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Posted on by Marcia Zidle

The Realities of Supervision

Is it time to strengthen your supervisory muscles?

Here are insights from years of working with managers, teams, and new leaders on the realities of supervision. For some of you it may be “old hat”; for others an “ah’ha”. In either case, know that the moment you start taking things for granted, you stop being effective. So what can you learn from these seven supervisory principles.

1. There is no routine to management work.
Changes are that your old job came with a familiar routine. You performed the tasks assigned to you and you did them in a prescribed order. Some things had to be done by noon, while others had to be completed before you left for the day. As a rule, when the day’s work was done, your day was over. But for managers, there’s no such thing as “the day’s work,” so bid a fond farewell to routine.

2. People and issues arrive un-prioritized.
As a manager, you now have more people and issues to deal with. It’s your job to filter them for urgency and importance, and help employees stay focused by doing the same.

3. People start acting differently towards you.
You’re still the same person, but you’re in a different role. Some people withdraw from you; others want to get closer. Ultimately, your employees are dealing with managerial change in their own way and trying to figure out what kind of manager you really are.

4. You have to give up your old job.
You have a new job so don’t hang on to your old one. This can be hard. After all, it’s because of your previous success that you’ve been promoted. But failure to let go of your old job causes more problems for first-time managers than anything else.

5. Guard against the perception that certain people are your favorites.
Yesterday you had co-workers; today you have employees. While it’s only natural to like some individuals more than others you no longer have that luxury as manager. Employees are keenly aware of who has direct access to you. In the past, you had coffee or lunch with the same people every day, but if you keep this up, your employees will earmark these people as “your favorites.”

6. Employees want their manager to manage them.
Friendly behavior is great, but it shouldn’t be a substitute for good managing. Your employees expect you to deal with poor performers at work. You need to demonstrate that you won’t tolerate poor performance. If you’re fair and decisive, your good performers will give you their hard-earned respect and best effort.

7. Don’t hold on to information, rather communicate, communicate, communicate.
When you’re on an airplane and it encounters turbulence or the flight is delayed, you want to know what’s happening. Not knowing makes you nervous. Employees also want to know what’s happening — what’s causing the bumpy ride. If people don’t understand, then anxiety mounts, trust declines and rumors fly. The next thing you see is morale plummeting and work not getting done. That’s why ongoing communication is so important.

Management Success Tip

Understand your role had changed. You are now in charge tasked with getting work done through others. You must move from doing to delegating; from being liked to being respected; from holding on to letting go; from knowing all the answers to getting input from others.

Do you want to develop your Management Smarts?

7 Replies to “The Realities of Supervision”

  1. Great post Marcia – particulalry point 6. I coach many supervisors and managers who hold a belief that ‘people don’t want to be managed’ (along with ‘I haven’t earnt the right to manage’ and ‘managers have to be perfect!). These are the types of beliefs that prevent supervisors taking ‘management action’ – the type of action that gets great results from their employees, and increases job satisfaction (for the employee and the supervisor)

  2. Thanks Joan for your comment. One other things I’ve seen in coaching new supervisors / managers is the tendency of being either too easy (they’re nice folks who are trying their best) or being too hard (they must buckle down now or else). Neither is effective. What is effective supervision is setting expectations (the what and the why); monitoring performance; and coaching giving feedback and positive strokes. What do you think?

  3. Hi Marcia
    Well said – I couldn’t agree more! I would maybe add; working with employees to improve or maintain their job satisfaction.
    I think the challenge for supervisors (and all managers) is to find the tools they need to make managing employees much easier and much more effective. For example, how can we expect supervisors to know that there is a 3 step process for a) getting crystal clear on what they want from thier emplorees and b) a 4 step process for defining powerful performance objectives (setting expectations)? Or that there are 3 proven ways to monitor performance and a 5 step process for holding a performance improvement discussion with employees? Supervisors just don’t have the time to work these tools out for themselves which is why (I guess) you write your books and I made my online management training video series the ’10 Minute Management Toolkit’
    In short, let’s make it easy for supervisors to manage their employees in a way that improves performance and employee satisfaction!
    Rallying cry over!!
    Thanks again for a great discussion

    1. Thank you Austin,

      What has been your experience as a supervisor? Are there challenges you’re facing that youwould like to know how to handle better. Let me know and I can write a post about it.

  5. This is great information. I have been in my position for eight months now and I think evrything is going well. In supervision with my boss, I have not been told otherwise. I suppose that I should ask her outright about my performance so that I can be clear about my progress or lack thereof. Anyway, sometimes I feel like I struggle with supervising my staff. I am often in the middle, not too nice and not too strict but there are some staff that I let off the hook way too easy. One has been around for a long time and has been a supervisor in the past. I know that other staff are saying things and feel like she gets to do what she wants. What would you suggest to be the best approach with this employee. Thank you for these blogs. I have learned a tremendous amount just reading what others are thinking.

    1. Denesee,

      It’s great to hear that you’ve learned how to be a better supervisor from these blog posts. A couple of suggestions.
      1. Some bosses are better than others about giving new supervisors feedback on their performance. So if you haven’t gotten feedback, don’t assume everything is fine. Ask your boss about how you are doing- are you meeting her expectations – how can you do better.

      2. I’ve observed new supervisors, like you, find it difficult to find that happy medium of not beeing too nice or too harsh with their staff. At your next staff meeting, set forth your expectations and why they are important. Let it be known that everyone needs to abide by them. Then notice when a staff member is performing to that expectation and give praise. If another is not, say the former supervisor, talk with hiin private about what you expect. Get his feedback. Hopefully you can work together.

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