Tell me about a time you managed a low performer

EVERY manager misses out on this critical piece while answering…

If you have ever interviewed for an Engineering Manager role, this would be an obvious question coming your way. Being a People Manager means that you would have to deal with complex human situations. One of the most common among them is “Managing a low Performer”. It's generally nerve-wracking for new managers to handle these challenging situations and many tend to avoid/ignore tackling it head-on. In this story, I will cover some of the nuances in dealing with low performers and how you should go about answering the question “Tell me about a time when you managed a low performer in your team”.

Accept the Situation

Very early in my career as a manager, I came across a situation where I had to deal with a low performer. It was a particularly tricky situation. I became a manager for one of my peers and he did not like that. To add to my woes, his impact on the team was very limited. I disliked the whole situation. Instead of facing it, I started avoiding it, even ignoring his gross errors in judgment and general apathy toward work. Needless to say, things went completely off rails quickly. At last, when I confronted him during our 1–1, it came down to him setting up a skip level and eventually moving to another manager. He went on PIP…