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what makes a good supervisor ?

2K views 22 replies 10 participants last post by  Paulus 
depends if you are old skool dinosaur or modern management touchy feely stuff. I think a bit of both camps works best...

my take - a supervisor should:
1/.Be a support to enable his /her staff do their jobs
2/.Listen to the problems, get people together and try to improve the smooth running of their section.
3/.Be tolerant and understanding of genuine problems. Be clear about what they want from their employees, and set an example of behaviour.
4/.Should deal with diasagreements / disciplinary issues in private 1 to 1
5/.Be able to understand the job of the person he is responsible for
6/.break the week / month up so that work doesn't feel like an endless tunnel - it has some small wins along the way.
7/.Firm but fair - no favourites - can even be tough if it suits you but consistency is the key - can't be matey one day and then a nazi the next.
8/.encourage continuous improvement ideas from the team - help the best ideas become reality - reward the originator - praise them - don't steal their glory , its the team that wins. Recognise them - show your boss what a great team you have built.
9/. should take the stress of the dept and concentrate on giving the workers plans that they are able to deliver - protect them from the general storm

What does the supervisor get out of it?
A/. a sense of team leadership -
b/. enjoyment from the achieement of the team
c/. satisfaction from heading off problems before they occur and running a dept smoothly without fire fighting.
d/.having the respect of their workers - this is shown in their actions - not words (ie can you come in saturday, can you stay on tonight etc)

What shouldn't they do ;

shout at others for relief of their own stress / or enjoyment.
belittle workers
discipline workers in public space
dominate workers to the point of stopping them thinking at all
grow a culture based on blame and exception based discipline
divide and rule can be neccesary at time but needs to be used sparingly.

As you can tell - I like people, and work from the motivational power of a team. I am a team manager - not a lone wolf.
 
Probably true in large organisations with substantial resource. I have never experienced this level of demarkation. I work in manufacturing so everyone has to do about 11 jobs
it depends on what the 'supervisor' role is.

Is it a manager, or is it to provide professional support?

Performance management and supervision are different, and should not be conflated

:).
 
Following a telcon with remote site boss, I once threw a large diecast zinc component so hard at the wall that it stuck in the brickwork underneath, narrowly missing someone entering my office. ...and before anyone says I must have anger issues - anyone that knows me will be shocked I have EVER lost my temper. In management - especially middle management - the stresses are beyond the tolerance of anyone at times - don't care what others say
thats another good point. The ability to smile, nod and walk away whilst inside you want to destroy the Humber bridge with your bare hands is a very useful skill. Thats why a manager needs a private office. You need somewhere to vent frustrations. There is actually a hole in a partition wall in my office where "somebody" took out his frustrations upon it. It is now patched up with a piece of MDF, with a sign on it saying "please respect your walls".
 
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I used to visit a buyer in Hull in a sales capacity - who was a bit of a scary bloke - once - when I was sat opposite side of his desk, after we were trying to have a meeting and the phone kept ringing, ringing , ringing - he picked it up, ripped it out the wall and threw it out of the window - then calmly sat down and said - " now then, where were we?" lol
 
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