第6章
Managing Difficult People: Turning Around Underperformers
Most project leaders avoid confronting poor performers. A 2012 survey revealed the top barriers: disliking confrontation (59%), lacking skills for difficult conversations (49%), not wanting to be perceived as tough (43%), insufficient training (42%), and not wanting to get employees in trouble (41%). This avoidance typically worsens problems, sometimes leading managers to transfer difficult employees rather than addressing issues.
Experienced project managers identify ten particularly challenging types to supervise: jerks (obnoxious, rude), whiners (frequent complainers), bullies (dominating, aggressive), know-it-alls (outspoken, arrogant), cynics (resistant to change), slackers (low output), undertakers (negative, pessimistic), victims (sympathy seekers), passive-aggressives (deceptively agreeable), and procrastinators (disorganized, easily distracted).
Difficult people impede others' progress by frustrating, distracting, and disrupting through complaints, criticism, debates, antagonism, or control. What distinguishes truly difficult people is the frequency and intensity of their negative behaviors. Unlike difficult people, underperformers don't impede others-they hamper their own performance through inconsistent, inefficient, or unreliable work. They're typically well-meaning, cooperative, and friendly, giving good effort but producing variable output.
The basic strategy for correcting poor performers is helping them "move productively forward"-improving their attitude and productivity. Running a successful project is like "rolling a ball forward to a target," where execution requires overcoming barriers. Underperformers need help and guidance as they struggle to stay on track, while difficult people need control and attention as they create friction.
Each performance type has a distinct perspective on time. Difficult people dwell on the past, make excuses about the present, and remain skeptical about the future. Underperformers feel comfortable with the past, cautious about the present, and uncertain about the future. High performers learn from the past, take action in the present, and look forward to future opportunities.
Most difficult people and underperformers struggle with negative attitudes rooted in fear or excessive mental baggage. The key strategy is addressing fearful attitudes and correcting misconceptions by facilitating a change in thinking. For difficult people, this means moving them from an impeding, fearful orientation to an enabling, hopeful, reality-based one.
The Past-Present-Future Model helps turn around employee performance by depersonalizing difficult conversations. Rather than engaging in antagonistic "me vs. you" combat, effective leaders position themselves as advocates and facilitators. When a troubled employee brings you a problem, use this model like directing a three-scene movie:
1. In Scene 1 (Past), inquire, listen and understand the background.
2. In Scene 2 (Present), diagnose which part of the wedge applies and conduct a reality check.
3. In Scene 3 (Future), explore options and agree on next steps.
For recurring performance issues, use the Six-Step Performance Review Process: conduct premeeting assessments, start with past positives, let the employee describe concerns first, provide your present feedback including reality checks, describe desired behaviors with clear consequences, and reach agreement on specific action plans.
When having tough conversations, make observations rather than judgments, be concise with examples, judge work quality not character, use "I" statements instead of accusatory "you" statements, and focus on behaviors rather than debating intentions. Identify only one or two critical behaviors to improve at a time to keep the discussion productive and focused.
