Have a performance or feedback conversation

I need a performance or feedback conversation with [ROLE]. The issue: [SPECIFIC BEHAVIOUR OR PROBLEM]. The impact: [IMPACT ON TEAM / WORK / OUTCOMES].

My current explanation for why this is happening: [YOUR CURRENT THINKING].

Before writing the script, check a few things:

- Am I explaining this as a character or attitude problem when the real cause might be situational — unclear expectations, inadequate support, wrong role, something I haven't asked about? When things go wrong, we tend to attribute them to the person rather than the circumstances. It's worth verifying.
- What I expect of this person, and how I signal those expectations, will shape what they deliver. High expectations communicated clearly tend to produce better outcomes than the same expectations delivered with low confidence.
- The feedback needs to land. The most common reason it doesn't is that it gets softened until the person leaves thinking it wasn't really serious.

Now write a feedback script that names the specific behaviour without attributing it to a character flaw, acknowledges possible situational explanations without letting them off the hook, makes the required change concrete and observable, and signals genuine belief that they can make it.