The Supervisor

Table of Contents

Congratulations, You’re the Boss! 1

Guidance of the Work 13

Time Management 21

Dramatic Interludes 33

Differing Opinions 43

Corporate Change 55

Spirit of Celebration 65

Congratulations, You’re the Boss!

Making the Switch

The Transition to Supervisor

From recognition for your own:

- Knowledge- Ability

To empowering others to exhibit:

- Knowledge - Ability

2

Specialists promoted to supervisors must:

Relinquish the responsibilities of technical know-how.

Weigh the Cost

They must become…LEADERS.

3

Quality is more important than Productivity.

Leadership is not Just Supervision

Quality and leadership produce the results.

Leadership is more important than Supervision.

4

Leaders and Supervisors care that a job gets done.

Leaders also care about the people... who do the jobs.

5

Traits of Productive Supervisors:

• Positive outlooks

• Honest relationships

• Candid and receptive attitudes

• Believe that most employees are

capable and desire to do good work

6

• Hung up on hardware and policy-making

• Believe that employees don’t really want to work

Traits of Unproductive Supervisors:

• Believe that employees require little more

than a paycheck for putting in their time

7

To Know:Who and what to care about and whenHow to directHow to get out of the way

The Supervisor’s Role

8

A Supervisor Guides

It’s about people:individually and collectively.

9

You can buy an employee’s time and physical presence.

Organizational Productivity...

10

... Depends on the Supervisor

You cannot buy an employee’s initiative, loyalty, or enthusiasm.

You have to earn these!!11

Guidance of the Work

Begin by Describing the Job...

Major outcomesLarger pictureFinal destination

Explain the Process

14

Explain needed achievementsAgree to work on strategic goals

Define criteria for measuring success

Assign the Work

15

Develop a timeline... ... with milestones.

DeterminePriorities

16

You can’t hit the bull’s-eyeif you can’t see the target.

Visualize Success

17

How does the employee plan to get started?

Request Start-up Plan

First determine the level of understanding.

18

Does the employee see the assignment as you do?

Assess the Level of Understanding

Do you need to explain the process again?

19

Time Management

Time is Your Most Precious PossessionThere are many waysto allocate time ...

... but there’s onlyone intelligent way.

22

Invest time thatwill accomplish

THE GOAL.

23

Don’t ask yourself:Is what I am doing useful? Or: How useful is it?

24

Ask yourself:What is the time-benefit ratio?Time-benefit analysis eliminates low-payoff time investments.

Don’t ask yourself:Is what I am doing useful? Or: How useful is it?

Low-payoff time investments keep you busy, but do not move you toward your goals.

25

Planning

We are too busy to plan today because of a failure to plan yesterday!

The Most Important Single Use of Time

You can never go back and re-gain

lead time.26

Get More Done

Interrelated skills: 1. Managing time 2. Managing work 3. Managing yourself

27

Urgency vs. Importance

Don’t operate only on the basis of urgency rather than importance.

Opportunities (often more important but less insistent)... don’t get taken care of!

Something urgent... gets taken care of!

28

First Things First

CrisesProblemsDeadlinesPriorities

PreventionOpportunities

Planning

InterruptionsSome Calls

Some MeetingsPopular Activities

TriviaBusy Work

Time Wasters

Urgent Not Urgent

Important

Not Important

29

Success depends on many factors:

... luck, training, experience ...

Factoring Success

30

The common denominator among effective supervisorsis their use of time.

The Effectiveness Equation

31

Dramatic Interludes

We spend at least one-third of our lives: - At work - Under pressure

People committed to their work ...

... can become emotionally involved with their work.

34

Emotional ExpressionNot necessarily bad except when: - It becomes exaggerated. - It interferes with work.

35

The Challenge...

Acknowledge emotions without becoming immersed in them.

36

Show Support

Reduce the employee’s anxiety about the consequences of expressing his emotions.

Confirm the employee’s ability to dealwith the situation.

Participate in the solution.

37

You’re not a Therapist.

Don’t give advice.

