For any Project Manager, working with a wide range of personalities and professional behaviors is part of the role. I have encountered many such situations in my career. I am sharing this particular experience as an example of what not to do as a professional, because the outcome serves as a valuable lesson rather than a positive model to follow.

I clearly remember interviewing a candidate for the role of Business Analyst. He had a strong educational background and reasonable experience working with a few international organizations. As we were a small company, the number of shortlisted candidates was limited, typically no more than one or two per role and this case was no different. We decided to hire him, and the Business Analyst role, which had previously been handled by the Support Team Head as an additional responsibility, was formally assigned to him.

Within a couple of weeks, the Business Analyst appeared to settle in well and was assigned several important responsibilities. Initially, his performance seemed promising. He frequently stayed late at the office and even worked on weekends. Personally, I am not an advocate of extended working hours, especially on weekends, so I approached him to understand the reasons behind this behavior and to see how I could better support him. He explained that his wife was visiting her parents in another city for a month, and he preferred spending that time at the office.

While I was not entirely convinced by this explanation, the CEO viewed this behavior very positively. His appreciation quickly escalated to the point where he began criticizing me and other team members for not spending as many hours in the office as the Business Analyst. Gradually, the Business Analyst became a benchmark for commitment in the CEO’s eyes.

Two qualities I strongly value in my professional life are persistence and consistency. Based on experience, I sensed that this pattern of behavior was unsustainable and would eventually have consequences. Unfortunately, that assessment proved accurate. After a few weeks of praise, the situation reversed. The Business Analyst began arriving late, leaving early, and taking unplanned casual leaves with increasing frequency. At the same time, a key customer expressed dissatisfaction with both the quality and timeliness of his deliverables.

I discussed this feedback with the Business Analyst. While he appeared mildly concerned, the CEO was extremely upset. As a result, critical assignments were reassigned to me and the Support Lead. The Business Analyst was limited to fewer, less critical customers and was issued an official warning.

Shortly afterward, he took additional days off without justification. On the day he returned, he made another serious mistake—one that crossed professional boundaries. While working with a developer and myself on a production issue, we were communicating with the customer via an online messaging platform. During this interaction, the Business Analyst began making derogatory remarks about the customer’s understanding and mocked their requests, despite those remarks being visible in the shared conversation.

I asked him privately to stop immediately, but he ignored the request and continued. I had to personally go to his desk and ask him to leave the work area. He showed no remorse or concern for his behavior. Instead, he sat outside the office, smoking continuously, while I apologized to the customer and managed the remainder of the situation.

After stabilizing the customer engagement, I issued a second official warning and informed the CEO. Given the previous issues and the seriousness of this incident, especially the risk it posed to customer relationships, the CEO instructed me to terminate the Business Analyst’s employment immediately. His behavior raised serious concerns, and the organization could not afford such conduct, particularly in front of customers.

This was one of the more difficult decisions I have had to make in my professional career. However, as a Project Manager, it was my responsibility to act decisively once professional boundaries were crossed. Any leniency at that stage would have set a dangerous precedent for the rest of the team.

To this day, the Business Analyst believes the termination was a personal decision on my part. However, he was later dismissed from multiple other organizations for similar behavioral issues. Some patterns, it seems, do not change unless the individual chooses to address them.