Poor-formance

Sometimes people perform poorly. 

Those of us in leadership roles are, thus, obligated to address it. That is a non-negotiable.

There seems to be three critical points in that process of "addressing it."

1. Discerning the cause of the poor performance. We have to consider a wide range of possibilities (or combinations thereof). They might include: lack of motivation, lack of skills, lack of knowledge, lack of clarity about expectations, nefarious intent, life crises, poor health, etc. Some of those things we own, some we don't. Some we can do something about; some we can't. Rarely is poor performance about just one thing. 
2. Having the conversation. One thing that is certain about poor performance is that it won't change unless we address it with that person. 
3. Taking corrective action and follow-up. Building a collaborative corrective action plan WITH that poor performer is the piece that determines success or failure (or dismissal). The poor performer stands the best chance of righting the ship when she/he is involved in crafting the solution(s). Important to remember is that that which is not monitored......is optional.

One final thing for consideration: Poor performers respond best when they feel like we CARE about them as much as we do their performance. That one requires from us a good, hard look in the mirror.