Monitoring Employee Progress

Cathie Leimbach • February 27, 2024

Once you have shared expectations with a team member, it is important that you monitor their progress, compare their work with your expectations, and provide appropriate feedback.


Depending on the individual’s development level and the nature of the task, the frequency and method of monitoring progress varies. During the initial stages of learning a task monitoring may take place every 5 minutes or hourly and move to daily.  A highly skilled person may be asked to provide their manager with weekly or monthly progress reports.


Before comparing an employee’s results or progress-to-date with your expectations, it is important to review the written description of your expectations. We often don’t tell others or put in writing exactly what we were thinking when we assigned the task. If the individual’s progress is not in line with the written expectations you provided, then providing guidance for them to make changes is appropriate. However, if the work they are doing is in line with written expectations but not in line with what you really wanted, it is important that you acknowledge having left out key elements of your written expectations and revise them promptly.


The third part of monitoring employee progress is to communicate successes and areas for improvement. Provide specific positive feedback on parts of the task your team member is doing well. Communicate areas for improvement in a calm manner. Discuss how they can improve their work towards meeting your expectations.



Your role as a leader is to support employees for success. This requires that you monitor their progress, compare progress to stated expectations, and provide both positive feedback and corrective action that helps them become high performers. 

Thanksgiving: Beyond the Turkey and Thank-You Notes

By Cathie Leimbach • November 25, 2025
As leaders, we know Thanksgiving week is prime time for employee appreciation. But here's the thing—a generic "thanks everyone" email hits differently for different people. Dr. Paul White's research on the 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace offers a smarter approach. Just like people receive love differently, your team members feel valued in distinct ways: through words of affirmation, quality time, acts of service, tangible gifts, or physical touch (think handshakes and high-fives in professional settings). That all-star on your team? She might light up from a handwritten note praising her specific contributions. Your behind-the-scenes problem-solver might feel more appreciated if you help him out by clearing his schedule for an afternoon so he can tackle his backlog. This Thanksgiving, skip the one-size-fits-all approach. Take ten minutes to consider how each team member prefers to be recognized. It's not about grand gestures—it's about matching your gratitude to what actually resonates with each individual. When appreciation lands in someone's preferred language, it doesn't just feel nice. It builds loyalty, boosts morale, and reminds people why they show up every day. That's something worth being thankful for. Curious about what languages are preferred? Click here to learn more!

The Power of Strategic Choice: Making Room for What Matters

By Cathie Leimbach • November 10, 2025
In most organizations, the instinct is to add —more goals, more projects, more meetings. But as Juliet Funt, founder of the Juliet Funt Group, teaches in her Strategic Choice process, real leadership strength lies in deciding what to stop doing . Strategic Choice is the intentional narrowing of priorities—cutting away the clutter so teams can focus on what truly drives results. It’s a disciplined act of letting go: saying no to good ideas so there’s room for the great ones. Funt’s approach challenges leaders to pause, think, and create the mental and operational space their people need to perform at their best. By removing unnecessary tasks and misplaced effort, leaders make room for precision, innovation, and real thinking time. This isn’t about doing less—it’s about doing what matters most. When businesses adopt this mindset, they replace overwhelm with clarity and regain control of their time, energy, and outcomes. For small to mid-sized companies, embracing Strategic Choice can transform busyness into focus—and that focus is where sustainable growth begins. Want a quick visual overview? View Strategic Choice: Making Room for What Matters to see how this process helps leaders focus on what truly drives results.