Page 33 - Communication in Organizations Basic Skills and Conversation Models

Communication in organizations 22

Giving criticism
Giving criticism is often experienced as difficult. There are several reasons for this. In the
first place you may be afraid that the relationship with the person you are criticizing will
be altered. They may react indignantly or aggressively, for example. Sometimes one’s
own insecurity or fear of not being taken seriously enough may play a part. All this can
lead to a decision not to give any criticism. Such a decision is often unsatisfactory in the
long term, especially when the reasons for criticism continue to exist.
We now make a distinction between criticism of opinion and criticism of behaviour,
that is to say, it can be criticism of the opinion or behaviour of one person, of a group of
people or even of an organization. Here we shall limit ourselves to giving criticism to
people.

Giving criticism of an opinion
The giving of criticism of an opinion aims to change the other party’s mind. How can you
best make such criticism? In general it is important that your own behaviour is clear. This
means that you express your criticism openly and fairly. It is not only the tone of voice in
which you say something that indicates you disagree with the other person, but also that
you state it clearly: ‘I disagree with that view, because…’ If the criticism is only
implicitly apparent from your tone, it can often be taken as an accusation, with the risk
that the conversation ends in argument.
In order to dare to express criticism, you must feel self-confident enough. We have
already said that many people are afraid of the other’s reaction when giving criticism.
General points to take into consideration when giving criticism of an opinion are as
follows:
• Make sure that you indicate clearly which aspects you are criticizing.
• Speak in ‘I terms’: ‘I find’, ‘I think’—‘You are’, ‘You think’. By speaking in ‘I terms’
you keep the criticism to yourself and you are less accusing.
• Find out if the other really understands what you mean.
• Give the other a chance to reply: for example, by asking ‘What do you think about it?’
• If possible try to find a solution together.

Giving criticism of someone’s behaviour

An important mistake that is often made when criticizing someone’s behaviour is to
generalize: for example, when someone has done something wrong, we may have a
tendency to think and/or say that they will always do it wrong. This tendency can find
expression in our criticism: for example, ‘You are always late.’ It is really better to keep
criticism to specific behaviour rather than to make generalizations. Comparable to
criticizing someone’s opinion, it is important when criticizing someone’s behaviour that
your own behaviour is open and clear: for example, ‘I find it annoying that you came in
late twice this week.’ By limiting yourself to concrete behaviour, you make it easier for
the other to react.
This also means that you must feel confident enough to dare to give the criticism. You
can be afraid that the other will become angry. If you are really convinced that your