Delivering Criticism

Empathy has been recognized as one of the most essential qualities of a good leader. Making a genuine effort to recognize reasons why someone could not meet the expected standards at his job instead of attacking his intent in a fit of rage is one way in which it can be practiced and built over time. As a manager is required to review his team members’ work on a regular basis, it is important to start practicing empathy by changing the way we deliver criticism. The following ideas may provide some guidelines in our journey of self help to empathy.

Do not compare an employee to another as it doesn’t help in recognizing the cause of underperformance but acts like a vague standard that could be seemingly impossible to achieve. It breeds negative work relations among employees and may seem like a instinctive display of favoritism on part of the manager.

Recognize and remind your employees about the times when they performed well. It helps them build confidence that they can achieve what the organization or the team expects of them.

Be careful of the words you choose. Giving the other person importance by offering a say in the improvement process is important. Examples of phrases that can be used are, “You may want to consider changing your approach here”, “Good effort; but I see some areas that have room for improvement” and “I noticed a few focus points slipped. Could we work on identifying the reasons for it?”

Choose a right time and place for it so that the conversation is private and does not get cut short.

Be aware of the environment in which they work or live and identify factors beyond their control. This can happen only by maintaining regular communication on both fronts viz. professional as well as personal.

Do not address their intent as it attacks their character and not their performance, leading to the person being reviewed to turn extremely defensive. Remember that the aim is building and not demolition.

Encourage your team-mates to plan their work by letting them set realistic and approachable targets, and then reviewing the results to budget for future performance taking a learning curve factor. Making the employee a part of the solution finding process does not alienate him but makes him feel secure and cared for. 

Conclude by affirming your faith that the other person will consider your feedback in constructive light and end on a positive note.

****

References:

http://www.businessinsider.in/How-To-Tell-An-Employee-Theyre-Failing-Without-Making-Them-Cry/articleshow/39443930.cms

http://www.wikihow.com/Criticize-Constructively

http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2008-03-18/how-to-give-and-receive-criticismbusinessweek-business-news-stock-market-and-financial-advice

http://www.bankersonline.com/operations/bg_criticism.html

http://headhearthand.org/blog/2013/02/06/10-characteristics-of-constructive-criticism/

http://zenhabits.net/how-to-give-kind-criticism-and-avoid-being-critical/

****

Image Source: dianegottsman.com