The Difference Between Constructive and Destructive Criticism

A couple of weeks ago, I covered a few ways to communicate more effectively to build more teamwork. This week, I'm going to go into more detail about a specific type of communication -- constructive criticism. Just last week, I had one of my team members ask me to give her specific feedback about how she could improve.

The moment she asked for this, I had the quote from Somerset Maugham playing in my head. He said, "People ask you for criticism, but they only want praise."

So, I thought it might be a good time to go into more detail about what constructive criticism is and how it differs from destructive criticism (or just criticism.) You might be surprised that the type of criticism has little to do with how it is delivered, the tone you use, and your body language (although, each of those things plays a part.) It has more to do with something we've covered extensively in previous episodes.

Show Notes: The Difference Between Constructive and Destructive Criticism