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Do you have a poor performer in your team? No someone who is doing well but could do better, which describes most people in most workplaces. We're talking about someone whose performance or behaviour is below a threshold of acceptability.

As uncomfortable as it may be, it is your responsibility as a leader (and not just a manager) to address this. The way to do that is by recognising there are only three outcomes when managing poor performance - and then eliminating one of them. Before we dive into those outcomes, let’s look at the consequences of unaddressed performance issues and a case study.

When you fail to eliminate one outcome, you allow several things to happen:

• The overall performance of the team suffers
• Morale in the team takes a hit and won’t recover until there are genuine efforts to address the performance
• Standards decline across the team. When you hear someone say, ‘what’s the point?’ you know they are about to make a conscious choice to reduce their own performance because their efforts aren’t making a difference
• The people your team exists to serve - internal or external - are going to get compromised outcomes
• People within your team, peers and senior leadership perceive you as an ineffective leader
• You develop or perpetuate habits that compromise your capacity as a leader

It’s a grim list, isn’t it? And it all comes back to not being prepared to eliminate one of the three outcomes. 

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Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org