People who are always coming up with excuses not to do work

Faced such issue. Do 1:1 weekly. Give them exact feedback regularly. If not improving, let them go. Dont let your work productivity go down because of others.
Agile rituals, like scrum, is must for regular updates. This should be added with direct communication.

Put them on PIP not to fire but to give them a reality check and also to measure if they are able to perform.