Constructive Criticism - How to arrive the best

Constructive Criticism - How to get to m

08/13/2013

Finding the right tone is often not that easy. Quickly the well-intentioned advice can become the humiliation. But constructive criticism can be learned.

As a prime example of „practice false criticism“ serves Heidi Klum's casting show “Germanys Next Topmodel ", where the moderator shows little mercy to the candidates." You are like a moderate meal. Delicious, but rather bland, "replied one of the participants, saying that if one of you does not meet the desired level of performance, she will criticize very quickly.

Negative feedback has lost nothing in the job for most of us. Anyone who really wants his coworker or coworker to put off a disruptive behavior hardly gets to the goal with such announcements. Among other things, feedback serves to bring people together.

The sound makes the music
With a tone that is considered outrageous, one offends one's counterpart in his self-esteem. Many simply turn their ears to pull in such a situation. So how can criticism be expressed that leaves a positive impression on the person concerned?

For Jana Völkel-Kitzmann, the most important thing is that the criticized person is not merely exposed to others. "In order for negative feedback to be accepted, the most important thing is that the critic can preserve his face," she explains.

In seminars, she teaches executives how to constructively criticize. Anyone who succeeds in this can say a lot of negative things without his opponent making a mistake. On the contrary, the other will try to change the criticized condition. When a loss of face can threaten, can be relatively easily and quickly find out.

One only has to put oneself in the criticized and ask oneself if one could accept the negative feedback in the presented form.

Do not act spontaneously
Those who want to exercise constructive criticism should never act spontaneously, recommends career counselor Svenja Hofert. In annoying situations, it is advisable to sleep over the whole situation in order to transport as little negative emotions as possible with the feedback. The next day, most could be more objective and better structured. In addition, criticism should be announced, recommends Hofert. This gives the time to prepare for the conversation.

Should also be avoided linguistic remarks à la "Always do you". This will provoke the other only refusal, sees Völkel-Kitzmann. Instead, formulate better self-messages and say, "I have a lot of work because you ...". At least as important as the first-person messages is to make the criticism as concrete as possible and to illustrate it with many examples.

Often we react thin-skinned
With negative feedback, many responded thin-skinned and put every word on the gold scale. Irritation can be avoided by the feedback giver choosing his words more carefully. The voice should also sound determined and calm - by no means thunderous or shrill. Otherwise, the other one can quickly feel attacked again. A very important rule is that negative feedback should always be given in private.

In order to follow the words deeds, a target agreement should be at the end of each feedback conversation. It determines when and how the criticized behavior should be stopped

Some rules for a successful feedback
1. Give feedback promptly
2. turn directly to the person concerned
3. Obtain agreement
4. Formulate me messages; to assess the situation from the first - person point of view
5. work with concrete examples; describe the situation (numbers-data-facts)
6. No generalizations
7. give balanced positive as well as negative (possibly 2: 1 - rule)
8. possibly introduce behavioral proposal or wish. (Fr)

Image: Stephanie Hofschlaeger