Sometimes I feel like I’m so used to making quick judgments. I find myself judging people way too easily, and sometimes too harshly. It is the power of opinion that makes one feel authorized to comment on anything, justified or not. But our criticisms should always be constructive. And if you’re a teacher, a mentor, or a coach, or a boss, you have to make your criticisms constructive. That’s the only way you can make your comments useful. Take a look at the following suggestions on how you can make your criticisms more constructive, rather than destructive.

Focus on what’s being criticized. Your comments should be based entirely on the project’s content and limited by it. Mark the parts where you really think the project needs improvement. Provide an explanation so that when the person asks you what was wrong with the project, you can give a point-by-point discussion.

Remember that much depends on your critique. Not forgetting this will inspire you to give honest criticisms.

Try to empathize with the person. Ask yourself why the person came up with such mistakes. Do not assume that the shortcomings are automatically caused by laziness or disinterest but instead, talk with the person and investigate why such errors were made. You might find they only need guidance to complement their hard work.

Converge. If you’re converging with another objective colleague, you’re more likely to form constructive remarks.

You might not be able to fix the project yourself, but offer suggestions and solutions. After you made your criticisms, leave it to the person to see how your comments are applied.

Give praise as well as criticism. You should also point out the good parts of the project so that the person won’t think there’s nothing promising in the project. Part of being objective is to also mark the potentials, as well as the mistakes.