11 Areas of Improvement at Work (and How to Support Them)

People crave feedback. But they often don’t get enough of it at work. Research published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology shows that people underestimate how much others want to receive constructive feedback, meaning managers might hesitate to provide feedback, even when it’s useful. 

Even though continuous feedback plays a key role in performance, managers sometimes struggle to identify ways their team members can improve. But avoiding those conversations leaves a big part of performance undiscussed.

Here are example areas of improvement and how managers can support their employees’ development, plus the role of HR tech like Lattice. 

Examples of Areas of Improvement in Performance Reviews

Effective performance review comments identify opportunities for growth while also offering helpful, actionable advice. When you frame feedback constructively, you show employees not just what they can improve, but also how to improve it. 

“Constructive feedback works best when it’s specific, actionable, and delivered with care,” explained Svitlana Skalova, recruitment director at Mobilunity. “Combine human insight with tech support, focus on growth rather than criticism, and make the process a two-way conversation. That’s what turns performance reviews into genuine development opportunities.”

{{rich-highlight-4}}

Here are 11 common areas of improvement, plus actionable tips for how to help your team develop these skills. 

1. Time Management and Prioritization

Time management isn’t just about maximizing productivity or getting more done in less time. Mastering this skill also helps employees balance their priorities, manage energy levels, and maintain work performance without burnout. 

How to Help Employees Build These Skills

• Suggest using structured focus techniques: Approaches like the Pomodoro® Technique help sustain focus through short, timed intervals of work (usually 25 minutes) with regular breaks. Encourage employees to experiment with structured focus techniques to find the one that works best for them. 
• Recommend tackling high-impact work first: The “Eat That Frog” technique involves completing the most challenging or important task early in the workday. This not only ensures the task is completed but also provides a sense of accomplishment that can boost productivity for the rest of the day.
• Reduce context switching: Moving between different tasks, known as context switching, can decrease productivity and create mental fatigue. For employees who struggle with this, suggest day theming. This productivity technique involves dedicating a day of the week to a specific theme, type of work, or set of tasks. For example, your team could use Mondays for meetings and Thursdays for creative projects. 
• Use Lattice Updates: Proactively track progress against priorities, flag obstacles early, and tie updates to key goals and objectives discussed in one-on-ones and performance reviews. 

2. Communication Skills

Strong communication skills have a profound impact on an organization’s success, not just in its outward-facing interactions with customers and other stakeholders but also within its culture. Communication is the foundation of trust, transparency, respect, and team harmony. 

How to Help Employees Build These Skills

• Recommend active listening: Active listening goes beyond simply hearing words. Instead, the listener consciously tries to understand the message in totality, absorbing the nuances of body language and tone of voice. Active listening skills also involve reading and acknowledging the speaker’s feelings about the topic, as well as asking clarifying questions.
• Help them build empathy: Techniques like empathy mapping help employees understand what others think, feel, say, and do, which can help reduce miscommunication and resolve interpersonal conflicts or misunderstandings. 
• Keep a record of feedback: Tools like Lattice Feedback can help employees capture real-time, impactful feedback from peers and managers. Having it all in one place makes it easier to spot patterns in communication, such as issues with clarity, responsiveness, or tone. This supports productive one-on-ones, where managers and employees can discuss what’s working and what should be addressed.

3. Teamwork and Collaboration

A 2022 study on workplace collaboration calculated that people spend an average of 3.2 hours collaborating every workday. Because that’s a significant chunk of the day, improving interpersonal skills can help teams move faster, solve problems more effectively, and maintain healthy working relationships. 

How to Help Employees Build These Skills

• Schedule team-building exercises: Activities like Zoom parties, engagement huddles, and gift exchanges can help team members bond in low-pressure settings.
• Encourage asking for help when needed: Suggest that team members reach out to others when they feel stuck. Managers can model this behavior by responding positively and constructively when help is requested, and celebrating instances when teammates help each other.‍
• Employ project management tools: Platforms like Asana and Jira help streamline workflows and provide an easy way to monitor and stay on top of projects. Lattice Praise helps teams celebrate wins and share public praise, while Lattice Engagement makes it easy for managers to gather feedback about their team’s collaboration and morale. 

