The best ways of handling criticism in the workplace

Some days you just can’t win at work and criticism can often catch you off-guard and you don’t expect it. However, in order to be successful, you need to learn how to handle criticism. If not, it can have a negative impact on your career and your future. Being given criticism doesn’t necessarily mean that your boss or colleagues are out to get you, chances are they just want to help. When you become the type of person that can take feedback well, your working relationships will improve dramatically. Before having a meltdown at work, cast your eyes over these tips for handling criticism at work.

Don’t get defensive
Our natural instinct when we get criticism is to defend ourselves, or attack back. Don’t do either of these, as it won’t make you look very good at all. If you become defensive, colleagues will feel like they can’t approach you with any criticism in fear of an angry or emotional outburst. Remember that this criticism won’t be aimed at you personally, so try not to take it so much to heart. Simply accept the criticism and let it be your motivation to work harder or improve next time.

Stay calm
Losing your cool is never going to look good at work and will almost definitely have an impact on your career. If you get angry easily, learn to deal with it outside of the work, like speaking to a friend about your issues in the office or heading to the gym to take out your frustration elsewhere. Chances are it’s not the comments made that hurt your feelings, it’s the way that they were delivered, so try not to take your anger out on those around you.

Discuss the problem
Take some time after the criticism to think about what was said. If after you still feel that the feedback was unfair, you need to speak to them about it. Simply arrange a meeting with them and discuss what was said. It doesn’t need to be an argument, so be prepared with key points and ask questions about what they said and how you can improve. This will improve your career as you have prioritised their feedback and you are clearly eager to learn.

Remember why they said it
It is important to remember that your boss only gave you criticism because they want to see you work to your best ability. If you never received any feedback, you will never be able to improve. So in order to grow professionally, take the criticism and grow from it. After all, your boss has probably received lots of criticism over the years, that’s why they’re successful. So if you want to advance in your career too, understand the criticism given to you.