THE UNDERPERFORMANCE CONVERSATION BUILDER

Prepare for the Conversation That Needs to Happen

You were promoted because you were good at the work. Nobody trained you for this part. Use the focused preparation pages to plan your conversation in about 20 minutes. Organize the facts, write a direct opening, clarify the standard, and prepare a proposed next step to discuss and agree together.

34-page PDF workbook + editable Word file + quick-start guide. Instant download. Digital product, all sales final.

The Underperformance Conversation Builder digital workbook cover and layout preview

THE FIRST HARD CONVERSATION

Leading Without a Playbook

Eight months ago you were the strongest person on the team. Now you run it, and someone on it isn't delivering. Maybe someone who was your peer in March.

There's no HR down the hall. There's no one who has done this to ask. You know the conversation needs to happen, and you've rehearsed a dozen openings in the car and used none of them.

The problem isn't that you don't know what to say. It's that you haven't decided what you're actually talking about.

3 Predictable Traps

What managers do instead of deciding:

01. Waiting

for the right moment, until the pattern is a month old and the correction lands on the employee as a surprise.

02. Softening

hinting so gently the employee walks out believing things are fine.

03. Venting

letting the frustration build until it comes out as a verdict on the person instead of facts about the work.

THE METHOD

Seven Decisions Before You Walk In

Strong performance conversations do not depend on a perfect script. They depend on seven decisions made in the right order.

Make them in order and you’ll know what you’re going to say, what you’re going to ask, and what happens after.

1. Scope — Is this a routine performance conversation, or should you involve someone else?

2. Evidence — What happened, and what can you verify?

3. Impact — Why does the gap matter to the work?

4. Standard — What needs to change?

5. Perspective — What might you be missing?

6. Commitment — What will each of you do next, and by when?

7. Proof — What will show whether performance improved?

What you prepare before you walk in

An opening you’ve written, not one you’re improvising

The questions you’ll ask to hear their side

A proposed written agreement to discuss and settle together

A 14-day follow-up plan

Use the focused preparation pages to plan your conversation in about 20 minutes. The full 34-page workbook adds examples, response guidance, and follow-through tools.

ONE EXAMPLE

How Maria decided what to say.

Maria had been a team lead for eight months when Stephen, her strongest hire, missed the same deadline three weeks running. She’d rehearsed a dozen openings and used none of them.

Scope. Missed deadlines. No conduct issue, nothing for HR. A routine performance conversation, hers to have.

Evidence. Three dates, three deliverables, all in the project tracker. She wrote them down. Not “you’ve been slipping.” Three dates.

Impact. Each miss pushed the client review back a week. That was the cost, and she’d say that and nothing more.

Standard. Deliverables land on the agreed date, or she hears about it two days before, not two days after.

Four decisions made, her opening wrote itself:

“Stephen, the last three deliverables came in late: the 4th, the 11th, and the 18th. Each one moved the client review back a week. I want to understand what’s happening, and I want us to agree on how the next three land on time.”

No script. Four decisions and a sentence. She prepared questions for Perspective and proposals for Commitment and Proof, then worked through them with Stephen in the room.

INSIDE THE TOOLKIT

A Clear, Distraction-Free Format

Page 3 of the 34-page Underperformance Conversation Builder showing the Plainspoken Seven Decisions method

A look inside the workbook: the Seven Decisions page. Print the PDF to write by hand, or use the editable Word file to prepare your conversation and follow-up.

PDF + editable Word workbook · one-time purchase · all sales final

HONEST FIT

Who This Is Built For

The newly promoted manager. Six months to two years into the job, no HR department to lean on, facing a hard conversation with someone who may have been a peer not long ago. If that's you, this was written for you.

Owner-operators and front-line supervisors use it for the same reason: it gives the conversation a shape before you walk in.

Plainspoken Manager is a brand of Dominion Leadership. Its founder has led teams for four decades and spent nearly ten years in senior leadership at a global career-transition firm.

SCOPE

Not for

Discipline, termination, accommodation, leave, discrimination, safety, or union matters.

Those belong with HR or counsel, and Decision 1, Scope, tells you when you've crossed into them.

SCOPE & SUPPORT

For HR & People Teams

Support Your Managers: Use the worksheets alongside your organization’s policies to help managers prepare specific examples, ask useful questions, and document agreed next steps.

USE IT RESPONSIBLY

Important Use Note

The Underperformance Conversation Builder is an educational preparation framework for clear, specific, results-focused employee discussions. It helps supervisors verify facts, state the performance gap, hear the employee’s perspective, and agree on a documented next step.

This workbook is an educational tool, not legal advice or a replacement for your organization’s HR processes. Follow your policies and involve HR or legal counsel for discipline, termination, accommodation, leave, discrimination, safety, or union matters.

PRACTICAL DETAILS

Common Questions

Everything you need to know about formats, usage rights, and practical application before using the builder.

What file formats do I receive immediately after purchase?

You receive a 34-page PDF workbook, an editable Word file (.docx), a quick-start guide, and the personal-use license in one ZIP. Print the PDF or type in the Word version.

Can I share this workbook with other managers across my company?

Each purchase grants an individual user license for one supervisor or manager. If your organization needs multi-seat distribution across department leads, please purchase additional copies or contact us for team licensing arrangements.

How quickly can I prepare a difficult conversation using this tool?

Use the focused preparation pages to plan your conversation in about 20 minutes. The full 34-page workbook adds examples, response guidance, and follow-through tools. You do not need to complete every page before your first conversation.

What if I have trouble accessing my files?

Use the Support link and include the email used at checkout so we can help locate the order.

Do you offer refunds?

No. It’s a digital product, delivered the moment you buy, so all sales are final.

I’ve never had a conversation like this. Is this too advanced?

It’s built for exactly that. The Seven Decisions assume nothing about your training. If you can answer seven questions about what happened and what needs to change, you can use it.

IMMEDIATE ACCESS

Take the Guesswork Out of the Conversation

You know it needs to happen. Walk in with the facts verified, the opening written, the standard clear, and a proposed next step to discuss and agree together. 34-page PDF workbook, editable Word file, quick-start guide. One-time purchase: $29.

Instant download · Digital product, all sales final