Sometime in the distant past, I assigned a small, but significant project to a direct report. When I received the final deliverable, it was late and poorly done. My initial reaction was to firmly admonish them for the timeliness and low quality of their work.
Once I finally started listening, I learned they were experiencing a significant issue in their personal life. Something that was understandably distracting them and caused their normally good performance to go awry. With that context, I was able to work with them to give them the space they needed to resolve their personal issue and return to their usual level of performance.
What did I learn? When an employee performs below expectations, start by discussing why it happened. It could be anything from a misunderstanding about the objectives of the assignment, insufficient resources, lack of training or something going on in their personal life. As a manager, you should always strive to create an environment in which your direct reports can thrive and that will never happen if you don’t take the time to understand why things have gone wrong.