6 constructive criticism examples (with tips for easy delivery)

What is constructive criticism vs. destructive criticism?

Not all criticism is created equal. Constructive criticism aims to build the other person up by calling them to be the best version of themselves. It is helpful and delivered with care.

Destructive criticism, on the other hand, seeks to tear the other person down by making it seem as though their blind spots are a part of who they are. It is unhelpful and delivered tactlessly.

Destructive criticism would be something like, “Another error in your code. You’re just not cut out to be a developer.” It makes a judgment about the person and doesn’t offer any help for them to improve.

Constructive criticism would be: “I noticed errors in your code have been more frequent lately. Mistakes happen, and when the entire engineering team is under pressure to meet this upcoming deadline, they happen more often. Is there anything I need to be aware of that can help you do your best work? If I’ve placed too much on your plate, let me know so I can rearrange workload. Happy to talk about it.”

In a study published in Applied Psychology, researcher Jana Raver and colleagues found that when people receive destructive criticism, they're more likely to feel angry and less likely to trust the person who delivered the criticism. Those are not desirable results for any manager hoping to motivate their employees.

Why you should give constructive criticism

1. It shows your employees that you care.

Sometimes, it may feel like ignoring a person's shortcomings is kinder than calling them out on them. But Gallup found something surprising in its employee engagement research: Employees who said their managers focused on their weaknesses instead of their strengths were still 22.5 times more likely to be engaged than those who were ignored.

Yes, it seems that any feedback-even negative feedback-is better than none at all. Gallup concludes:

"The best employees don't want to be coddled; they want to matter. They want to be part of something greater than themselves, and they want to know how they contribute to that something. They want to be heard, and above all, they do not want to be ignored."

2. It helps them improve.

In a 2014 Zenger Folkman survey, 72% of participants said they believed constructive criticism would improve their performance.

3. Employees want it!

Given its potential to boost job performance, constructive criticism may be preferred over positive feedback. In the Zenger Folkman survey, 57% of participants favored corrective feedback, while only 43% favored praise and recognition.

In fact, if you fail to give your employees enough constructive feedback. A 2018 survey by Yoh found that 24% of American employees say they'd consider leaving a job they liked if their manager gave inadequate performance feedback.

Tips for giving constructive criticism

1. Be specific.

Specificity is helpful; vagueness is not. So when giving negative feedback, don't say, "Your work has been lacking lately." That doesn't help the employee know the exact behavior that is problematic.

It's better to say, "Your last three financial reports had major mathematical errors that we had to correct."

2. Give the why behind your criticism.

For feedback to be meaningful, it needs to be put into context. What's at stake here if the person doesn't change their ways? Make it clear how it's negatively affecting your team or company, and your employee is much more likely to take it seriously. It's also possible they didn't realize how their behavior was hurting the organization. For example, you might say, "When you turn in reports that have a lot of errors in them, it creates extra work for the people who then have to correct them."

3. Tell them what you'd like to see next.

Giving someone negative feedback without outlining your expectations can create anxiety in the recipient. They know you're dissatisfied, but they can't be sure what you want. To avoid this, be clear about what you'd like to see next.

Here's an example: "In the past month, you've made three major decisions regarding this project without consulting your team first. This made them feel like their opinions didn't matter, and it might have been a missed opportunity to optimize those decisions. Next time you're making a choice that will impact the entire team and this project, could you please message the group and give them 24 hours to add their input?"

4. Provide support.

As a general rule, if you're pointing out a problem, it's best to offer a solution too. It's the kind thing to do, especially if you're a manager in charge of this person.

For instance, if you're delivering constructive criticism about your direct report's poor communication skills, offer to sign them up for a communication workshop. Or, if you've noticed your team member struggles with time management, offer to review their workflow and provide tips to improve it.

5. Tailor the constructive criticism to their communication style.

Even if you have the best intentions and follow all of the above tips, your constructive criticism will be ineffective if it's delivered in a way that's contrary to the recipient's communication style.

Within our F4S framework, here are two motivations that can affect how you deliver, and how someone receives, feedback:

• Affective vs. neutral communication - Affective communicators need to see your facial expressions, hear your tone of voice and watch your body language to know what you really mean. For people who lean toward this motivation, a video call or in-person meeting is the best way to deliver constructive feedback. On the other hand, neutral communicators focus on the meaning of your words. For them, an email might be just fine, but regardless of the communication medium, you'll need to choose your words carefully.
• Decision inputs - Workplace motivations within the decision inputs category affect how someone prefers to receive information in order to make a decision. Some need to get on the phone and hear you tell them the feedback in order to process the information, while others might prefer to jump on a video chat or read it in an email.

6. Cultivate your emotional intelligence.

Emotional intelligence is helpful when handling situations in which you must deliver constructive feedback. Criticism can be unpleasant to receive, so being able to recognize how the other person is feeling about the feedback is useful in guiding your delivery and gauging if you’re doing it well.

When delivering constructive criticism, it’s crucial to lead with empathy—a core component of emotional intelligence. Empathy requires you to consider how it might feel to be the other person, how it might feel to receive such feedback. By practicing empathy, you’ll be able to deliver your criticism with care and kindness.

