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Is there a 'better' or different way of saying room for improvement?

e.g.

Despite the success of X, there is still room for improvement...

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Hi, Alex. We prefer if questions asking for alternate ways of saying things specify exactly what you're looking for and why the existing phrase is inadequate. As is, I've votes to close your question as "not constructive". – JSBձոգչ Apr 30 '12 at 17:06
@JSBⰀⰐⰃⰔ well plenty of other people seemed to have helped me, so I wouldn't worry yourself. – Alex Apr 30 '12 at 20:39
I've answered but I'd agree with @JSBⰀⰐⰃⰔ's sentiment. I think you'd be best served by editing the question to add in some context and explain a bit more precisely what you're wanting to say or what's not quite right with the current phrasing. You're getting answers but your hit rate is going to be lower and you're going to be potentially missing out on a particularly useful way of expressing whatever you're trying to express since we don't know what we're shooting at (and there are people here with particularly sharp turns of phrase that it'd be a shame not to engage) – tanantish Apr 30 '12 at 22:29

closed as not constructive by JSBձոգչ, KitFox♦, FumbleFingers, Jasper Loy, kiamlaluno May 1 '12 at 1:25

As it currently stands, this question is not a good fit for our Q&A format. We expect answers to be supported by facts, references, or specific expertise, but this question will likely solicit debate, arguments, polling, or extended discussion. If you feel that this question can be improved and possibly reopened, see the FAQ for guidance.

4 Answers

up vote 3 down vote accepted

You could say "Opportunities for enhancement"

Despite the success of X, there are still opportunities for further enhancements...

Just thought of another one:

Despite the success of X, there still exist areas for continued development...

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If this were on a performance review, I would rather have someone tell me I had room for improvement. :) – JLG Apr 30 '12 at 17:06
@JLG: I agree. But the OP wants a phrase other than "room for improvement", and we don't know where this phrase will be used. There's no indication it's a performance review. "X" could be "The New Email Server Project" or "Special Corporate Training Seminar", etc... – FrustratedWithFormsDesigner Apr 30 '12 at 17:08
up vote 2 down vote

Since 'room for improvement' is a bit of a non specific phrase another improvement would be to go with something more precise if possible. For example, if you're talking:

  • about increased market share after a takeover bid:

Despite the success of our latest acquisition, there is still room to expand into the countryside.

(You can play a bit with synonyms for 'room' in this context as well like scope, capacity, etc to find something that sits with the rest of the text.)

  • about a review of a software migration which has been loved by the salesforce for the new features they've gotten access to, but has caused grief for the IT department:

Despite the success of the deployment, there still exist some serious integration issues that must be resolved.

Additionally, what works in the sentence will depend a lot on the tone you want to take. As per the answers and attached comments from @frustratedwithformsdesigner and @cornbread-ninja some phrasings are going to come across as pretty negative.

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up vote 1 down vote

Assuming you go on to describe the needed improvements, you could instead say that X is lacking in this or that, but that sounds more negative. I imagine that we say room for improvement because it's constructive criticism.

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1  
That sounds more like a comment to me. – Kris Apr 30 '12 at 17:14
I suppose you mean the comment that appears after my offer of x is lacking in, to which I'll say so what? – cornbread ninja 麵包忍者 Apr 30 '12 at 17:28
up vote 0 down vote

"it is not optimal"

"it is suboptimal"

"it could be better"

"more could be achieved"

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