For new managers · Underperformance 1:1s
The 1:1 is Thursday. Rehearse the part where they push back.
You know what you need to say. You don’t know what happens after you stop talking.
You were promoted six weeks ago. A direct report is missing deadlines and the quality isn’t there. You’ve read the SBI framework. You still can’t picture yourself saying “your work on this project hasn’t met the bar” and then sitting in the silence while they respond. Kommi puts you in that room first — with an employee who deflects, gets quiet, or pushes back — so the real conversation isn’t your first take.
The script isn’t the hard part.
Every manager blog has the same five-step framework: state the gap, share the impact, ask for their perspective, agree on goals, document it. You have the template. What you don’t have is muscle memory for when Jordan says “I didn’t know the deadline moved” and you have to decide in real time whether to hold the line or let the conversation drift.
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What’s at stake
One badly handled 1:1 can cost you team trust, trigger an HR escalation, or lose a salvageable employee before you’ve given them a fair shot.
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Why you procrastinate
You’re afraid of being “the bad guy.” You keep softening the message in your head until Thursday arrives and you deliver something vague that helps nobody.
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What books can’t do
Radical Candor and Crucial Conversations teach the framework. They can’t simulate the employee going quiet for eight seconds while you wonder if you said too much.
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What a coach costs
One hour with an executive coach runs $200–400. You need three reps across the week — Tuesday night, Wednesday lunch, Thursday morning — not one polished script.
Sample roleplay · 3 minutes
“I didn’t know the deadline moved.”
You’re Alex, the new manager. Jordan missed two deliverables on the Q3 launch. You’ve stated the gap. Now Jordan pushes back.
You (Alex)
“Jordan, I want to talk about the Q3 launch deliverables. The API spec was due the 12th and the test plan the 15th. Both came in late, and the test plan had errors that QA had to rework. This puts the whole team behind.”
Jordan (your direct report)
“Honestly, I didn’t know the deadline moved. Marcus said in standup we had another week. I’ve been heads-down on the migration work you asked me to pick up.”
Your move
- → Acknowledge the migration work, then restate the agreed deadline
- → Ask Jordan to walk through what they understood from standup
- → Pivot to “regardless of the confusion, here’s what needs to change”
Each choice changes how Jordan responds. The room gets tense. You practice holding the line without sounding punitive — or catching yourself when you’re about to bury the feedback in compliments.
Then the coach reads you back to yourself.
Not a scorecard. Not seventeen tips. One observation about what you did, one adjustment for next time, one sentence you can carry into the meeting on Thursday.
Sample coach debrief
“You stated the facts clearly in your opening — specific dates, specific errors. When Jordan deflected to Marcus and the migration work, you softened immediately and offered to ‘look into the standup confusion.’ That let the conversation become about process instead of performance.
Try next time: Acknowledge the migration workload in one sentence, then return to the deliverable: ‘I hear you on the migration — and the Q3 dates we agreed on still stand. What would it take to hit them going forward?’
Carry into Thursday: ‘I need to see consistent improvement in the next two weeks. This isn’t about perfection — it’s about meeting the standards we agreed on.’”
Questions new managers ask
- Is this a replacement for HR or a PIP?
- No. Kommi helps you rehearse the conversation before it happens. Documenting outcomes and following your company’s performance process is still on you. We help you say the hard thing clearly the first time, so it doesn’t escalate because you were too vague.
- What if I’ve never managed anyone before?
- That’s exactly who this is for. You don’t need management theory — you need to hear yourself say “your work hasn’t met expectations” out loud and practice what comes after. Three minutes, no audience, no consequences.
- Can I practice different employee reactions?
- Yes. The roleplay adapts when you choose different responses — a defensive employee, one who goes quiet, one who immediately agrees but doesn’t follow through. You can run the same scenario three different ways in fifteen minutes.
- I only have one difficult report. Is $11.99/mo worth it?
- One hour with a coach costs more than six months of Kommi. You also get unlimited sessions across every scenario we ship — salary conversations, peer conflict, upward feedback to your own manager. Most new managers find a second scenario within the first month.
$11.99 a month.
A coach with a calendar runs two hundred dollars an hour. Kommi runs roughly forty cents a day — and is awake when you can't sleep, which is when most of these conversations are actually being rehearsed anyway.
We don't have a free tier, a team plan, or a premium upsell. One price, no pricing page riddle. If we add tiers later, we'll do it because users asked — not because a growth deck did.
About forty cents a day.
- Two free sessions before billing starts
- Then $11.99 a month — about forty cents a day
- Unlimited sessions — any conversation you can describe
- A coaching read after every session, and your progress over time
- Cancel in two taps; 7-day refund if you change your mind
One conversation you’d have talked yourself out of is worth years of this. Or just sleep better on Wednesday. Either way.
Run your first rehearsal — free →US only at launch. We'll get to the rest of the world.
The conversation is on Thursday. Begin tonight.
Three minutes. Two free. 7-day money back after that.