If being able to recognize emotions in other people is tough for you, that’s okay. Emotional intelligence is a skill you can build! Try taking our personalized coaching program, Increase EQ, to learn how to read and express emotions, use physical gestures for impact and deepen connection.

7. Reward improvement.

Believe it or not, feedback doesn't end once you've delivered it. If the feedback was truly effective, you'll start to see positive improvements in the person you've provided it to-and these should be recognized and rewarded!

Praising someone for their improvements after you’ve delivered negative feedback ensures that they’ll stay motivated to continue on the upward trajectory. It also shows that when you critique their work, you’re doing so out of the kindness of your heart because you want to see them get better. That makes receiving critical feedback from you easier for them in the future because they know it comes from a good place.

7 constructive criticism examples that will help you do it right

Alright, so you've seen how useful constructive criticism can be, and you've read the tips on giving it. Need some employee feedback examples that show how to skillfully correct negative behaviors? Here you go!

Attendance

Not helpful: "You're always late to work. I think it's really disrespectful to the rest of us."

Helpful: "In the past month, there have been about seven days where you weren't at your desk by 9 a.m. like everyone else. I understand unexpected things happen, but when tardiness becomes frequent, it really puts a damper on team morale. I'm also worried that we're missing out on your input when you miss our team meetings. Could you please try to make it to the office before 9 so we can make sure you're included in important discussions?"

Work quality

Not helpful: "The last few projects you've turned in are terrible! What's going on with you?"

Helpful: "One thing I enjoy about working with you is your attention to detail: Normally, nothing slips by you, and you provide thorough work. It's because of that that I'm concerned. Lately, I've noticed a lot of errors in your code. This is really unlike you, which is why I wanted to point it out. Would you like to share with me what I might be missing? I'd really like to see you double-check your work before turning it in next time."

Motivation

Not helpful: "You need to stop slacking off at work. It's like you're not even trying anymore."

Helpful: "Because you're usually so enthusiastic about your work, it was hard not to notice this change in your attitude lately. You turned the last two projects in late, you haven't been offering ideas at meetings like you usually do, and yesterday, when Alicia offered some feedback on your latest project, you rolled your eyes. Is there something that's holding you back from pursuing your work with your usual enthusiasm?"

Teamwork

Not helpful: "You need to be a team player. Why can't you get along with people?"

Helpful: "We haven't seen you much lately because you've spent the last month entirely to yourself, and during our meetings, you haven't chimed in at all. I understand needing some alone time to focus on your work, but when it comes to brainstorming and collaboration, we really need what you have to offer. Our projects are suffering without you. Do you think you could spare an extra couple of hours each week for collaboration with the rest of the team?"

Time management

Not helpful: "You're always turning things in late, and your priorities are a mess! You're wasting time at work, and it's hurting everyone else."

Helpful: "Thanks so much for the app design you completed last week-it was fantastic, as usual! I do have one concern, though: It sometimes feels like you get so zoned in on a single project that you let other, more important, ones fall by the wayside. I know you get really enthusiastic about everything you do, but sometimes, we need you to move on from one project and start another one so we don't miss deadlines. When we miss one deadline, it causes other teams to miss theirs too. How about next time, when you're not sure if the project is ready to ship, you ask me, and I can give you feedback? That way, you can have an objective outside party judge the work you've done."

Communication

Not helpful: "Why don't you ever say what you mean? We can't read your mind, you know!"

Helpful: "Ever since we switched to being a fully remote team, I've noticed that you don't respond to my emails, and when you reply on Slack, your messages are very short. For me, it feels like something is wrong, and it's hard for me to decipher how you're feeling. The rest of the team is also negatively affected because they aren't able to get your valuable insights that were so helpful to us back when we were in the office. I understand that this might be due to a difference in communication preferences. What can I do to make it easier for you to speak your mind at work?"

Conflict resolution

Not helpful: "I can’t believe you got into another fight during our all-hands meeting. You lack conflict resolution skills, and it shows."

Helpful: "As a diverse team, we're bound to have differing perspectives from time to time. This is healthy when we talk about it, and it can lend to creating a more mindful product. We need all viewpoints to better guide our product roadmap. But, when those differences cause teammates to yell, accuse and criticize each other-like what happened in today's all-hands meeting-it destroys team morale and hurts our work as well.

We need everyone to work together if we're going to hit our goals this quarter, including you. That's why I'd like to invite you to participate in a conflict resolution coaching program with the rest of the team. We can all learn together how to better incorporate our differing opinions without resorting to hurting each other. What do you think?"

Use these constructive criticism examples to guide your next feedback conversation

See? Giving feedback, even the negative kind, is nothing to fear! Employees crave it in order to improve their performance, and as long as it's delivered in a constructive way, they'll likely be appreciative of it.

By being specific, giving context, communicating expectations and providing help, you can ensure that the person you're critiquing feels supported, not attacked.

So, go on. Have that difficult conversation. Equipped with empathy and the right tools, it'll end up being a worthwhile one.

Become a pro at delivering constructive criticism by developing your emotional intelligence. Get free personalized coaching in our program Increase EQ!