I read a great blog post by Chris Ferdinandi on the value of continuous communication in helping people improve:

Ongoing communication around performance (a.k.a. helping your people become rockstars) is what being a manager is all about.

Definitely!

Based on my experience, one of the most effective ways to create a routine of continuous feedback is to focus advice on a small set of topics – or even just one topic.

The best manager I ever had relentlessly mentored me on a very small set of things we had agreed were important to both our team and to my development. One of these was my ability to run a meeting.

Whether I asked for it or not, he would offer me one piece of advice every couple of weeks on what I could do to be more effective in meetings. He’d always include an example. Despite the fact that every two weeks I’d hear about “what I could do to become a better facilitator,” I never found his approach to be repetitive or cumbersome. Far from it!

I welcomed – and expected – this input as a regular part of my routine. The topic never changed but the examples and advice did, helping to continuously refine my skills in this area.

Read the rest of Chris’ post on Renegade HR.