Video:How to Critique Employees Effectively

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Transcript:How to Critique Employees Effectively

Being in a management position comes with responsibility and power. And this power can be both constructive as well as destructive. This is especially true for giving employees feedback on their performance. I'm Marc Stephan for About.com and today we are going to talk about how to critique employees effectively.

Give Objective and Professional Critiques

Before you sit down with the person that you want to critique make sure you're in a balanced state of mind. If your employee disappointed you and you feel angry about it, take your time to calm down before you talk to him or her. In other words make sure that your emotions don't get in the way of acting in a professional manner.

When your not happy with the performance of your employee you have to make clear why. Be very specific what your expectations were when you assigned that task to your employee and make clear where those expectations were not met.

Listen and Be Polite to Your Employees

Never forget that employees are a company's most important asset. They are in the front line of the day to day business and you need their input to best serve your clients and customers. So give them a chance to explain themselves and to even convince you, why their performance was not so bad after all.

Always bring critique to people who were involved. If a team has failed to deliver then it does not makes sense to knock the stuffing out of the team's supervisor. Rather address the team as a unit and don't single anyone out. Same rule applies when an individual made a mistake. Don't confront him or her in front of others. A private conversation in your office is more appropriate and can't be misunderstood as a public humiliation.

You obviously don't want to yell inappropriate names at your employees, however, being too polite and using words that actually doesn't make your point is anything but helpful. Be prepared.You might even want to take a few notes before you talk to the person in question. In that way you make sure that you don't forget anything important that has to be mentioned.

Offer Help to Your Employees

As a manager it is also your responsibility to help your employees excel. So if you find that the dissatisfying performance of your employee is caused by a lack of skills, then it's up to you to offer training or even mentoring.Focus on the future.Say what has to be said but don't dwell on missed performance goals. Instead set new measurable goals instead that help your employees to track their progress and keep them motivated.Now you know how to provide your employees with constructive criticism. If you like to learn more about managing a company check out About.com .