© 2010 Jones and Bartlett Publishers, LLC

Umiker's Management Skills for the New Health

Care Supervisor, Fifth Edition

Charles McConnell

© 2010 Jones and Bartlett Publishers, LLC

Chapter 1:

Do You Really Want to be

A Supervisor?

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Supervisor vs. Manager

Supervisors oversee the activities of the people who do the hands-on work

The terms: Supervisor First-line supervisor First –line manager

All have the same meaning

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Essential Management Functions of Supervisors:

Planning

Organizing

Directing

Controlling

Coordinating

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Essential Supervisory Skill Areas

Communication Employee motivation Problem solving and decision

making Delegation Time management Career development

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Effective Supervisors are:

Self-confidentRespectful of others.

Good humored. Able to make decisions.

Flexible and resilient. Energetic and enthusiastic.

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Effective Supervisors are:

Creative. Customer-aware. Quality oriented.

Empowering. Risk-taking.

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Moving into Supervision Means:

Forming new relationships with former peers and coworkers

Regarding everyone in the group equally Establishing credibility with the group Making the transition from all “doing” to

“leading” and some “doing” when necessary.

Identifying with management as well as with the work group

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Moving into supervision also means that you must:

Form cooperative working

relationships with other

supervisors and other

members of

management

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A Whole New Set of Requirements and Concerns:

Relating to Your

New Manager

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Potential problems affecting supervisory performance:

Lack of flexibility Lack of assertiveness Inability to adjust to the

position’s “loneliness” Striving to be “liked” Unwillingness to learn

supervisor’s expectation

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Potential Problems Affecting Supervisory Performance

Failing to remain current

Withholding information from

others (peers, superiors,

subordinates)—afraid of

conveying “bad news”

Becoming a bottleneck rather

than a facilitator

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For success as a supervisor:

Know what’s expected of you Regularly meet one-on-one with

employees Establish relationships and a

personal network. Learn to trust your intuition Remain available to help others

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For success as a supervisor:

Be sensitive to the feelings and needs of employees

Keep your people informed Maintain high ethical and

morals standards Ask for help when needed Join professional organizations

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For success as a supervisor:

Maintain an active self-education program.

Insist on good performance, and acknowledge and reward it.

Remain calm under stress. Display self-confidence at all

times.

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For success as a supervisor:

Remain fair; avoid favoritism or discrimination.

Defend your employees from hostile people and tormentors.

Display the courage to make unpopular decisions and see them through.

© 2010 Jones and Bartlett Publishers, LLC

For success as a supervisor:

Remain fair; keep your conduct free

from favoritism or discrimination.

Defend your employees.

Display the courage to make

unpopular decisions and see them

through.

Display self-confidence at all times

© 2010 Jones and Bartlett Publishers, LLC

Remember: Accepting a supervisory position is literally the adoption of a second career and as long as you manage at the first-line level you must remain active and current in two careers.