Spoken English for corporate jobs (Accepting praises & criticism )

 Accepting praises & criticism 

• Praise  : When you get or provide positive feedback on the spot, the other person is clear about what they did that you liked.

• Criticism : is a form of feedback. It provides a space to evaluate past performance, highlight areas for improvement, and identify possible solutions. All of which are vital stepping stones on the path to success.

•  Accepting compliments: When someone says something nice about you simply say thanks in an accepting and grateful way. You can also ask what they liked about your work. You can agree on something in what they said about your work. Positive assertion and positive enquiry are simple techniques for handling praise and compliments
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How to gracefully accept criticism ?

 

1. Pause before reacting

When you're given criticism, the first thing you should do is pause. Pausing for a brief moment can help you process what you are being told and allows you to prevent any reflex reaction or defensiveness. This also gives you a chance to remain calm and cognizant of your facial expressions.

 

2. Keep an open mind

Remember that the person offering criticism is likely doing so because they have identified what they see as a gap in your work and want to help you improve. Try to keep an open mind while they are talking to truly hear their message and do your best to see the situation from the other person's point of view. It can help you recognize the validity of their concerns.

 One should also try to keep in mind that constructive and accurate feedback can come from anyone at any level. This is important to remember when you're receiving constructive criticism from a peer, co-worker or even someone that works below you or on a different team.

3. Listen to understand

 Listen closely to the criticism without interrupting, and when the other person finishes speaking, repeat back what you heard them say. This will reassure them that you understood the feedback or give them an opportunity to address any misunderstandings. Sometimes when people deliver criticism, they are nervous, which means that what they're telling you may not be expressed perfectly and succinctly. Repeating what they said could help resolve any miscommunications.

 

4. Express appreciation

 After confirming that you fully understand the feedback you're being given, the next step you should take is to express appreciation by saying thank you. Your goal here is to acknowledge the effort it took the other person to evaluate your performance, identify solutions and share their thoughts. Telling them that you're appreciative doesn't necessarily mean you have to agree with the assessment.

 

5. Ask questions

The next step you should take is to ask questions to better understand the issue and, if necessary, find solutions for improving upon the weakness or resolving the issue. Depending on the circumstances, you could ask the colleague for examples of what they're referring to, ask whether they think the issue is an isolated incident or even ask if they have solutions for how the situation could be handled differently in the future.

 

6. Close the issue or ask to follow up later

After you identify a solution and acknowledge what you're going to do differently in the future, you can thank them again for bringing it to your attention and close the issue. If it's a larger issue or something that was brought to your attention by your manager, you should suggest meeting again in one or two weeks to follow up and evaluate your performance.

 

* If you haven't yet identified solutions and need more time to process the criticism your manager gave you, you could also ask to follow up with them at a later time to discuss and ask questions. If this is the case, you can simply let them know that you appreciate hearing their concerns and that you would like to take some time to gather your thoughts so you can respond. This gives you time to calm your mind and process your response.