Making Feedback $$Continuous$$

As employees and their managers have grown increasingly frustrated with the downside of once$-$a$-$year feedback, more companies have made it a quarterly practice. Some even advocate that feedback be $$continuous$,$ which in practice generally means monthly or perhaps weekly one$-$on$-$one meetings. The aim is to make these meetings more like forward$-$looking conversations and less like backward$-$looking assessments.

Several practices can help managers make the most of continuous conversations:

Think in terms of progress. Prepare for meetings by reviewing the employee$$s goals and plans, so you can ask relevant follow$-$up questions. If the employee is not following through, work together to identify what is getting in the way so you can make course corrections, such as redefining the goal or removing obstacles.

Focus on listening. Traditional performance reviews could mainly involve the manager justifying a set of ratings. To get the benefits of continuous feedback, it$$s more effective to ask open$-$ended questions and listen carefully to the employee$$s answers. An effective follow$-$up question is$,$Is there anything else you$$d like to say about that?$$

Schedule enough time. For a developmental conversation to be fruitful, employees may need time to get comfortable and share their thoughts. One HR adviser recommends setting aside an hour, recognizing that the meeting can end early if no problems surface. If a problem does surface, it$$s important to take the time to understand and address it$.$

Be flexible. Employees$$ career goals may change, and the company$$s needs may change. Frequent feedback is an opportunity to redefine what projects the employee should prioritize or what new skills are needed.

Praise achievements. One advantage of continuous feedback is that memories of the employee$$s accomplishments will be fresh. Appreciation of even the small wins can provide motivation and direction.

Provide the right tools. HR professionals should make available digital tools that managers and employees can use to record goals, track progress, and administer feedback. Some apps will automatically deliver a message of recognition or prompt the manager to do so$.$

Questions

What skills would a manager need to deliver feedback as described here?

Which of the purposes of performance management$$strategic$,$ administrative, and developmental$$do you think continuous feedback would support? Explain.