Giving Constructive Criticism

Your mother probably taught you the same thing mine did: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. But there are times when constructive criticism is called for: editors not only approve writers' work but critique it; supervisors are regularly called upon to write employee performance evaluations; students may be asked to assess a professor or a course, and employees may be asked for feedback on how a team leader is managing a project. Giving positive feedback is great fun. We all love to receive praise, and if we can honestly give that praise to another it makes us feel good too. It isn't as easy to deliver a critique, and it's even harder to criticize effectively and with grace.

Giving criticism is an important job skill, though. Learning to do it well means showing tact and discretion, putting problem solving skills to good use, and showing you are a team player. Outside the work setting, knowing how to give constructive criticism can be useful when your girlfriend asks if the outfit makes her look fat, when your mother has chosen what you think is a hideous colour scheme for the living room, or when you want to address the kids' misbehaviour. It can help you find an appropriate way to complain when service at your favourite store or restaurant declines drastically and prices skyrocket. It may help you to complain about bullying or unfair grading at your kids' school, or to address a municipal project that you feel is unnecessarily sucking up your tax dollars without rendering any benefits to the public. Knowing how and when to criticize, and where to direct your criticism is, simply put, a survival skill. If you don't already know how, there's no better time to learn than the present!

Are you directing your criticism at the right person?
If you want your criticism to lead to change, direct it at the right person. Complaining to the bus driver about the fact that a particular bus is always late, no matter who is driving or what time of day you take it, is not likely to do anything but add to that driver's stress. Hello! This person is trying to move a massive vehicle safely through traffic. They need to have their attention on the road, to watch for pedestrians, to remember where to stop to let passengers on and off. Sometimes they are even watching for a particular stop, for a passenger unfamiliar with the area.

It's important to remember that if this is a chronic issue, this one driver can't be expected to do anything about it. Ranting at them for twenty minutes in the middle of rush hour is not going to solve anything. Actually, attempting to do this may get you kicked off the bus. Instead, ask your drivers if they've noticed the problem too. If you have, chances are they were aware of the issue long before you were. After all, you take the bus a couple times a week, maybe twice a day. They may drive this same route for several hours a day, five days a week. Ask if the drivers have complained. The union may have already done so. Call the bus company and ask to file a complaint - or better still, make a suggestion. Don't blame the drivers if the bus company is expecting them to do the impossible, and they aren't doing it.

Offer help instead of criticizing
I was reading a discussion earlier about how few writers are actually open to critique, and how so many have fragile egos. But really, who wants to hear they're doing a lousy job? Most people derive much of their self-esteem from feeling good about the work they do. So no surprises when your boss isn't thrilled with your criticizing her management skills and suggesting she needs to be replaced. You may be seeing a sudden increase in your workload or a very thorough examination of your next expense report. And don't spend too longer wondering why you've just been assigned several "difficult" clients that nobody else wants to handle!

Instead of criticizing, try to use a little tact. If you can see your supervisor is overworked, or that the whole team is being asked to create miracles with little time and even fewer resources, the way to improve your work situation is not to whine about how hard your job is. Try asking the boss what you can do to improve your contribution to the project, or offering to help by taking on a few of the unassigned tasks. Or you could offer to solicit feedback from others and bring back a few informal proposals to consider.

If you think the problem really is management style, try to find a positive statement you can make instead of a criticism. For example instead of complaining about her micromanaging the team, you could say something like, "You know, last fall we did so well when you encouraged each of us to run with our own ideas. Maybe now might be a good time to try that again." Encouragement and reminders of past successes can do a world of good for any of us, and even if it doesn't help a comment of this sort is unlikely to land you in the dog house.

If you must criticize, do it privately
So you've offered your help and the project is still going to Hades in a hand basket. Now what? If you must offer criticism, ask to speak to the person alone. It's a lot easier to stand around the water cooler gossiping about the lousy way your team leader is managing a project, or to go above their head and drop hints about their lack of success. That approach will probably get you notice, and it might even result in a departmental shake-up. But it will also earn you a reputation you may one day regret.

Giving criticism: What makes it constructive?
When evaluating whether your criticism is constructive, consider why you are making the critique. Your motives don't have to be completely altruistic, but it's best if you are working for a goal that will benefit others besides you. Constructive criticism may be aimed at improving working conditions in your department or increasing company competitiveness and productivity. It may be about seeking solutions to a bullying problem at your kids' school, or about encouraging a favourite web site to produce better quality content for everybody who reads it. Constructive criticism is about a shared vision or a desire to be helpful. It isn't motivated by spite or greed.

Don't even bother if your main reason to offer the criticism is to haze the new guy, to engineer a situation in which your boss can catch you correcting an employee with more seniority - and suddenly realize you might be a better fit for the post - or just to fulfil your own narcissistic need to hear yourself talk. This will be critical, but there's nothing constructive about it.

Giving constructive criticism takes diplomacy, and it's a lot harder than griping to everybody but the person who has the power to make a change. But opting to offer critiques in this manner maintains a positive atmosphere, and it shows that you're a team player. It also highlights both your ability to take initiative, and your problem solving skills. It may not be as quick a route to that promotion you're looking for, but it will likely earn you more allies and fewer enemies. And contrary to the more underhanded of business strategies, that would only be helpful if you land a position on Survivor or Big Brother, learning to make use of constructive criticism might just benefit you in your life outside the workplace.