Having those uncomfortable conversations with an employee about poor performance or problems don't have to end badly and don't have to be uncomfortable. You just need to know how to approach it
You've probably had this happen before. The team member consistently turns up late or just doesn't toe the line. Something needs to be done about it because it affects productivity, takes your focus away from more important issues and is probably causing problems with the rest of the staff.
Now, if you're the type of person that doesn't like conflict, you may tiptoe around the subject or you may even ignore it — but that's not the way to go. Think about what that does to your role as a leader and also what it does to the team dynamic.
In most small teams and most small businesses, everybody pretty much knows what's going on. If somebody is not doing the right thing, the majority of the team knows that person is not doing the right thing and are looking at you to see what you're going to do about it.
One of the worst things that can happen is for them to see you doing very little or nothing about it — especially when it's obvious that you are aware of the problem. The team sees that poor behavior isn't being controlled. That can create frustration and a real rift within the team because team members can see other team members getting away with things.
All in all, it's a bad situation. Not only is it important to do something about it, it's important to do something about it in the correct way so it doesn't end badly and you don't end up with a worse situation than what you had at the start. It's so important to practice strong leadership — firm, but fair leadership in these situations.
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