Friday, November 19, 2010

Constructive Criticism - How to Give and Receive It

By FerragusLapointe -

We all dream of success in life but unfortunately not everyone can succeed. This is a saying... "Only the fittest will survive". Well, this saying was not just thrown up without a reason. There is a reason behind this statement. But perhaps you are asking... who is the "fittest"?

Well, we all know that life always tosses up a few challenges for all of us every now and then. It doesn't matter what you do, you are going to face many challenges in life. Only those who have the courage to face and break through the challenges will come out as a victor. That is why there is a term like... Only the fittest will survive.

You will receive countless criticisms along the way; some good some bad. What you have to understand about criticisms is that, despite the harshness of words, they were spoken in truth and so it is up to you how to digest it.

Successful people are able to take criticisms and transform them into advantages for them. It is not going to be easy to face the wrath of criticism from others, but if you can take them in your strides, you would become a better each time when you swallow a criticism and devour its full essence.

Different people take criticisms differently. Some grow even stronger with criticisms while others just fall flat. If you want to survive, learn how to take criticisms lightly, no matter how harsh they are. If you are able to do that, you are actually going to benefit from them.

Of course, learning how to accept criticisms lightly is crucial to your success, however, on the other hand, you must also learn how to give constructive criticism.

How to Give Constructive Criticism?

Constructive criticisms should be utilized to transform you; but there are some guidelines that critics should consider before voicing out their own opinions. Follow the following guidelines when giving criticism to others:

1. Do not criticize the person as a person, focus on criticizing hir or her behaviour instead.

2. Focus your criticism on the present situation. Don't bring up the past. Let bygone be bygone and focus on making thing better for the future.

3. Before throwing out your punches or criticisms, try to understand first why you are offering such criticism. What are your bases?

4. Before speaking, take a quick role reversal in your head and deal with the criticism as if you are the one receiving it.


5. Always remember that while you give criticism, you must be prepared to receive it too. If you can't, then you should not criticize others!

6. Before you give criticism, always throw up a few positive aspects of the person first, this can really help take away some of the bitterness.

7. Use the word "I", to emphasize to the person that it is your own opinion.

8. Encourage a two-way dialogue. Don't just firing out all your criticisms at once, ask questions and encourage them to share with you their feelings and opinions. This is the secret to giving constructive criticisms.

If you follow the above guidelines when criticizing others, people will sense that you are actually giving them positive feedbacks and they will appreciate it because they know that you want them to be better.


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Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/self-improvement-articles/constructive-criticism-how-to-give-and-receive-it-3697175.html

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