A manager talks to an underperforming employee by asking if they agree they're not meeting their potential, then uses a five-reason framework to find the real problem: tasks were taking three weeks. When the manager clarifies expectations and sets a deadline for tomorrow, the employee delivers that night.
I had a conversation the other day with somebody who reports into me and I said, hey, I don't think I've seen nearly the production from you as I expected. I think it's less than you're capable of. Would you agree? That way it's not an insult. I'm saying like, I just think you're doing less than I think your potential is. And he was like, yeah, I would agree. And I said, okay, do you think it's because— there's only 5 reasons. So did you not know that I wanted you to do this thing? Did you not know what I wanted you to do? Did you not know how to do it? Were you not motivated to do it? Or did you have something that was getting in your way? He was like, well, there's something else that's blocking me. I was like, well, tell me what's blocking you. And he said, well, these are the things that I had to do this week. I said, how long has this taken you? He said, 3 weeks. And I said, do you think you can do more than that? He said, yes. And I said, great, here's a bunch more stuff that you can do. Get it done by tomorrow. And then he got it done by that night. He heard it loud and clear, but I wasn't like, you suck, you're lazy. I was like, I expect more of you because I think you're really capable.
