How to Handle Underperformers on a Team You Inherit

One of my clients talked last week with me about his loss of energy dealing with underperformers in his team that he inherited.

Instead of at first only focussing on your performance, you need to make , very transparantly, your expectations about high performance clear to everyone on the team in the first weeks. Then in a one to one: What do they need in order to get to a higher level? Who can help them? How and on which specific topic can you be of help?

Note: Principle number one is to remember that as a manager, your primary responsibility is to the organization and the achievement of its performance targets. Your job is not to compete for the “most popular manager” award or to make things easy for your team. Principle number two is that your success depends on the success of your team members. You need to help them achieve their individual and collective targets and feel good about the company — but you can’t do their jobs for them. If someone can’t perform, you have to find someone else who can, or you’ll be putting your own success at risk.

Note is from the book Simply Effective, Ron Ashkenas