How to Answer “Tell Me About a Time When You Had to Manage an Underperformer”

Learn how to answer "Tell me about a time when you had to manage an underperformer" in tech interviews using the STAR method, real examples, and prep tips.

Introduction

The question “Tell me about a time when you had to manage an underperformer” often appears in tech leadership and collaborative roles.

Interviewers use it to gauge your emotional intelligence, conflict-resolution skills, and ability to drive team performance. Crafting a clear, structured answer shows you can tackle personnel challenges while keeping projects on track.

Why This Question Matters

1. Leadership assessment: Demonstrates your ability to coach and motivate team members.

2. Conflict management: Reveals how you address sensitive performance issues without harming morale.

3. Cultural fit: Highlights your balance of empathy and accountability in a collaborative environment.

Strategy for Answering Effectively

Use the STAR method to tell a concise, impactful story: • Situation: Briefly set the scene and context. • Task: Explain your role and the performance gap you needed to close. • Action: Detail the concrete steps you took—one-on-ones, training, feedback loops. • Result: Quantify the outcome whenever possible (improved metrics, faster delivery, higher quality).

Always tie your actions back to the job you’re applying for, emphasizing leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills.

Building Real Examples from Work Experience

1. Reflect on past challenges: Choose a genuine case where a colleague or direct report struggled to meet goals.

2. Gather specifics: Note dates, deliverables, performance metrics (bug counts, deployment frequency, QA success rate).

3. Focus on your involvement: Highlight the coaching, resources, and feedback you provided.

4. Measure impact: Use numbers or stakeholder feedback to show improvement.

Practical Tips for Preparation

1. Select one strong example: Deep dive into a single situation instead of multiple brief anecdotes.

2. Practice out loud: Record yourself or rehearse with a colleague to boost clarity and confidence.

3. Center on your role: Emphasize your initiatives—avoid blaming the underperformer.

4. Prepare for follow-ups: Be ready to discuss alternative approaches, lessons learned, and ongoing coaching strategies.

5. Align with the job description: If the role involves cross-functional leadership, showcase how you collaborated across teams.

Example Answers

Example 1

Situation: During a microservices deployment sprint, one back-end engineer repeatedly missed API integration deadlines, delaying the entire release pipeline.

Task: As the team lead, I had to identify the root cause, support the engineer’s improvement, and keep the project on schedule.

Action: I scheduled a private one-on-one in a neutral setting to understand blockers without making the engineer feel targeted. During our conversation, I discovered they struggled with API design patterns and authentication flows. Rather than simply pointing out mistakes, I co-created a structured learning plan focusing on REST best practices and OAuth implementation. This included:

• Allocating 2 hours of protected learning time each week

• Setting up pair programming sessions with a senior developer twice weekly for real-time code reviews

• Creating a documentation repository of model API implementations they could reference

• Breaking down complex endpoints into smaller, manageable tasks with clear acceptance criteria

• Establishing daily 15-minute check-ins to remove obstacles and adjust approach as needed

• Setting up automated testing to provide immediate feedback on API functionality

Result: After two sprints, the engineer met 100% of deadlines, review defects dropped by 40%, and we delivered the release a week early. The team also reported higher morale and smoother collaboration.

Example 2

Situation: In a QA automation initiative, a new tester’s Selenium scripts were failing frequently, causing false positives and broken builds.

Task: My role was to stabilize the automation suite, coach the tester, and maintain CI/CD reliability.

Action: I began with a comprehensive skills assessment to identify specific knowledge gaps rather than making assumptions. This revealed the tester had strong testing theory but limited JavaScript experience. I developed a tailored improvement plan that included:

• Enrolling them in a targeted JavaScript course focusing on asynchronous programming

• Creating a library of reusable test components they could build upon

• Holding paired scripting sessions three times weekly where I modeled proper techniques

• Implementing explicit test environment setup documentation

• Introducing a peer-review process requiring two approvals for all new test scripts

• Setting up a test staging area where scripts could be validated before entering the main pipeline

• Creating weekly "automation clinics" where team members could troubleshoot challenges together

Result: Within three weeks, flaky builds dropped by 75%, and the build success rate jumped from 60% to 92%. Our release cadence accelerated, and team confidence in the automation pipeline improved significantly.

Example 3

Situation: A data analyst on my team underreported key metrics during monthly performance reviews, leading to incomplete insights for leadership.

Task: As analytics lead, I needed to improve data accuracy and reporting speed while upskilling the analyst.

Action: I approached the situation with curiosity rather than criticism, scheduling a feedback session to understand their process. I discovered they were unsure which metrics truly mattered and lacked confidence in complex SQL queries. To address this, I:

• Created a clear hierarchy of metrics with business impact explanations for each

• Set up weekly workshops covering advanced SQL techniques and data visualization best practices

• Provided annotated exemplar reports showing the expected level of detail

• Developed a standardized reporting template with embedded data validation checks

• Established milestone checkpoints throughout the month, not just at deadline time

• Created a collaborative Slack channel for quick data validation questions

• Paired them with a mentor from the business intelligence team for cross-functional perspective

• Implemented a "progressive disclosure" approach where we started with core metrics and gradually added complexity

Result: The analyst’s report accuracy increased from 70% to 98%, and delivery time improved by 50%. Leadership praised the clearer insights, and the analyst earned a commendation for exceptional progress.

Example 4

Situation: On my product development team, a mid-level developer consistently worked on features that weren't in our sprint backlog while neglecting high-priority tickets. Despite receiving clear instructions during planning sessions, they repeatedly made independent decisions about what to build, creating functionality that didn't align with product roadmap or customer needs.

Task: As the engineering manager, I needed to address this misalignment between instructions and execution while helping the developer understand prioritization frameworks without dampening their creativity or initiative.

Action: I approached this situation methodically:

• First, I conducted a private meeting to understand their perspective without accusation, discovering they were trying to "add value" through additional features they personally thought would improve the product

• Rather than shutting down their ideas completely, I created a structured "innovation proposal" process where team members could document feature ideas for consideration in future sprints

• I explained our prioritization framework in detail, connecting each ticket to specific business metrics and customer pain points so they could see why certain features took precedence

• We established a daily 5-minute priority check-in where they would verbalize their plan for the day and receive immediate feedback

• I implemented a visual task board that clearly displayed priority levels and dependencies between features

• To provide greater context, I invited them to join customer feedback sessions so they could hear user needs firsthand

• We created a "20% time" policy where, after completing priority work, developers could explore approved innovation projects

• I paired them with a senior developer who excelled at prioritization to serve as a day-to-day mentor We developed a decision-making matrix together that they could use when evaluating where to focus their efforts

• I restructured how I delivered instructions: providing written summaries after meetings, clear acceptance criteria, and explicit priority rankings

Result: Within a month, the developer's adherence to prioritized tickets improved from 40% to 95%. Their velocity on critical path items increased by 60%, and sprint predictability improved significantly. Most importantly, they channeled their creativity through the proper channels, submitting three innovation proposals that were eventually incorporated into the roadmap based on customer validation. Team cohesion improved as other developers no longer had to compensate for missed priorities, and the developer received recognition for both their improved reliability and their constructive innovation approach.

---

Ready to master more tough interview questions? Subscribe to Kaizen Coach for exclusive guides or book a one-on-one coaching session today!