A project manager is concerned about the performance of a developer who is struggling with the new coding language. Which of the following actions should the project manager take?
A.
Send a request to the project sponsor to add an additional developer.
B.
Provide the developer with only non-critical tasks.
C.
Assign the developer training to improve the developer's skills.
The best action is to assign training so the developer can close the skills gap and return to expected performance. Project+ emphasizes team and resource management—including managing team performance and addressing resource gaps—and also highlights organizational change management activities such as training to ensure adoption of new ways of working.
Option C is the most constructive and sustainable response: it improves capability, reduces rework/defects, and helps the project maintain velocity without creating new staffing or morale issues. Requesting an additional developer (A) may be appropriate if capacity is truly insufficient, but it increases cost and onboarding time and doesn’t solve the original skill deficiency. Giving only non-critical tasks (B) can temporarily reduce risk, but it can also delay critical work and still leaves the underlying competency problem unaddressed. Removing the developer (D) is a last resort typically reserved for persistent performance issues after coaching/training or for role mismatch that cannot be corrected within project constraints.
A practical PM approach is to pair training with short-term support (mentoring, pairing, code reviews) and then monitor performance metrics and deliverables—consistent with Project+ execution-phase management and performance monitoring expectations.
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