There are many facets to operating in the workplace that aren’t necessarily taught. Knowing how to handle criticism is one of them. Dealing with negative feedback is never easy, no matter how many times you go through the process, but it is an essential skill to ensure you survive at work. It’s natural to grow defensive and start to offer up an explanation when feedback is provided, particularly when it’s provided in a less-than-polite way. In many cases, you might be justified in explaining your position rather than accepting the feedback as is, however, part of dealing with criticism at work also involves learning when to accept the feedback and when to speak up.
Learning how to handle criticism in the workplace is an essential skill for anyone who wants to have a lasting career in their industry of choice. (Image: Pexels)
How to Handle Criticism at Work: The Ins and Outs of Handling Feedback Professionally
Managers, employers, and even colleagues often step up with feedback on your work, whether solicited or otherwise. Some of this feedback is highly constructive, meant only to guide you in the right direction and ensure that simple errors don’t turn into habits. Such constructive feedback is essential for the smooth running of any workplace. Other feedback at work can be more critical, meant to offend or drive home a point that doesn’t need to be made.
Regardless of the nature of the opinions that are shared, handling the feedback professionally is an essential part of ensuring you get to hold on to your job and continue to operate within that workplace for years to come.
It’s also important to remember that learning how to handle criticism does not mean that employees must be forced to accept all advice and feedback without complaint. If there is a reason to provide a response or word of disagreement, ensuring it is done in a calm and collected way is key to maintaining peace at work. Let’s look at some tips for responding to criticism at work.
1. Listen First, Respond Later
The first piece of advice we can offer on handling criticism is to listen and process the feedback carefully. Before you move to deciphering the criticism and determining how you feel about it, it’s important to listen carefully to what is being said and understand why it might be offered. This is, perhaps, the hardest step in dealing with criticism at work, as the way it is provided or the content that is shared can have our defenses go up at once.
2. Regulate Your Emotions and Temper Your Reaction Well
When you’re working on building your resilience at work, you will also have to work on mastering your body language and what you communicate through it. Even when unexpected feedback arrives at your desk, it is important to maintain a straight face and handle the tension you feel internally to ensure it doesn’t escalate into something beyond your control. A deep breath, a pause, and slow contemplation of what occurred is an essential precursor to handling feedback.
3. Avoid Treating the Criticism as a Personal Attack
When dealing with negative feedback, it is natural to automatically treat the feedback as a personal shortcoming or an insult to your capabilities as a whole. This can lead to a loss of confidence and negative emotions that start to multiply and spiral out of control. An error or two on the job does not imply that you cannot perform the role well. Sometimes, constructive criticism is essential for you to grow in your career.
4. Acknowledge the Feedback
It is important to recognize the feedback and indicate that you have heard what is being communicated. Sitting in silence or rushing to reject the feedback isn’t an ideal strategy. If you require clarity about what is being communicated, ask questions to better understand what is being said and where the feedback is stemming from.
5. Separate Your Feelings from the Facts
Every bit of feedback might have some truth to it, and it’s important to recognize where the feedback might be justified and where it might be misrepresenting the situation. Instead of feeling affronted by the feedback, consider the feedback from an outside perspective so you can have a more stable response to the feedback.
6. Find Common Ground
If you disagree with the feedback, take a moment to acknowledge the parts that you agree with or the general areas of improvement that have been recommended. This may not always be possible at the moment, so it may also be alright to ask for some time to process and review the feedback before you return with a clearer perspective on what was said.
7. Ask To Share Your Perspective
If you would like to provide some clarity on the situation and feel that an explanation is necessary to break down the issue, ask if you can share your perspective. Some might be open to it, allowing for a dialogue on the issues. In case they are not, you might have to handle the feedback calmly and professionally before walking away from the situation to determine your next course of action.
7. Discuss Your Next Course of Action Together
Often, the best strategy for dealing with negative feedback is turning your attention to the next step rather than simmering and stewing over what has already happened. Even if you don’t entirely agree with the criticism, focusing on how you can make improvements in the area and satisfy your boss or manager can allow both parties to think more carefully about what will be seen as a sign of improvement.
This way, you can work more carefully on honing the skill in question, and the feedback provider will be more satisfied once they see signs of progress.
8. Build Resilience at Work
Surviving in the workplace occasionally means listening to feedback you don’t agree with and setting boundaries with managers who might be more critical than there is any need for them to be. It is up to you to determine where to draw the line or establish how much you’re willing to accommodate before you say something or add in a correction of your own. Soliciting feedback is an essential step towards growth, and it’s important to remind yourself that it won’t always be positive.
When feedback or constructive criticism is provided, it is important to be able to step back and acknowledge where the feedback might be accurate and cause for change, and where you may have been misrepresented. Not all managers and bosses are made equally, but once you learn how to handle criticism, you get to decide how to accommodate these differences between them.
How do you handle criticism at work? Share your strategies with us. Subscribe to The HR Digest for more insights on workplace trends, layoffs, and what to expect with the advent of AI.