{{rich-highlight-2}}

4. Customer Service 

Customer service skills are crucial. In fact, 2022 customer experience research found that 95% of consumers would consider abandoning a brand after negative interactions with customer service. Because of their importance to your company’s reputation, customer-facing employees need all the support and guidance they can get to stay on top of their game.

How to Help Employees Build This Skill

• Recommend communication skills training: Learning and professional development opportunities can help employees stay up-to-date with the latest technology and customer behavior. Training might include channel-specific communication and broader skills like active listening, empathy, and positive language. 
• Model accepting feedback and taking responsibility: Encourage employees to respond constructively to criticism and take ownership of resolving issues, by modeling what this can look like. Tools like Lattice Feedback allow you to source feedback from customers and external teams to guide targeted coaching. 
• Deepen product knowledge: Hands-on use of the product and shadowing high-performing reps help employees explore features, troubleshoot efficiently, and anticipate customer needs.

5. Conflict Resolution and Emotional Intelligence

Conflict is inevitable, so knowing how to manage it is essential for maintaining team harmony and good customer service. A 2023 survey by Innerbody found that some of the main causes of workplace conflict include competition, disparities in work ethic, inappropriate boundaries, and gender discrimination. But with the right approach, employees can handle disagreements constructively. 

How to Help Employees Build These Skills

• Help them manage their emotions: Grounding exercises and mindfulness techniques can help employees stay calm and objective during conflict. 
• Understand different conflict management styles: Tools like the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI) help employees recognize how different people approach conflict, and how to better manage workplace conflict by adopting different approaches based on each situation. 
• Focus on solutions: Shifting conversations to shared outcomes can help prevent escalation.

{{rich-highlight-5}}

6. Goal Setting and Accountability

In 1935, industrial psychologist Cecil Alec Mace ran the first experimental studies of goal-setting, and his research showed that specific goals can help even intrinsically motivated workers perform better. To this day, clear goals are still essential for providing direction while keeping employees motivated and accountable. 

How to Help Employees Build These Skills

• Set SMART goals: SMART is an acronym for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound, and the SMART goal framework helps employees structure their goals in a way that measures success based on outcomes.
• Track progress regularly: Lattice OKRs & Goals allows employees to track, reflect, and document their progress toward their goals. 
• Build systems to support goals: Strong workflows and habits help employees maintain their progress in a way that feels sustainable. For example, a sales manager could set up a system for tracking leads and staying on top of conversations with prospects. 

7. Adaptability and Continuous Learning

We might all be tired of hearing how fast the world is changing, but employees who can adapt quickly, embrace change, and stay motivated to learn new skills can help the organizations they work for stay resilient during turbulent times. 

How to Help Employees Build These Skills

• Encourage adaptability: Help employees see uncertainty and change as opportunities to reflect on their careers and identify which new skills they may need in the future. Make adaptability part of your company culture by encouraging experimentation.
• Keep career development clear: Use a career development template or competency matrix to show employees the next steps in their career. 
• Use Lattice Grow: Provide transparency around professional development, create AI-recommended areas for growth at work, and encourage continuous improvement. 

8. Leadership and Strategic Thinking

As employees develop, some will start to take on leadership responsibilities or more strategic roles. But these shifts don’t always happen naturally, so focusing on them as an area of improvement can help develop these skills. 

How to Help Employees Build These Skills

• Encourage long-term thinking: Help employees connect their day-to-day work to broader team and company objectives. Using cascading goals makes it easier for employees to see how their work impacts the bigger picture, which can help create clarity and accountability.
• Provide mentorship opportunities: Learning from experienced leaders can help employees understand what good leadership looks like.
• Develop leadership skills: Offer employees the chance to exercise leadership by spearheading a small project, leading a meeting, or working directly with stakeholders. Use one-on-ones to coach them through effective communication, trust-building, and creating alignment without relying on authority. These small steps can help your team build confidence and start operating with a leadership mindset. 
• Use Lattice Succession Planning: Identify leadership potential and support targeted development in one connected system. 

9. Problem Solving and Critical Thinking

Strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills are crucial for high-performing teams. Developing these skills helps employees recognize challenges, think through them fully, and collaborate with others to solve them. 

