At a recent Watershed Building Strong Brigades workshop, we were talking about managing underperformance. There’s no doubt that if one member of the brigade is not doing their bit, then the bad behaviour can quickly spread.  – “If he or she can get away with it, then so can I”

By way of resolution, we agreed five initial steps that the brigade leader can ask himself or herself to manage this underperformance

1. To what extent are you prepared to press the issue to resolution? Are you prepared to compromise?
2. If you disagree with the person, what reason have you got for supporting your own view, other than hierarchical authority?  How reasonable are you being?
3. Why should it matter to the person to perform to the standard you want?  What will be the consequences if he or she does not? 
4. Does the person understand and believe these consequences?
5. What have you contributed to the problem? For example, have you let the underperformance happen before, even if only once?

Once the first part is clear, then the second stage of resolution can happen – there are important questions here too:

1. Are you completely clear what performance you want from the person compared with what you are getting?
2. Is the person already capable of doing what you want?  Has he or she done it in the past? If not, is he or she prepared to learn?
3. If the person did learn, is it then likely that he or she would then perform in the way you want?
4. Does the person have full knowledge of what you want?  Does he or she show an understanding of why it matters to you? 
5. Are either of you predisposed to pretend that the matter can be resolved by training, when you inwardly know that the issue is not really about capability at all, but neither is prepared to admit it?
6. What would be needed to support the change?

Building Strong Brigades runs four times a year in London and twice a year in Glasgow, Manchester and Bristol