The power of positive criticism

Greetings All,

Positive Criticism
TIP#	Technique
1	Befriend Criticism
1.1	Criticism is information that can help me grow.
2	Criticize Strategically
2.1	Before you give criticism, ask yourself the following questions:
2.2	Exactly what do I want to communicate?
2.3	What are my motives for expressing this criticism? (If subordinate's performance made you look bad, you may be angrily passing down your boss's criticism in a nonproductive manner. Beware of those times when your motive is to get even.)
2.4	What specific solutions and goals can I offer, and what can I do to help the person achieve these goals?
3	Be Improvement Oriented
3.1	One way to make criticism improvement oriented is to move the criticism forward, into the future. Emphasize what  the recipient is doing or can do, not what he did. Instead of  telling your new recruit, "you did a poor job in presenting the data," which is sure to prompt recipient defensiveness, try, "In your next presentation, use better overheads to show the data. It will help clarify your points."
4	Protect the Self-Esteem
4.1	How can you protect someone's self-esteem when giving criticism?
4.2	Avoid derogatory (showing a critical or disrespectful attitude) names and comments.
4.3	Avoid phrasing a criticism as a right/wrong issue.
4.4	Using phrases such as "Perhaps you are not aware of this" (even if you think he/she is aware) or
4.5	"This is one way to do it; perhaps there are some other ways to explore" will do the trick.
4.6	"You should have made the layout less crowded, you didn't use the right colors, and your concept makes no sense."
4.7	"How about spacing the pictures out and using some brighter colors?"
4.8	"You blew it. You need to pay attention to your prospect. You didn't listen. Perhaps you're not right for this job."
4.9	"You might find it more effective if you periodically ask your prospect if she has any questions. This will keep her involved."
5	Choose the Right Words
5.1	"Your work is below our standards"  "Your work is not quite up to our standards."
5.2	Positive intent statements are formulated by thinking about the ultimate positive  goal you want your criticism to accomplish.
5.3	Well, my goal is to make this the best book possible. Here's how I think that can be done….
5.4	Avoid using the words "always" and "never" with "you" statements. " Your work always needs to be more thorough"
5.5	More choice word is "sometimes".  "Sometimes, your work needs to be more thorough"
5.6	Avoid "Should"  "You should have done it this way" Try using the word "could" Next time you have to deal with this auditee, you could…."

Regards,

CBS