How to Help Employees Build These Skills

• Suggest they identify the root causes: When employees mention issues, don’t rush to provide solutions. Help them strengthen their critical thinking skills by asking careful questions meant to uncover any underlying causes for their problem. 
• Encourage them to evaluate alternatives: Using alternative thinking techniques can help employees examine potential solutions, test assumptions, and evaluate trade-offs before making a decision. 
• Help them reflect on outcomes: Encourage employees to review previous projects and think about what worked, what didn’t, and what they’d do differently next time. This approach can help turn past experiences into improvements or adjustments for the future. 

10. Self-Awareness and Feedback Receptivity

Openly receiving feedback — and then doing something about it — can be challenging, especially when it highlights a specific weakness or feels personal. But building self-awareness and reflection skills helps employees understand their impact, respond constructively to all types of feedback, and adapt during periods of growth, change, or additional responsibilities. 

How to Help Employees Build These Skills

• Encourage self-reflection: Regular self-assessment or a post-project review helps employees identify what’s working well and where they might need extra support. 
• Normalize the feedback process: When reflection and feedback are part of everyday work, not just review cycles, they start to feel like second nature. Lattice Feedback can help you start a continuous feedback cycle to do just that.
• Support acting on feedback: Growth happens when employees take what they’ve learned from feedback and apply it to their behavior in the future. Reinforce this by following up regularly and recognizing when employees apply feedback effectively.

11. Technical and Role-Specific Skills

As roles evolve, expectations shift, or new tools are introduced, employees may need to strengthen their technical or role-specific skills. Continuing professional development helps them work more efficiently, keep pace with the changing demands of their role, and contribute more confidently to team and company goals. 

How to Help Employees Build These Skills

• Support ongoing and peer-to-peer learning: Regular training programs help build role-specific skills and explore new tools. Plus, shadowing teammates and learning from high performers can help employees discover what works best. 
• Create opportunities to apply new skills: Using new skills through projects, stretch assignments, or experimentation helps reinforce learning and boosts confidence.
• Use Lattice Individual Development Plans: These easy-to-launch plans can align technical skill growth with role expectations, team goals, and the evolving needs of the organization. 

{{rich-highlight-1}}

How to Identify Areas of Improvement in Performance Reviews

Identifying which growth areas to discuss is key to making performance reviews meaningful and actionable. Here’s how you can decide which skills to focus on.

Start with the data. 

Feedback culture relies on a mix of data to drive employee performance. When identifying development opportunities, it’s helpful to draw on multiple sources, including:

• One-on-ones: To track day-to-day progress, challenges, and obstacles
• 360-degree reviews: To capture peer feedback and cross-functional perspectives
• Self-evaluations: To collect an employee’s thoughts on their progress, strengths, and areas for growth
• Employee engagement surveys: To highlight patterns in team morale, satisfaction, and engagement

Lattice Performance allows you to track and analyze employee performance data objectively. Quantitative insights from Lattice Analytics also help managers identify key areas for improvement based on concrete evidence. 

Address skills gaps. 

Some skills gaps may apply to entire teams, like using AI to streamline workflows and processes. Others are aligned to business goals as part of an organization-wide upskilling strategy. Some skills, like time management or conflict resolution, might only apply to specific individuals.

To spot these gaps, look for patterns in performance reviews, one-on-ones, or peer feedback. Then, create an individual development plan (IDP) with growth areas to track progress toward closing the gaps.  

Consider career aspirations.

To make development meaningful, highlight growth opportunities that support what the employee ultimately wants to achieve. A job leveling matrix can help identify skills that would support their progress within the company. For example, if an employee wants to take on a managerial role, discussing areas for improvement related to leadership skills, decision-making, mentoring, or strategic thinking could help them develop the skills needed for professional growth.

Review and discuss.

Once you’ve settled on some specific growth opportunities, cross-check them with the employee’s IDP. Choosing skills that your employees have expressed an interest in or have been actively working on means feedback on those skills feels more relevant and personalized.

