Engineer Performance & Satisfaction
What to do when a remote team member underperforms or misses deadlines?
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Address underperformance and missed deadlines with a structured process:
1.Clarify expectations - Confirm working hours, availability, response times, and how progress is reported
2.Diagnose root cause - Have a direct 1:1: is it skills, unclear requirements, overload, time-zone friction, or personal constraints?
3.Set improvement plan - Agree on specific goals with clear deadlines (2-4 weeks), break work into smaller milestones
4.Increase support - Provide coaching, pair programming, or mentoring if it's a skill gap
5.Adjust if misaligned - Move them closer to their original role if motivation dropped due to role drift
6.Escalate when needed - If quality remains poor after fair support, proceed with formal review or replacement
7.Prevent recurrence - Strengthen onboarding and maintain ongoing feedback loops
underperformancemissed deadlinesremote teamperformance managementcoachingimprovement plan
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