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Performance Issue
Manager
Direct
Member script

Resetting expectations with a new hire who is missing deadlines

Someone six weeks in is missing dates, and you need to correct it early without crushing them.

Strategy

Correct early and small. Separate ramp-up from reliability: the learning curve is expected, the silence before a missed date is not.

How this one opens

You're six weeks in, so some of this is ramp and some of it isn't.

This is the first line of the full script for this exact situation.

What usually happens next

Most likely: apology plus an admission they did not want to look like they were struggling in their first month.

One thing not to say

I expected more by now

You are seeing a piece of this script. 5 parts are written in full.

The rest of the opening, the full pushback path, everything to avoid, and the follow-up message — written for this situation.

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