"I am the type of administrator who is on top of what is happening with my team, so I would see that a team member is underperforming before it would need to be brought to my attention. I had this happen in my previous position about six months ago. I had a team member who was turning in spreadsheets with multiple budgeting errors, which was unusual for him. However, the errors were so critical that the project was in danger of losing its funding. I asked my team member if we could speak in my office and showed him the errors he had made and how they could negatively affect the project. He was embarrassed and apologetic and said he was consistently tired with a newborn and toddler at home. He said he was not getting enough sleep and thought it was affecting his cognition. He explained that his newborn has colic, sleeps very little, and constantly cries. I asked my team member if he would like to use holiday time to try to get some rest, but he refused. He said he wouldn't be able to rest and didn't want to waste his holiday time. He asked if he could temporarily switch assignments with another team member, an assignment that wasn't as critical as the one he had with the budget. I delegated another assignment to him and assigned his job to another team member with impeccable accounting skills. It turned out to be a great decision because both assignments were completed to everyone's satisfaction."