Don’t respond with“I-know-how-you-feel.”

38

Amateur psychology

is risky.

Refer personal problems to specialists.

39

Calmly acknowledgethe behavior byactively listening:

- Communicate understanding.

- Don’t necessarily agree.

40

Re-focus on the Issue

Work together to: - Get “unstuck” - Channel energies - Deal with the source of the problem

Be specific, concrete, and ... nonjudgmental.

Re-focus on the IssueRe-focus on the IssueRe-focus on the IssueRe-focus on the IssueRe-focus on the IssueRe-focus on the IssueRe-focus on the IssueRe-focus on the IssueRe-focus on the IssueRe-focus on the IssueRe-focus on the IssueRe-focus on the IssueRe-focus on the IssueRe-focus on the Issue

41

Differing Opinions

Respect Differences

Don’t always expect agreement.

There’s always one sure way to win an

argument – avoid it!44

Give ground on trifles – never on principles.

If there’s a principle involved,make sure the principle isn’t pride,meaning a compromise is in order.

45

People follow those who are dependable and predictable.

Few traits contribute more to team building.

46

On the SceneSupervisors must see and be seen:What is being done?How’s it being done?Who’s doing it?

47

Your desk is NOT your place of business.

It’s a tool to help conduct business.

48

Don’t ride in like a cowboywith guns blazing.

Take responsibility!

Win cooperation!

49

Tolerate Ambiguity

Face the unpredictable without frustration and hostility.

Manage anxiety when the situation is unclear.

50

Requirements for Effective Supervising:

• A tolerance for disorder

• A healthy mistrust of pervasive harmony

Requirements for Effective Supervising:Requirements for Effective Supervising:Requirements for Effective Supervising:Requirements for Effective Supervising:Requirements for Effective Supervising:Requirements for Effective Supervising:Requirements for Effective Supervising:Requirements for Effective Supervising:

51

You Are the Supervisor

Your actions determine the well-being of your group.

52

Your actions determine the productivity of your group.

53

Corporate Change

To Change or not to Change

Deciding not to change is... ... not avoidance of change.

It is avoidance of positive action.

When nothing is done, implementation is immediate.

56

Stay Grounded

Never change for the sake of change.

Never stay still for fear of change.

Change is both toxic and tonic.

57

Factors that shape how fast you can move: Are people willing to move ahead? Do they have the right skills and expertise? How urgent is the change? Will the change influence operations?

58

The Change Process

Identify the demand for change: Define the purpose. Clarify the rationale.

Assess the disruptive impact.

Determine how disruptive the change will be on operations and people ... before implementation.

59

Implementation ...

Design the future state.

Organize the process.

Develop alternatives.

60

... Plan

Generate evaluation criteria.

Organize for transition.

Keep operations running during the changes.

61

Elements of Change:CommunicateInform

PlanStrategize

Develop a let-go-of-the-past strategy.62

Navigating the Transition

Lean and mean change tactics are wearisome.

The human side of change is the spirit of celebration.

Create meaning amidst change.

63

The Spirit of Celebration

The Ceremony in CelebrationProvides a symbolic bridge …

… linking past, present, and future in a continuous span.

66

Celebration

A significant psychological step

- Re-establishes stability - Enlivens a positive start-up - Reinforces the purpose and benefit of the change

67

Why Celebrate?“We have pressed (modern people) so hard toward useful work and rational calculation that (they) have all but forgotten the joy of celebration.

68

(Their) shrunken psyches (are) just as much the victims of industrialization as were the bent bodies of those impoverished children who were once confined to English factories from dawn to dusk.” – Harvey Cox in Feast of Fools

69

Invigorate the Workplace

Allow people to put their hearts and heads into their work.

Celebration is a promising avenue for a vibrant, profitable workplace.

70

CelebrationThrough celebration we

nourish play, purpose, and profit at work.

71

Cultivate Organizational Spirit

Celebrations:• Honor the participants• Promote team unity

72

Celebrations: • Mark the mind with a lasting memory • Make solid business sense

73