Do you know the feeling when you want criticize someone’s
behavior, but you’re scared of damaging your relationship with that person?
You’re right to be cautious: criticism is a double-edged
sword. It can be immensely helpful, but also devastatingly hurtful.
In this post, I’d like to give you eight tips and ideas on
how you can offer criticism as constructively as possible — and leave the other
person not angry, but thankful for your support.
1. Be polite.
Sometimes, we criticize because we’re angry. In these
situations, we often don’t feel like being polite. Even one single signal of
impoliteness will greatly hamper our chances of the criticism being taken
constructively.
I’m not only talking about rude words or insults here. We
also need to avoid sending less obvious signals such as forgetting to knock on
the door before entering or interrupting the other person in the wrong moment.
2. Be gentle and
kind.
Let’s take this a step further. If we want the other party
to really take our words to heart, then we must show that we are on their side.
One big step to achieving this is to be gentle and kind.
Smile a lot. Talk soothingly. Employ friendly, relaxed body language.
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