in an office environment.
4. Respond at your own pace. Sometimes an immediate and emotional response to a string of criticisms isn’t best. A good manager will hear out your concerns and work through them with you. If you want those concerns to be heard, you need to take in their criticism and discuss the challenges realistically. Immediately telling your boss why they’re wrong isn’t going to work, but telling them how they can help tailor things to your working style is appropriate.

We can’t promise you’ll make it to the end of today without hearing it from someone, but we all can improve on how we handle criticism in our daily lives. Keep in touch with motivational quotes and more on my Twitter page!