In my previous role as a Marketing Manager, I had a highly talented graphic designer, Sarah, who was consistently missing deadlines on collaborative projects. While she produced excellent work, these delays impacted our project timelines and, over time, started to affect team morale as others had to pick up the slack or wait. My task was to address this performance issue constructively and improve her reliability without damaging her confidence or our team's dynamic.

I scheduled a private meeting with Sarah, emphasizing that I wanted to support her success. I started by acknowledging her strong creative contributions and her positive influence on the team. Then, I transitioned to the specific behaviors: I provided concrete examples of recent projects where her deliverables were late, citing the dates and specific tasks. I clearly explained the impact of these delays on the project schedule, the workflow of her colleagues, and ultimately, our client commitments. I then paused and actively listened to her perspective. Sarah admitted she felt overwhelmed with her current project load and hadn't felt comfortable voicing her struggles.

Together, we developed a clear action plan. We reviewed her current workload, identified areas where she could delegate or push back, and agreed on implementing a more robust project management tool for her tasks. We also established bi-weekly check-ins to monitor progress and address any new challenges promptly. I temporarily adjusted her workload for two weeks to help her catch up and regain control.

Within a month, Sarah's on-time delivery rate dramatically improved. She became much more proactive in communicating potential workload issues, and her overall efficiency and reliability significantly increased. This process not only resolved the performance issue but also strengthened our professional relationship, as she felt more supported and understood.