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Assessment
Intermediate

Team Lead: Addressing Developer Underperformance

Time available:30 minutes
|
Available in
+8
ByAnthropos
Your mission in this simulation
1
The challenge

A key developer, Clara Nguyen, has become disengaged and is missing critical deadlines, threatening project success.

2
The issue

Clara is defensive and deflects responsibility, making it difficult to uncover the real reasons behind her underperformance.

★
Your goal

Your goal is to deliver constructive feedback, demonstrate leadership, and secure Clara’s commitment to a clear improvement plan.

Your Role
Team Lead@ ForgePoint Systems

You are the Team Lead at ForgePoint Systems, a custom software solutions provider.

Other participants
Clara NguyenSoftware Developer
Context

ForgePoint Systems is a mid-sized software company delivering custom solutions for industries like healthcare, finance, and logistics. Renowned for scalable, secure applications and high client satisfaction, ForgePoint uses technologies such as Python, Java, React, and Spring Boot. Agile workflows are supported by tools like Jira and Trello, enabling detailed sprint tracking and collaboration. The company recently faced significant challenges: last-minute client requests increased project complexity, and a critical production bug disrupted operations, delaying sprints and straining the development team. These pressures have impacted both project delivery and team morale, making effective leadership and accountability crucial.

You step into the role of Team Lead at ForgePoint Systems, tasked with addressing the underperformance of Clara Nguyen, a software developer whose recent disengagement and missed deadlines threaten a critical project. In a one-on-one conversation, you must navigate Clara’s defensiveness and tendency to deflect responsibility, probe for underlying causes of her performance issues, and guide her toward accountability. Your goal is to provide constructive feedback, maintain a strong leadership presence, and collaboratively develop a clear, actionable improvement plan that Clara commits to before the next sprint. Success will reinforce team morale and stakeholder confidence.

  • Engage in a focused, real-time conversation with Clara Nguyen.
  • Uncover the root causes of her underperformance.
  • Deliver constructive feedback in an empathetic yet assertive manner.
  • Collaboratively establish a concrete, measurable improvement plan.
  • Secure Clara’s commitment to the agreed-upon actions.
Evaluated Skills
Providing Constructive FeedbackExecutive Presence
Helpful for
Team LeadEngineering ManagerScrum Master
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