Integrate the whole course by analyzing a realistic management situation and producing a self-checked action plan.
The capstone scenario
Meet the situation: a quietly underperforming former peer
You have been a manager for four months. One of your direct reports, Dmitri, was your peer six months ago. He is technically strong and well-liked, but over the past two months his output has dropped noticeably: tasks that used to take him two days now take five, he has passed several decisions entirely to you that he is clearly capable of making himself, and in 1:1s he says everything is 'fine' while looking disengaged. You sense he is bored, over-delegated-to (in the sense that work he could own is being piled on him without real authority), and possibly resentful about the peer-to-manager transition. Nothing has been said directly. No SMART goal has been set for his current project. There has been no structured feedback in four months.
The course concepts that apply here span everything you have studied: reframing success around team results rather than personal output; choosing a delegation level appropriate to Dmitri's demonstrated readiness for this task; setting a SMART goal so expectations are concrete; preparing SBI-structured feedback that addresses the behavioral pattern without attacking his character; picking the situational leadership style that fits his development level; assessing whether the next decision you need to make together is reversible or irreversible; and planning a follow-up 1:1. This capstone is your chance to bring those pieces together into a coherent plan a real manager could act on tomorrow.
Lesson notes
Meet the situation: a quietly underperforming former peer
You have been a manager for four months. One of your direct reports, Dmitri, was your peer six months ago. He is technically strong and well-liked, but over the past two months his output has dropped noticeably: tasks that used to take him two days now take five, he has passed several decisions entirely to you that he is clearly capable of making himself, and in 1:1s he says everything is 'fine' while looking disengaged. You sense he is bored, over-delegated-to (in the sense that work he could own is being piled on him without real authority), and possibly resentful about the peer-to-manager transition. Nothing has been said directly. No SMART goal has been set for his current project. There has been no structured feedback in four months.
The course concepts that apply here span everything you have studied: reframing success around team results rather than personal output; choosing a delegation level appropriate to Dmitri's demonstrated readiness for this task; setting a SMART goal so expectations are concrete; preparing SBI-structured feedback that addresses the behavioral pattern without attacking his character; picking the situational leadership style that fits his development level; assessing whether the next decision you need to make together is reversible or irreversible; and planning a follow-up 1:1. This capstone is your chance to bring those pieces together into a coherent plan a real manager could act on tomorrow.