How to communicate underperformance to you team member?

Team performance management is one of the pillars of engineering management job. On the one hand, leadership ought to (in my opinion, has to) provide developers with everything required for them to work effectively (modern hard- and software, proper onboarding, regular knowledge and best practices sharing etc.). On the other hand, we have to be ready to communicate underperformance to subordinates.

Below you will find out about the most common root causes of underperformance, the long-term power of 1:1’s, how to prepare negative feedback and communicate it in a non-confrontational way.

First of all, we need to figure out what causes the underperformance. The first and foremost source of input is the employee. So let’s ask her directly what might affect the work or disturbs her.

If the problem relates to company processes (the load is too high, requirements are vague, deadlines are unreal etc), we are in trouble since the other team members are likely to be affected as well. That increases the risk of team degradation and eventual quits. So let’s make sure we pay enough attention and create corresponding action items to enhance the organization (TBH, I believe it is the biggest managerial challenge to tackle with).

On the other hand, missing expectations might be caused by personal issues. Definitely, the manager cannot afford to step in to resolve the employee’s family issues. But it is all the way around when it comes to a lack of technical skills or motivation. The challenge is though to detect the problem and find a proper fit to resolve it. For instance, lack of skills can be addressed by mentorship and an established education plan (Personal Development Plan and, in case it is too late — Personal Improvement Plan). The lack of motivation can be compensated by the involvement in other activities (mentorship, solution design, project management) or improving engagement within the company (Social Corporate Responsibility, in particular volunteering, building common values).

But how can we find out about concerns before the meeting? The quick answer is to be attentive to employees (active listening, observing non-verbal signs) and regular 1:1’s. The beauty of the latter is that the problem can be detected well in advance, its severity can be regularly monitored and properly estimated. Finally, being in regular communication with colleagues builds long-lasting trust (it’s needless to say that is not possible to reach it by a particular date).

Unfortunately, sometimes we have no other choice but to arrange this unpleasant talk. This idea might be uncomfortable for a leader since, in fact, an issue proves that there were leadership faults (ie a hire was wrong or something wrong going on in the team). But it is still up to you to make the discussion as efficient as possible.

So let’s think about how to reach this goal in a step-by-step guide:

When it comes to SBI, in short, it covers the following steps:

The main challenge for a feedback session is to build rapport and mutual trust. Eventually, the presence of this contract between both of you will determine if your message is heard OR it causes resentment and fails overall (and again, gaining the confidence through regular 1:1’s is the easiest way).

Here is a sample conversation scenario:

The end goal of a performance discussion is to give an accurate reflection of what an employee actually did on the job.

Have you ever heard of so-called ‘sh*t sandwich’ feedback? It will not work for some nations, so make sure you understand subordinate's cultural context and values.

Negative feedback is not designed to punish people. Rather, negative feedback is intended to notify an employee of behaviour that falls below expectations and provides an opportunity to improve it.

Last but not least, giving a person a chance to recover might increase loyalty and, definitely, costs less than hiring and training a new team member.

Related posts:

Foi em uma bela tarde no Centro de Convenções SulAlmérica no Rio de Janeiro, que estava sendo palco do evento Diversão Offline, que Robert J Schwalb deixou escapar seu mais novo projeto. Para quem…

It says something about the ubiquity of the Political Compass that I’m not sure exactly when I first became aware of it. Like any successful meme, it has percolated its way from relative obscurity…

Table of ContentsAmerican Academy Of Orthopaedic Surgeons for BeginnersThe Ultimate Guide To Orthopedic Surgery At Hospital For Special Surgery3 Simple Techniques For Orthopedic Surgery And Sports…