Latest / New Manager Conversations with Fexingo: First 90 Days, Managing Former Peers, and Leadership Basics / How New Managers Can Address Underperformance Without Writing Them Off
Transcript
- Lucas: So you're three weeks into your first management role. You inherited a team of five. One of them — let's call her Priya — has been delivering work that's consistently below the bar. Late, sloppy, missing key details. Your predecessor didn't address it. Your skip-level says 'just figure it out.' What do you do? Luna: I think that's the moment most new managers either write the person off as a lost cause or jump straight to a formal performance improvement plan. Lucas: Right. And both instincts can backfire. Writing them off hurts morale and culture. A PIP, if it's premature, can feel punitive and trigger defensiveness. But doing nothing is worse — because then the underperformance becomes your problem, not theirs. Luna: So what's the better middle path? Lucas: I think the most effective framework is a three-part diagnosis before you even have a feedback conversation. You need to figure out whether it's a skill gap, a motivation gap, or an environment gap. And that's not just management jargon — it makes a real difference in how you approach the person. Luna: Skill, motivation, environment. Let's unpack those. Lucas: Skill gap is the simplest — they don't know how to do the work. Maybe they were never trained on the spreadsheet model. Maybe they don't understand the reporting tool. Motivation gap is trickier — they have the ability but they're disengaged, burned out, or they don't see why this work matters. And environment gap is about factors outside their control — unclear priorities, bad data, a broken process, conflicting requests from other stakeholders. Luna: And a new manager, especially someone promoted from peer, might not have the context to tell these apart right away. Lucas: Exactly. So the first step — before the conversation — is do your own investigation. Look at the work itself. Is it incomplete, or is it wrong? Is the pattern consistent across all projects, or only in specific areas? Talk to people who've worked with Priya before. Ask your own manager what the expectations really are. Luna: I had a situation once where a junior analyst on my team was turning in reports that were always two days late. I assumed it was a motivation issue. Turned out he was waiting on data from another department that consistently missed their deadlines. That's an environment gap. Lucas: Classic. And that's the kind of thing that, once you fix the handoff, the performance problem disappears. So let me give you a concrete example. Say you're new manager Sam. You have a direct report named Priya, a junior analyst who's been there eighteen months. Her output is late and she rarely speaks up in meetings. Luna: What does Sam investigate? Lucas: First, Sam looks at the work product. He pulls the last three deliverables. They're not bad — they're actually solid once delivered — but each one was three to five days late. So it's not a quality problem, it's a timeliness problem. That points away from a pure skill gap. Then Sam checks: did Priya receive clear deadlines? Turns out her previous manager gave vague due dates like 'ASAP' or 'by end of week.' Luna: So environment gap again. But also maybe a skill gap in prioritization. Lucas: Exactly. So Sam goes into the first feedback conversation not with accusations, but with curiosity. He says: 'Priya, I've been reviewing the recent reports. The analysis is good — I appreciate the thoroughness. But I noticed they've been coming in later than expected. Can you help me understand what's going on?' That's so different from 'You're always late.' Luna: It opens the door. And it also signals that Sam is paying attention to the work, not just the person. Lucas: Priya tells Sam she's unclear on priorities. She's getting requests from three different people and doesn't know which one is most important. She's also not confident in the new reporting tool because she never got trained on it. So Sam now has a combined environment and skill gap. Luna: And his response shouldn't be 'I'll fix it all.' He needs to coach her to own part of the solution. Lucas: Right. So Sam says: 'Let me clarify priorities going forward. Any request that comes in, I want you to check with me before committing to a deadline. And I'll set up a thirty-minute training session on the reporting tool this week. After that, I'd like you to own the timeline — I expect reports by Thursday close of business. If there's a blocker, you flag it to me before Wednesday.' Luna: That's a concrete plan with clear accountability. And it's not micromanaging — it's scaffolding. Lucas: Now, if after that training and clarified expectations, Priya still misses deadlines, then you start to suspect a motivation gap. But you need to give the fix time — at least a couple of weeks. Luna: And what if it is a motivation gap? How do you approach that differently? Lucas: That's harder because it's personal. You have to get at the root. Is she bored? Burned out? Does she feel her work isn't valued? A good approach is to ask about what parts of the job energize her and what drains her. You can say: 'I want to make sure you're in a role where you can do your best work. What would make that possible?' Sometimes the answer is a new project. Sometimes it's a schedule adjustment. Sometimes it's 'I don't think this is the right fit.' Luna: And that last one is hard to hear, but it's better to know early. Because if someone is fundamentally disengaged, no amount of coaching will fix it. Lucas: Look, if we're having this conversation and you're finding it useful, I want to mention something. This show stays ad-free because listeners like you support it. If today's episode saved you some frustration, or gave you a framework you can actually use, you can buy me a coffee at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's a small gesture that keeps the podcast independent. And we genuinely appreciate every single one. Luna: Yeah, it really does make a difference. And we don't run ads — so this is how we keep the lights on. Okay, back to Priya. Lucas: So let's say Priya is in that motivation gap territory. Sam has a honest conversation. It turns out Priya feels her work is boring — she's been doing the same reports for a year with no variation. She wants to work on a new product launch that's happening next quarter. Sam can't give her the whole project, but he can assign her one component — the competitive analysis for that launch. Luna: That's a great way to re-engage someone without moving them off the team entirely. It's a stretch assignment. Lucas: And it works. But not every story has a happy ending. Sometimes after all the diagnosis and coaching, performance still doesn't improve. And that's when a more formal process is warranted. But the key is you've done the work first — you've ruled out the environment and skill gaps. So when you do move to a PIP, it's fair, documented, and the employee knows exactly what's expected. Luna: And documenting along the way is crucial. Not in a gotcha way, but so you have a clear record of what you discussed, what was agreed, and what the outcome was. Lucas: I recommend a simple one-pager. Keep it to bullet points: the observed gap, the conversation date, the agreed action items, the follow-up date. No judgment language. Just facts. You can use a tool as simple as a shared doc. And you share it with the employee after the conversation so they can confirm or correct it. Luna: That transparency builds trust. And if it does go to HR later, you have a paper trail that shows you were fair and consistent. Lucas: Let me give you one more concrete tool — a feedback template that works well for new managers. I call it the Keep Doing, Stop Doing, Start Doing framework. You sit down with the employee and you list: One thing they should keep doing because it's working. One thing they should stop doing because it's not effective. And one thing they should start doing to improve. Luna: That forces specificity. And it's balanced — you're not just criticizing. Lucas: Exactly. For Priya, the keep might be 'Keep doing thorough analysis.' The stop might be 'Stop committing to deadlines without checking your capacity.' The start might be 'Start flagging blockers by Wednesday.' Luna: And if she does that for two weeks and the timeliness improves, you've successfully addressed underperformance without a formal PIP. Lucas: That's the goal. Because the best outcome isn't firing someone — it's turning a struggling team member into a reliable one. It builds your reputation as a manager who develops people. Luna: And that reputation matters, especially in your first year. People will say 'Sam helped me get better.' That's gold. Lucas: Alright, let's wrap this up with a key takeaway. When you spot underperformance, pause. Ask yourself: skill, motivation, or environment? Investigate before you confront. Use a keep stop start conversation to give clear, balanced feedback. And document everything in a simple, shared format. Luna: And if you try all that and it still doesn't work, you've done your due diligence. The PIP becomes a last resort, not a first response. Lucas: Next time, we'll talk about how to handle a direct report who's technically excellent but toxic to team culture. That's a whole different challenge. Luna: Looking forward to it. Thanks for listening. Lucas: Take care, everyone.