Tips and Tricks for Dealing with Low Performers
Someone in your team isn’t cutting it, what do you do?
Today, we dive into the realm of managing low performers. Let’s face it, not everyone is a high performer at work. Part of your job as a manager is to help people who aren’t exactly crushing it.
The Law of Averages dictates that approximately half of our people will be kicking out below-average performance. Yet, across our teams, we don’t always think of people as low-performers. Perhaps you class them as “dependable” or “steady”. It’s these people that I’m talking about, and managing them can be a tricky art.
Let’s talk about some of the characteristics they might exhibit.
Availability
One of the biggest challenges in managing low performers is spotting their disappearing acts. They have the uncanny ability to vanish into thin air when there’s work to be done. Whether it’s conveniently disappearing during critical meetings or playing a game of hide-and-seek when deadlines approach, their knack for vanishing is truly remarkable. Just when you think they’ve finally accomplished the impossible, they reappear with a feeble excuse.
Complicating the Uncomplicated
Low performers have an uncanny talent for coming up with solutions that no one else could fathom. Need a report done by noon? They’ll find a way to turn it into a colorful presentation that will leave your clients bewildered. Their unique approach to problem-solving is truly an art form, albeit one that makes you question your own sanity.
Excuses
When it comes to excuses, low performers could write an encyclopedia. From blaming the dog for eating their homework to claiming alien abductions, they have an arsenal of creative explanations at their disposal. Every day is a new adventure in their world of inventive alibis.
Procrastination
If there was an Olympic event for procrastination, low performers would take home the gold, silver, and bronze. They have mastered the art of postponing tasks to the point where you start wondering if time itself has come to a standstill. Their ability to stretch a five-minute task into an epic saga is both impressive and utterly ridiculous.
Motivation
You’ve tried everything to motivate low performers, from inspirational speeches to team-building exercises. Yet, their enthusiasm seems to be locked away in a parallel universe. Their lack of motivation is like a ghost haunting your workplace, leaving you scratching your head in disbelief. You’ve contemplated hiring an exorcist, but you fear they might be too busy with other low performers.
Communication
Low performers have a special talent for turning even the simplest communication into a comedy of errors. From misinterpreting instructions to creating their unique jargon, their ability to confuse everyone around them is nothing short of remarkable.
What can you do?
If any of the above characteristics resonate with you, you’re not alone. Let’s talk about some tactics to help deal with these people.
Assess and Understand
Before taking any action, it’s crucial to assess the situation and understand the reasons behind an employee’s underperformance. Are there external factors affecting their work? Are they lacking the necessary skills or resources? By identifying the root cause, you can tailor your approach and provide targeted support.
The Alignment Gap
You have to deal with the alignment gap between what you want a person to do, and what they are capable of doing. Sometimes, low performers may not fully grasp what is expected of them. Take the time to clarify their responsibilities, goals, and performance standards. Clearly defining expectations not only gives them a clear roadmap but also establishes a basis for future evaluations.
This is an area that, as a manager, perhaps you can compromise on some of your own expectations. Find the middle ground. Compromise is where all parties are equally unhappy.
Offer Support and Training
Investing in your employees’ development is crucial. Identify areas where the low performer may need additional training or support, and offer resources or mentorship to help them bridge the gap. Providing opportunities for growth can boost their confidence and improve their skills, leading to enhanced performance.
Provide Regular Feedback
Regular readers of my content will know that I’m a huge fan of Kim Scott’s Radical Candor. Frequent and honest feedback is essential in managing, especially for low performers. Offer feedback that focuses on specific behaviors or actions, rather than personal attacks. Regular check-ins allow you to discuss progress, offer guidance, and address any concerns promptly. Little and often, making sure you always have the person's growth at heart.
Team Rotation
If all else fails, utilise the greatest toolkit in your engineering manager armory — rotation. Moving someone to a new team or new project can be immensely powerful at kick-starting someone’s performance. It’s like starting a whole new job but without all the financial loss of actually losing the talent from the business. I’ve seen time and time again, a frustrated low-performer, completely turn it around when they move to a new team.
Clear Goal Setting
I don’t like to think of this as a formal PIP, it’s more just good practice to get into the habit of setting targets and striving to achieve them.
Start each week with “what do you want to achieve this week?”, then at the end of the week, “what did you achieve this week?”. Taking it back to basics and getting into the habit of frequent goal setting and goal achieving, can kick start a positive cycle of improved performance.
Recognise Effort
Positive reinforcement has proven time and time again to boost morale, create a sense of accomplishment, and inspire low performers to strive for better results. Make sure as a manager you publicly praise the right behaviours. You won’t see miraculous change overnight, but small acts of recognition show your people they’re on the right track.
In Closing
Managing low performers is undoubtedly a challenging task, but it doesn’t mean we can’t succeed. Despite the frustration they may cause, every individual has a unique set of skills and assets. When building diverse teams we must understand that not everyone can be rockstars. Mediocrity can have a place in a team.
Your job as a manager is to find out how to get the best out of each unique individual.
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