Guessing is not a strategy: How to build decision velocity with AI and real-time data
June 10, 2026 | Live Webinar
Team Trials
Dealing with a non-productive team member can be a difficult, awkward process for even the most experienced project managers. Ideally, the remedy should start with the team. Here are some guidelines for discerning the root of the problem and taking appropriate, corrective action.
Judgments about individual performance are more frequent and less forgiving in projects than in business-as-usual operations. In project settings, the expectations are high, the schedule is ambitious, the budget is tight, and other people's ability to perform is tied more directly to your own performance. One person falling behind can create a cascading effect on the team. Likewise, a team falling behind can have a cascading effect on other teams, easily resulting in schedule delays and cost overruns to the project and missed opportunities to the business.
Non-productive team members should be helped as soon as the pattern of non-productivity is revealed. The remedy starts with the team itself.
An effective team wants its members to succeed, and takes the initiative to find out why a teammate is struggling. The very fact that a teammate doesn't have authority over the non-productive member can be what opens the door to needed conversation. A teammate is likely to have the best context for a situation, and can bring fresh perspective.
On the other …
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"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on. " - Winston Churchill |