For each area of improvement:

• Provide clear, actionable guidance (like we’ve outlined above) for how employees can further develop each skill. 
• Tie skills to specific goals, showing how improvements support team objectives, career growth, or business outcomes. 
• Frame the conversation as an open, collaborative discussion, inviting feedback, questions, or reflections. 

Think of the entire process as: 

Performance Data → Skill Gap Identification → Development Plan → Review Discussion

Why Areas of Improvement Matter

Giving constructive feedback can feel uncomfortable, but here’s why managers need to do it anyway. 

Employees want clarity.

Along with positive feedback, constructive criticism helps employees understand what they need to do to develop professionally. As Skalova explained, the real purpose of highlighting these “isn’t to point out flaws — it’s to help someone grow and be more effective in their role.”

She added that constructive feedback should empower employees to improve, not demoralize them. “In our teams, it’s about creating a shared understanding: Here’s what’s working, here’s what could be stronger, and here’s how we can help you get there.”

Feedback drives engagement.

Clear, compassionate feedback helps employees feel valued, which also drives engagement and retention. “Employees who feel valued and see a clear path for growth are more likely to innovate, take initiative, and commit themselves to the success of the organization,” said HR consultant Bryan Driscoll. “Prioritizing [their] needs and growth, both personal and professional, builds a stronger, more capable, and more loyal workforce.”

Feedback boosts relationships and trust. 

Poorly delivered feedback can feel like a list of shortcomings. But when handled well, it reinforces trust and supports a positive professional relationship. “It’s like any relationship,” Driscoll added. “You have to be open and honest for it to work.”

Being transparent, empathetic, and specific about what an employee can improve helps normalize honest conversations and supports psychological safety. Framing feedback as a collaborative effort — rather than a one-sided evaluation — sets the tone for more open, productive relationships where feedback becomes fuel for growth. 

{{rich-highlight-3}}

FAQs

What are the top three areas of improvement for employees?

Three of the most common areas of improvement include communication skills, time management, and collaboration. These skills directly impact workplace relationships, productivity, and team dynamics. Managers should always identify specific areas of improvement using performance data and analytics to tailor them to each employee. 

How do you give feedback on areas of improvement without hurting morale?

Giving feedback on how an employee needs to improve can feel tricky, but it’s also a powerful opportunity to help them grow. Frame any feedback as a collaborative opportunity for growth, rather than criticism. Focus on specific examples of behavior, provide actionable guidance for how to improve, and encourage a two-way dialogue so your team feels heard and supported.

How do you track improvement progress at work?

Start by setting clear, measurable goals and reviewing these during regular check-ins. Assess progress toward these goals by observing day-to-day metric changes, collecting peer feedback, and checking whether employees are demonstrating the new skills they’ve been working on. HR tools like Lattice can also help by combining performance data with continuous feedback to make growth more visible over time.

How can managers identify areas of improvement that align with company objectives?

By linking individual performance to team goals and company priorities, managers can tie employee development to what the company is trying to achieve. Goals, OKRs, and clear role expectations help keep development focused, intentional, and in line with company needs. For example, building leadership skills can help with succession planning, while strengthening time management skills can help teams meet deadlines.  

What’s the difference between areas of improvement and areas of development?

Areas of improvement focus on closing current performance gaps, while areas of development prepare employees for future growth or expanded responsibilities.

How often should areas of improvement be reassessed in a professional setting?

Areas of improvement should be reviewed regularly, not saved for annual reviews. Ongoing check-ins and quarterly reviews help managers adjust expectations, recognize progress, and respond to changing priorities. Regular reassessment reinforces the idea that improvement is a continuous process, not a one-time evaluation.

What role does peer feedback play in identifying areas of improvement?

Peer feedback offers valuable day-to-day insight into collaboration, communication, and team dynamics that managers may not always observe. It helps surface patterns across projects and working relationships, creating a more well-rounded view of performance. When used thoughtfully, peer feedback also encourages shared accountability and trust.

How can organizations create a culture that normalizes improvement without stigma?

Organizations can normalize improvement by embedding feedback into everyday work, not just formal review cycles. Recognizing progress, effort, and learning helps shift the focus from “what went wrong” to “what’s next.” Leaders should model openness to feedback and strive to improve, too, so personal development becomes an expectation across the entire organization.