How to Handle Criticism at Work: A Practical Guide

Receiving criticism at work, whether during a performance review or in day-to-day interactions, can be difficult to navigate professionally and emotionally.

Constructive criticism, when delivered skillfully, provides vital feedback to improve performance. Destructive criticism that feels personal or hostile can shake your confidence.

Learning strategies to handle workplace criticism is an essential career skill. With the right mindset and tactics, you can derive value from negative feedback and prevent it from damaging your reputation or self-esteem.

Follow this comprehensive guide to give criticism less power over you and use it to your advantage.

Why Criticism Affects Us

Before exploring ways to skillfully manage criticism at work, it’s helpful to understand why we often take critical feedback so poorly:

• Identity – We closely link performance to self-worth and value Criticism can feel like a personal attack

• Fear – Negative feedback provokes anxiety about being viewed as flawed or even jeopardizing job security.

• Ego – It’s hard not to become defensive when we feel threatened or unjustly accused

• Stress response – Criticism activates our body’s instinctive “fight or flight” reaction.

• Scarcity mindset – We focus on the bad news rather than viewing feedback as an opportunity to improve.

• Lack of skills – Many have never learned effective strategies to handle criticism constructively.

Recognizing these tendencies is the first step in mitigating their impact.

Mindset Tips for Receiving Criticism

Adjusting your mental framework around criticism is essential. Some mindset shifts to make:

• Expect that you’ll receive tough feedback at times and prepare mentally. It’s part of every role.

• Try to avoid taking criticism personally. Focus on your actions rather than making it about you as a person.

• View critical feedback simply as information to learn from, just like positive feedback.

• Remember that the way criticism is delivered often says more about the other person than you. Stay objective.

• Be open to feedback that can help you grow. Even veteran professionals have areas to improve.

• Focus on the specific behavior being critiqued, not exaggerating the scope of the criticism.

• Consider the source and motivations behind the criticism before assigning it too much weight.

• Balance constructive criticism by also reviewing your strengths and achievements. One area for growth doesn’t define your entire performance.

Adjusting your inner narrative around receiving criticism reduces its sting and prepares you to respond thoughtfully.

Best Practices for Handling Criticism at Work

When you actually receive difficult feedback, how you respond in the moment makes all the difference. Follow these best practices:

Listen Without Interrupting

• Give your full attention and listen to understand their perspective rather than preparing your rebuttal while they speak.

• Hear them out fully before responding. Don’t interrupt. If needed, take time to process before the discussion.

• Avoid knee-jerk reactions. Press pause mentally so you respond thoughtfully.

Ask Clarifying Questions

• If the criticism feels overly general or unclear, ask for specific examples of situations that prompted the feedback. Vague criticism is difficult to act upon.

• Confirm you understand correctly what behaviors they want you to change or improve.

• Ask if they have any constructive suggestions for improving the area of concern. Silence can prompt them to provide solutions, not just complaints.

Express Appreciation

• Thank them for taking the time to share candid feedback with you. This builds psychological safety to have productive discussions.

• Say you appreciate them helping you see a blindspot because it will make you better at aspects of your role.

• Express interest in learning different approaches and getting better in this competency.

Remain Calm and Professional

• Keep your body language neutral and don’t mirror any visible frustration from the other person.

• Avoid heated emotions and stay focused on the goal of having a professional discussion to improve your effectiveness.

• Do not get defensive or escalate the intensity of the exchange.

Summarize Next Steps

• Restate your key takeaways from the feedback and your plan to work on those areas. Share any ideas you have.

• Ask if they would be open to a follow up conversation in a month to evaluate your progress.

• Express confidence in your ability to improve with the issues raised.

Following up shows you took the criticism seriously and made their feedback worthwhile.

Strategies for Addressing Unfair Criticism

At times, you may receive criticism that feels exaggerated, inaccurate or unsupported. Several approaches can help:

• Collect information – Probe for specific examples that substantiate the criticism. Vague negative generalities are unhelpful.

• Provide context – Share additional details about the situation that the person may lack. Facts can counteract perceptions.

• Suggest alternatives – If you have a different perspective, pose it as a constructive suggestion rather than contradiction.

• Be solution focused – Redirect the conversation into planning how to improve or avoid the issue in the future. Dwelling on the criticism gets you nowhere.

• Involve a third party – For recurring unfair criticism, loop in your manager or HR to mediate and coach communication in both directions.

• Let it go – Pick your battles wisely. Providing more justification may fall on deaf ears. Refocus your energy productively.

Document unfair criticisms privately to establish a record if needed. But avoid dwelling on the past. Look ahead.

Developing Your Emotional Resilience

While mindsets, communication tactics and coping strategies help, criticism often takes an emotional toll. Here are some ways to become more resilient:

• Take a timeout – If emotions run high, politely request to pause the conversation and pick it back up later. This lets you self-soothe and process.

• Vent constructively – Speak privately with a trusted friend or mentor to release frustration in a safe space. Avoid public complaining.

• Lean into strengths – Recall your accomplishments and unique value you provide. Criticism in one area doesn’t negate those.

• Practice self-compassion – Would you talk to your best friend the way you talk to yourself? Be kinder to yourself.

• Keep perspective – How will this matter in a year? Don’t let one criticism overshadow all your progress.

• Learn from experience – Each tough feedback discussion will gradually become less intimidating.

Don’t allow criticism to fuel imposter syndrome or overwhelm you. Reframe it as an opportunity for positive change.

Turning Criticism Into Improvement

Rather than merely surviving criticism, use it to fuel your growth:

• Evaluate feedback objectively – Review what was said calmly. Discard what feels unreasonable but be open to insights.

• Identify opportunities – Criticism reveals where you have room to further develop relevant skills. Embrace the challenge.

• Set measurable goals – Pick one recommended area of improvement to focus on at a time. Define specific goals.

• Create an action plan – Determine the steps you will take to improve. Enlist help if needed from managers or mentors.

• Assess progress – Revisit your goals in 30 and 60 days. Quantify improvements and remaining gaps.

• Express appreciation – Thank colleagues who took the time to provide feedback aimed at your continued professional development.

With the right outlook, even tough criticism can positively impact your career over the long-term. You’ve got this!