Miscommunication through Constructive Criticism
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Miscommunication through Constructive Criticism
Negative feedback is what commonly comes to mind when one is confronted with the idea of criticism. Loosely defined as the passing of judgment, criticism may not necessarily have to be harmful as it has been observed to have far better results when given as positive connotation. Positive feedback occurs much more than negative feedback, especially in interpersonal relationships. However, this does not assume that all negative feedback is potentially harmful to a relationship, whether personal or professional. Questions on input and the role they play in interpersonal relationships of everyday life have often sparked academic inquiries on the part of feedback in interpersonal relationships and recommendations for useful criticism in future encounters.
Criticism occurs as either constructive and destructive. Criticism depends on how it is structured and disseminated or the feeling it emotes from the recipient. Constructive criticism often focuses on the areas of improvement and change by the recipient and is structured accordingly. It complements the recipient by attempting to positively influence the evolution of behavior or general activity requiring replacement. In contrast, destructive criticism does not offer any support for future improvements. Instead, it focused on the problem and expressed as a comment about the recipient’s attribute and not the behavior. Considering the two ways of giving criticism, therefore, incorporates the issue of implicit and explicit communication. Communication is affected when criticism, especially destructive, is perceived to mean what the respondent means.
To effectively navigate the scope of miscommunication due to criticism, I have selected a case study that illustrates the communication of criticism in the workplace. I hypothesize that performance in the workplace can be significantly affected by miscommunication that stems from criticism. Productive and non-productive criticism either improves or disrupts situations in any given working environment. In this context, criticism is not only one of the most challenging things to give but also to receive. How one communicates and perceives communication criticism determines how criticism is delivered and handled. Productive criticism will often provide ways for employees to learn from their mistakes and benefit from them. Miscommunication in criticism often makes the person giving the blame to be part of the problem being addressed.
Additionally, productive feedback is an essential component of efficient work culture. Miscommunication that may accrue from criticism may negatively impact the morale of employees, thereby offering no guidance. In most instances, non-productive criticism does not set any expectation standards at the workplace. In giving feedback, communication is not just in the spoken words used to criticize but also in the tone used to deliver the message. Therefore, conveying a productive criticism will depend on the terms used to communicate and the mood that is set through the sound of the person giving the criticism. Miscommunication, in this sense, may accrue from negatively or harshly handling these aspects of criticism.
Let us take a literal viewpoint by assessing the scenario of Timothy, an employee at Kaplan limited. Timothy has cultivated a habit of being late for the weekly meetings. However, Alice, who is Timothy’s boss, notices that he contributes productively to the meetings and is always ready with the relevant materials required for each session. However, Timothy’s lateness disrupts the report presentation of his colleagues, which usually upsets the other employees. A few days ago, before the meeting, Alice sent an email to Timothy to remind him that he needs to be early and be ready for his colleagues’ report presentation. Incidentally, Timothy was once again late for the report presentation. After the meeting, Alice summonedTimothy to her office and spoke to him about the tardiness problem.
Timothy gave excuses citing traffic and car troubles as the reasons for being late. Alice resulted in reminding Timothy about the company’s policy on constant tardiness. She further showed Timothy the specific clause in the company’s policy that addresses the problem, and she even reviewed the policy page with him, including the possible consequences for continued behavior. In the meeting that followed in the subsequent week, Timothy arrived on time.
Criticism in this scenario presents the aspect of productivity. The first practical step to productive criticism is stating the observed situation. Alice does this in an effectively communicative way to trigger the expected reaction of early arrival by TiTimothy. Similarly, she does this in the hope of helping Timothy realize his scope of improvement. Suppose that Alice’s criticism was crude and harsh to Timothy from the very beginning, then the perceived information would not have been that of a manager advising an employee not to be late. Instead, it may have affected Timothy’s performance, which Alice noticed was impeccable.
However, Alice professionally affirms authority by sharing the expected consequences with Timothy. She maintains a right level of professional strictness by criticizing through highlighting the problem in a manner that communicates the effects of Timothy coming late and the consequences for this action. If Alice criticized Timothy through scolding and not offering the provision for guiding Timothy against his menacing behavior, communication of the criticism would have been perceived as a threat of termination of Timothy’s employment rather than a call for change.
Self-perceptions often influence our communication with those around us. This equally plays a vital role in determining the scope of disclosure in criticism. Tolerant self-perception is often linked to productive criticism, whereas a know-it-all self-perception breeds non-productive criticism. To avoid misunderstanding from the blame, it is paramount to evaluate our self-perception. This evaluation will help us have a full grasp of our traits that influence our interactions with others and, consequently, shape relationships.
When criticism is structured to emphasize personality traits, it often creates a rift in interpersonal relationships. It has been established that criticism is productive when channeled to a particular behavior, among other characteristics. Criticism is often linked to strained relations with studies showing that it does not always work for different circumstances or environments. This conclusion is drawn from the nature of criticism that forces recipients to submit to our assessment. Different people are quoted saying that criticism, especially non-productive, makes them feel devalued. For most people, this aspect of criticism will not foster change but will force them to resist more.
Minimizing the chances of non-productive criticism within groups is primarily determined by the establishment of values within the groups and teams. This establishment is achieved mainly by clear agreements on what is fundamentally important to all groups and team members. Consequently, behavioral and performance expectations are set to build a strong team capable of achieving any goal. In organizations, set expectations of behavior determine how individuals treat each other, including managerial positions of the organization. When delivering criticism, the set expectations influence how objection will be communicated and perceived.
Social systems are the orderly composition of institutions that impact interrelationships. Such social networks include political and religious orders. Communication in these systems is characterized by techniques that are often treated with social change. Political systems rely on dialogue to relay information about purpose. What the individual or political party is trying to achieve and how they intend to do it is vital to the communication process. As such, the technique of open-mindedness in communication will be extensively used.
Similarly, the purpose is an essential aspect of religious communication, which will use the open-minded technique to effectively facilitate communication. A common trait of the political and religious system is the enhancement of perspective. Both methods provide the possibility of clarity on specific topics to create better understanding. As such, both social networks will rely on the communication technique of clarity to effectively convey particular messages.
In contrast, political communication
Common to the field of communication are the three main theories of interpersonal communication; relational dialectic theory, uncertainty reduction theory, and social penetration. The method of uncertainty reduction elaborates on the use of communication to reduce uncertainties on the first encounter. Primarily, this theory explains the fundamental processes of gaining information and knowledge through necessary procedures. In any society, people faced the challenge of uncertainties, and they often try to predict the behaviors of others. This attempt at predicting responses pushes an individual to gain information about people they are interacting with socially.
Further, the theory states that when we have the first encounter with strangers, equally faced with the challenge of uncertainty. They make attempts at reducing this uncertainty by figuring out if they experience a likeness or dislike between each other. To minimize risk, three key strategies are often used. First, when observing someone, passive strategizes are used. Secondly, active strategies are employed when probing other people about the information of the individual you want to know more about. On the other hand, interactive strategies involve directly investigating the individual you are trying to understand more about while disclosing information about yourself at the same time.
The functioning of authority within a society always contributes highly to communication. Authority, in most instances, affects the communication process negatively. It is expected that cross-cultural communication is likely to attract more impact either positively or negatively from power and authority. This attraction ultimately means that ability will enhance or destroy significant communication systems among the people involved in the context of power in communication.