Why You Should Customize Your Criticisms

Most office professionals are adults and know not to take criticism too personally. We were raised to understand and handle competitive environments, which means having thick skin whenever our boss lambasts us for mistakes we’ve made or chides us for not performing up to our potential. We sit there and take it, because we know our bosses are just doing their jobs when we’re not.

Nevertheless, some employees are more sensitive than others, and this means managers should focus on dealing with employees based on their individual personalities and not according to a general disciplinary philosophy. As long as everyone is treated fairly, using different carrots and sticks for different employees can mean the difference between success and failure with particular management problems. Sometimes going to negative just leads to additional problems.  

This article explains, “Keep the negativity to yourself. Most weak-willed workers have insecurity issues. What you see as constructive criticism could be taken very personally if you aren’t careful. So try to keep things in a positive light. Even if things aren’t going well, talk about how to make them better, not what you think is wrong.”

It is possible to point out what is wrong with a situation without placing the blame on one individual. That is not how effective teams work. We all make mistakes, so a “welcome to the human race” comment may render better results than an assault on an individual’s performance. This isn’t to say office professionals shouldn’t be held accountable; they should be. However, this does mean that putting a bow on criticism demonstrates that a manager can be both tough but respectful of a person’s dignity.

Photo courtesy of ohdarling.