by Venchito Tampon | Last Updated on March 8, 2025

“How do you handle criticism at work?”. A tough question, yet the most important if you want to get better performance by discerning the correct criticism that can help improve yourself. 

Receiving negative feedback can be uncomfortable and, at times, discouraging. If you are not aware of it, it can undermine your confidence, motivation, and work relationships.

Do you take every criticism as an attack or see it as an opportunity to work? In this guide, I’ll share with you actionable tips to handle criticism at work so you can strengthen your skills and earn the respect of your peers and leaders. 

How Do You Handle Criticism At Work?

1. Understand the Intent Behind the Criticism

Not all criticism is meant to bring you down. Some feedback can be constructive, highlighting areas for improvement and offering insights and suggestions to help you grow. Other times, criticism may be vague, unfair, or even personal. 

Differentiating between helpful feedback and unproductive criticism can help you respond appropriately. 

There are different types of criticism in the workplace; Knowing and being aware of them helps you discern what type of criticism you are (and will be) receiving.

1. Constructive Criticism – This type of feedback is aimed at improvement. It often includes specific points and suggestions for how to do better.

Example of constructive criticism: “Your report had valuable insights, but adding more supporting data would make it stronger.

2. Destructive Criticism – This feedback is often vague, harsh, or personal. It may be driven by frustration, bias, or office politics rather than a genuine attempt to help.

Example of destructive criticism: “Your report was terrible. I don’t know what you were thinking.

3. Misguided Criticism – Sometimes, feedback comes from someone who may not fully understand your work or situation. They may have good intentions but lack the knowledge to provide helpful input.

Example of misguided criticism: A colleague from another department critiques your work without understanding your role.

It’s tempting to react without determining the type of criticism and how to respond appropriately. Remember that a proper response is better than just reacting. 

Here are essential questions to ask yourself to respond appropriately to criticisms:

  • Is this feedback meant to help me improve? If the criticism includes suggestions for better results, it is likely constructive.
  • Does it come from a trusted or knowledgeable source? Feedback from an experienced boss or mentor carries more weight than a comment from an uninformed colleague.
  • Is it specific and actionable? Generalized statements like “You need to improve your communication skills” are less valuable than “You should provide clearer meeting updates to avoid misunderstandings.”

If the feedback meets these criteria, it’s worth considering and acting upon. If it’s vague, overly negative, or descriptive (at some point) or feels very personal, you may need to address it differently—either by asking for clarification, discussing it with a trusted colleague, or, if necessary, disregarding unhelpful comments.

Understanding the intent behind every criticism allows you to be more self-aware and focus on what truly matters—your growth and professional development—without letting unproductive negativity affect your confidence. 

2. Control Your Immediate Reaction

Your first, immediate response to criticism matters. It tells whether or not you’re into receiving feedback—especially for unexpected or negative criticism. Feeling discouraged, defensive, embarrassed, or even angry is natural.

However, reacting emotionally without assessing the situation will only worsen things, damage relationships, and negatively affect one’s professional reputation. 

Here are a couple of tips to stay in control when receiving criticism:

  • Pause before reacting. Take a deep breath and remain calm. If the feedback is given in words, maintain neutral body language (avoid crossing your arms or acting defensive in your facial expressions). If the input is written (e.g., email or chat), resist the urge to reply immediately.
  • Listen actively. Focus on the words being said rather than how they make you feel. 
  • Avoid interrupting, jumping to conclusions, or immediately justifying your actions. Let the other person finish speaking before you respond. 
  • Ask for clarification if needed. Calmly ask for specifics (e.g, “I appreciate your input. Can you give me a specific example so I can better understand what needs improvement?”).
  • Avoid sighing, eye-rolling, or using sarcastic tones.
  • Respond thoughtfully and honestly. If you need time to process the criticism, say, “I appreciate the feedback. Let me take some time to reflect on this and get back to you.”

Here’s the difference between good and bad reactions. 

✅ Good Reaction:

Manager: “Your presentation was a bit unclear. You might need to organize your points more logically.”

You: “Thank you for the feedback. Do you have any suggestions on how I can improve clarity next time?”

❌ Bad Reaction:

Manager: “Your presentation was a bit unclear. You might need to organize your points more logically.”

You: “Well, I was under a time crunch, and no one told me the structure needed to be different.” (Defensive response)

3. Separate Your Work from Your Worth

There’s a high temptation to take every criticism attached to your value. Even minor critiques can make you feel like less of a person. When that happens, avoid the urge to see your self-worth from your work.

Everyone has areas to improve; growth can only happen through all this learning and constructive feedback. 

Work is part of life but not your entire identity.

This one piece of advice can change how you view work and self-worth. 

Here are a couple of ways to reframe negative feedback:

💭 Instead of thinking, “I’m terrible at writing reports.

✅ Think: “I need to focus on adding more details to my reports. I can improve this.”

💭 Instead of thinking, “My manager thinks I’m not a good team player,”

✅ Think: “I need to work on collaborating better and communicating my ideas more effectively.”

💭 Instead of thinking, “I always get negative feedback. Maybe I’m not cut out for this job.”

✅ Think: “Feedback is part of growth. If I apply the suggestions, I’ll get better over time.”

how do you handle criticism at work

4. Seek Clarification and Ask for Solutions

One common mistake when handling criticism at work is to immediately take action after receiving criticism without clarifying the other person’s statements. 

If the feedback is unclear, it is difficult to determine what needs improvement. You may guess or assume the upgrades will not be made. 

Here are some ways to ask for clarification effectively:

  • “Can you specify what part needs improvement?” —narrows down the issue.
  • “What would make my work meet expectations?” —encourages constructive suggestions.
  • “Could you provide an example of what you’re looking for?”—gives you a clearer benchmark.
  • “Are there resources or best practices I can refer to?”—helps you find ways to enhance your skills.

5. Apply the Feedback and Show Improvement

The meat part of handling criticisms at work is applying any improvement, insight, and wisdom you’ve found or gained from the criticism. 

Implementing the right kind of improvement helps you upskill and appreciate your peer or the other person who gave you feedback for making an effort to tell you what could improve your work or yourself.  

Here are tips to apply the feedback effectively:

  • Create specific action plans to implement the feedback. Write down what you think would help improve your task, work, or yourself (personal growth).
  • Seek additional guidance. If you’re unsure how to improve, ask for best practices, templates, or corporate training opportunities. 
  • Hire a coach or mentor. If your business is a venture, hire a business consultant to seek an external audience. 
  • As an employee, you can acquire more skills through soft skills training (e.g., leadership, communication, problem-solving, and decision-making, etc..). 
  • Track your progress. Note how you apply feedback insights and measure your improvements (simply write them down).
  • After making changes, follow up. Check in with the person who gave you the feedback. 

That’s it. If you want to handle criticism at work, follow the actionable strategies mentioned above, and you will improve your work and life.

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