They say
“I didn’t have the resources I needed.”
Your response
“Tell me specifically what was missing and when that became clear. I’ll look at what I should have provided, and we’ll also look at what you did to raise the problem or find another route.”
First, check this
Did the employee have the people, tools, information, access, and authority reasonably needed for the result, or did you assume they did?
Why this works
Resource constraints can be real and may be the manager’s responsibility. Asking what was missing makes the claim testable without dismissing it as an excuse. Asking when it became clear and what happened next also examines the employee’s responsibility to raise a constraint. The page remains one canonical resource discussion rather than splitting into thin pages for every possible missing input.
Don’t say
“You should have found a way.”