Behind Closed Doors
Find a private place. No one wants to receive negative feedback in front of others. Sometimes it is unavoidable, but that should be a last resort. Constructive criticism should be given in the right location, preferably a neutral one. Take a meeting in your office, call the person into a vacant conference room, and use the lunchroom if it is vacant. If you have established a pattern of only calling employees into your office for reprimand, change that immediately. Don’t allow your office to become associated with bad news or an impending negative experience. The worst place to give constructive or negative feedback to an employee is in the presence of other employees. No employee wants to be corrected in front of peers – this can be humiliating and very damaging to esteem as well as morale. You may find too, that people often side with the underdog, and will turn on you for embarrassing someone publicly. Pick a neutral location to speak with your employee face-to-face, this is not the time to send an email. You need to make eye contact and observe body language so you can assess comprehension and level of agreement.