1. Never confront in anger: do not let this become an emotional situation. Make sure that you have your emotions in check before confronting the employee; maybe walk around the block, count to ten or have a coffee, as this might help.
2. Do it immediately: take however long you need to get your emotions together, but as soon as you've done that, confront the poor performing employee without delay.
Failure to confront immediately is what causes so much angst around the idea of confronting poor performance. Letting inappropriate actions continue unaddressed for too long before confronting them, will cause the situation can get out of control. When managers consistently confront immediately, at the first sign of a deviation in behaviour, the process of managing poor performance becomes painless – and potentially even gratifying!
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Do it in private: this doesn't automatically mean going into your office and shutting the door, just don't do it within earshot of other staff. You don't need to turn it into a big event. In fact, confronting poor performance can be done quite casually, for example, at the water cooler or while getting a coffee or even walking down the corridor. Many times, taking the employee into your office and closing the door can create a tense atmosphere – the same tension that has given such a stigma to the process of managing poor performance – before saying a word.
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Be specific: use evidence and factual information to state your case and focus on behaviour. Never bring hearsay or impressions into the conversation, you can find yourself squabbling over details, no matter how big or