Performance Issues for Non-Supervisors

Suppose you're a team lead of some kind, and a team member — call him Oscar — is exhibiting a pattern of substandard performance that limits team performance. If you aren't Oscar's supervisor, how can you put this right? What are some common mistakes to avoid?

Let's define performance issues first. A performance issue is any pattern of failing to meet organizational standards of conduct, attitude, or results. Examples include accomplishing assigned tasks late, excessive questioning of the legitimacy of assignments, or failing to comply with team priorities or norms.

The essential elements of a performance issue are the pattern and the organizational standards. Occasional deviation from organizational standards isn't a performance issue, because Life happens. What makes deviation from standards a performance issue is repetition. And even though you might have expectations relative to conduct, attitude, or results, performance is an issue only if your expectations are consistent with organizational standards.

Here are seven guidelines for dealing with performance issues as a non-supervisor.

Confer with your supervisor and Oscar's supervisor

Before acting, confer with your supervisor. Alert him or her to the problem. Ask for comments on your plan. Do the same with Oscar's supervisor. Emphasize to both that you'd like to settle the matter personally with Oscar. Express confidence.

Have a private conversation

Speak with Oscar privately. Avoid embarrassing him publicly.

Remember: you aren't Oscar's supervisor

Approach the conversation with Oscar as a negotiation between peers. Because you don't supervise Oscar, you cannot issue orders or commands. Make your needs known to Oscar, and request his cooperation.

State your concerns clearly

Express your concerns, explaining to Oscar how his performance compromises team performance. Ask Oscar for any information that could change your perspective.

Seek agreement

The goal of the conversation with Oscar is agreement about what will change and when. Determine what he needs, and provide it if it's reasonable. Write down what you both agree to, in hardcopy, signed by both of you.

If you can't agree, explain what's next

Tell Oscar Occasional deviation from organizational
standards isn't a performance issue.
It is repetition that makes
substandard performance an issue.that you're disappointed that agreement wasn't possible, and that you'll be consulting your supervisor about next steps. Oscar will likely contact his supervisor to prepare a defense, but if he doesn't indicate his intention to do so, recommend it to him.

Follow through

If Oscar makes real progress, celebrate it in some way. Express your delight and confidence in him. If Oscar doesn't make sufficient progress, consult your supervisor and explain what went wrong. Let him or her know that the team's objective is at risk. Work together to deal with the problem.

If your supervisor can't or won't intervene effectively to address the issue, then the task for which you're accountable might be at risk. If you have a risk plan, add this item, omitting Oscar's actual name, of course. At this point, you've done what you can do. It isn't satisfying, but that's that.  Top    Next Issue

Are your projects always (or almost always) late and over budget? Are your project teams plagued by turnover, burnout, and high defect rates? Turn your culture around. Read 52 Tips for Leaders of Project-Oriented Organizations, filled with tips and techniques for organizational leaders. Order Now!

Your comments are welcome

About Point Lookout

Thank you for reading this article. I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful, and that you'll consider recommending it to a friend.

Point Lookout is a free weekly email newsletter. Browse the archive of past issues. Subscribe for free.

Support Point Lookout by joining the Friends of Point Lookout, as an individual or as an organization.

Do you face a complex interpersonal situation? Send it in, anonymously if you like, and I'll give you my two cents.

Related articles

More articles on Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness:

Dangerous Phrases

I recently upgraded my email program to a new version that "monitors messages for offensive text." It hasn't worked out well. But the whole affair got me to think about everyday phrases that do tend to set people off. Here's a little catalog.

When We Need a Little Help

Sometimes we get in over our heads — too much work, work we don't understand, or even complex politics. We can ask for help, but we often forget that we can. Even when we remember, we sometimes hold back. Why is asking for help, or remembering that we can ask, so difficult? How can we make it easier?

Troublesome Terminology

The terms we use at work to talk about practices, policies, and procedures are serviceable, for the most part. But some of them carry connotations and hidden messages that undermine our larger purposes.

Decisions: How Looping Back Helps

Group decision-making often proceeds through a series of steps including forming a list of options, researching them, ranking them, reducing them, and finally selecting one. Often, this linear approach yields disappointing results. Why?

Preventing Sidebars

Sidebar conversations between meeting participants waste time and reduce meeting effectiveness. How can we prevent them?

See also Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness and Effective Communication at Work for more related articles.

Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout

Coming November 14: The Goal Is Not the Path

Sometimes, when reaching a goal is more difficult than we thought at first, instead of searching for another way to get there, we adjust the goal. There are alternatives. Available here and by RSS on November 14.

And on November 21: Make Suggestions Privately

Suggesting a better way of doing things can sometimes backfire surprisingly and intensely. Making suggestions privately reduces that risk, but introduces a different risk. Available here and by RSS on November 21.

Coaching services

I offer email and telephone coaching at both corporate and individual rates. Contact Rick for details at rbrenMDGvQidlMUTkZSjJner@ChaccIEuDnzeOPaKDJOOoCanyon.com or (650) 787-6475, or toll-free in the continental US at (866) 378-5470.

Get the ebook!

Past issues of Point Lookout are available in six ebooks:

• Get 2001-2 in Geese Don't Land on Twigs (PDF, USD 11.95)
• Get 2003-4 in Why Dogs Wag (PDF, USD 11.95)
• Get 2005-6 in Loopy Things We Do (PDF, USD 11.95)
• Get 2007-8 in Things We Believe That Maybe Aren't So True (PDF, USD 11.95)
• Get 2009-10 in The Questions Not Asked (PDF, USD 11.95)
• Get all of the first twelve years (2001-2012) in The Collected Issues of Point Lookout (PDF, USD 28.99)

Are you a writer, editor or publisher on deadline? Are you looking for an article that will get people talking and get compliments flying your way? You can have 500 words in your inbox in one hour. License any article from this Web site. More info

Public seminars

The Power Affect: How We Express Our Personal Power

Many people who possess real organizational power have a characteristic demeanor. It's the way they project their presence. I call this the power affect. Some people — call them power pretenders — adopt the power affect well before they attain significant organizational power. Unfortunately for their colleagues, and for their organizations, power pretenders can attain organizational power out of proportion to their merit or abilities. Understanding the power affect is therefore important for anyone who aims to attain power, or anyone who works with power pretenders. Read more about this program.

• A recording of a program presented 6:00 PM June 29 (Eastern Time), Monthly Webinar, Technobility Webinar Series. You can earn 1.0 Category 'A' PDU by viewing this program. View this program now.