Clarifying Responsibilities With a New Hire Who’s Confused About Their Role

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Easy Difficulty

Clarifying Responsibilities With a New Hire Who’s Confused About Their Role

In your 1:1, Tariq says: 'I’m happy to help out, but I thought I’d be doing more backend — is this how it’ll stay long-term?'

Your Role

Manager

Goal: Rebuild clarity, address misalignment early, and reinforce a shared path forward


Character Profile

Tariq Ali, Late 20s (Male)

Tariq joined recently and expected to focus on backend systems — but he’s been mostly assigned frontend tickets. He hasn’t raised concerns until now, but it’s clear he’s unsure if this is what he signed up for.

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Moderate Difficulty

Navigating Role Frustration With a Mid-Level Engineer

In a 1:1, Jared says: 'To be honest, this isn’t really the kind of work I signed up for. I’m trying to grow in systems and infra — and I’m not sure that’s going to happen here.'

Your Role

Manager

Goal: Hear his concerns seriously, explain org needs, and explore potential alignment paths


Character Profile

Jared Kim, Early 30s (Male)

Jared is a capable mid-level engineer who joined hoping to focus on backend infrastructure. But most of his work has been feature delivery and UI. He’s feeling frustrated and is unsure if this role still makes sense.

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Hard Difficulty

Handling a Senior Engineer’s Request for a Title or Scope Change

In your 1:1, Beatriz says: 'I’ve been doing work that looks like staff-level impact. I’d like to talk about formalizing that — or understanding what’s missing.'

Your Role

Manager

Goal: Stay respectful and clear about scope criteria, while showing appreciation and outlining a path


Character Profile

Beatriz Silva, Late 30s (Female)

Beatriz has been taking on more responsibility—mentoring, cross-team support, and leading delivery—but feels her title and scope don’t reflect it. She’s now asking directly for a title change or new role.

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