The first conversation about poor work

Someone's work is not good enough. You tell yourself it was a bad week. Weeks pass. You start quietly redoing their work, picking up slack, feeling resentful. Six months later you finally say something and it hits them out of nowhere — because every signal until then said everything was fine. A coachable problem has become a shock, and often a formal process.

This lesson is for new managers facing a performance problem for the first time. It covers why waiting makes it worse for both of you, how to raise something while it is still small enough to be a chat rather than a warning, and how to keep it specific instead of a judgement about the person. You get an opening line for the small version, and the point at which it stops being a coaching conversation.

Part of the Hard talks track. About two minutes to read, with a seven-day practice plan and a recall check a week later.