Effective staff management is a vital aspect of the team leader role; it ensures high standards of care, good communication and smooth team working. High profile incidents reported in the media of poor performance in medical settings have heightened public awareness of the need to monitor standards. Changes in NHS organisational structures have led to staff management becoming the responsibility of junior managers. These managers may not have received the training necessary to manage poor performance during the initial informal stages. Lack of skills and knowledge can lead to a continuation of the poor performance and insufficiently robust documented action plans to support the formal capability process if required. By dealing with performance issues a team leader establishes the standard required, sending a message to the whole team. This article will focus on the management of poor performance and provide guidance to enable team leaders to manage difficult situations.