Are there obstacles for employees to their best?

3. Are there obstacles to performing?

• What prevents employees from performing?
• Do employees know what is expected?
• Do employees know when to do what is expected?
• Are there conflicting demands on employees’ time?
• Do employees lack
…. the authority?
…. the time?
…. the tools?

• Are there restrictive policies, or a “right way of doing it,” or a “way we’ve always done it” that ought to be changed?

• Can I reduce “competition from the job” – phone calls, “brush fires,” demands of less important but more immediate problems?

At the end of the day, a manager may just have to coach the employee out of the job or take progressive disciplinary action. However, in doing so, they can be confident that they have giving the employee every benefit of the doubt and are taking the right action to correct the right problem.