What Great Supervisors Know eBook (1)
-
Upload
anonymous-fjqnojcxp -
Category
Documents
-
view
213 -
download
0
description
Transcript of What Great Supervisors Know eBook (1)
2
What Great Supervisors Know
By Greg Schinkel
Published by:
Unique Training & Development Inc.
148 York Street
London, Ontario, Canada N6A 1A9
UniqueDevelopment.com
WhatGreatSupervisorsKnow.com
©2011 All rights reserved. No part of this book
may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording or by any
information storage and retrieval system,
without written permission from the author.
ISBN printed. 978-0-9734253-6-9
ISBN ebook. 978-0-9734253-7-6
First printing 2011
3
About This Book
Being a supervisor is a challenge. Caught in the
middle between management and employees,
supervisors are accountable for the results they
generate and how they treat their employees.
While some supervisors struggle in their role,
others are calm and confident.
This book is a collection of some of the best
leadership ideas and practices we have taught
and observed in supervisors during more than
20 years of providing supervisor and leadership
training. The best practices apply to anyone in a
leadership role.
If we can help develop your supervisors, team
leaders and lead hands to achieve better results
through an engaged and motivated work team,
please contact us.
Greg Schinkel, PresidentUnique Training & Development Inc.
4
Resources to Be a Better Leader
On-site training for supervisors, managers,
lead hands and team leaders.
Workshops, seminars, keynote presentations.
Purchase extra copies of this book for all your
supervisors, team leaders and lead hands.
Purchase Employees Not Doing What You
Expect.
Free LeaderFeeder blog and newsletter.
Free videos on our YouTube channel.
Follow us on Twitter.
http://UniqueDevelopment.com
http://WhatGreatSupervisorsKnow.com
mailto:[email protected]
Toll free: 1-866-700-9043
Local: +1-519-685-2116
Twitter: http://twitter.com/leadershipwiz
Blog: http://LeaderFeeder.com
Video:
http://www.youtube.com/uniquetrainingvid
eos/
5
Quick Reference List
From Doer to Leader 7
Balancing Task and People 8
Having a Vision for the Workgroup 9
Your Role in the Leadership Team 10
Avoiding Silos 11
Inter-Shift Handoff 12
Conducting a Shift Start Meeting 13
Keeping Good Documentation 14
Walking the Department 15
Effective Communication 17
Avoiding Sarcasm 18
Being a Good Listener 19
Explaining ‘Why’ 20
Email Communication 21
Friendship & Leadership 23
Being Approachable 24
Focusing on Positives 25
Being Accountable 26
6
Challenging Employees to Think for
Themselves 27
Constructive Thinking & Behavior 28
Motivating Employees 29
Self-fulfilling Prophecy 31
Confronting & Correcting Performance 32
Dealing with Prima Donnas 33
Dealing with a Difficult Employee 35
Negative Attitudes 36
Managing Conflict 37
Leading by Example – Safety 38
Leading by Example – Attendance 39
Leading by Example – Quality 40
Leading by Example – Teamwork 41
Continuous Improvement 42
Problem Solving 43
Leading Change 44
Working with Maintenance 45
Training Employees 46
Delegation 47
About the Author 48
7
From Doer to Leader
Making the transition from being a front line
worker to being the supervisor can be a
challenge. Some newly promoted supervisors
become too bossy and others try to be
everybody’s friend.
You were likely promoted because of your strong
technical skills, good work ethic and ability to
solve problems. Now as the supervisor, your job
is to get results through the efforts of your work
team.
A great supervisor:
Recognizes that he can’t do all the work
himself and needs to get work done through
others.
Strives to be firm and fair and earns respect
by treating employees with respect.
8
Balancing Task & People
A supervisor who demands results without
making employees feel appreciated and involved
will eventually cause poor morale and attitude.
As motivation declines, results will suffer.
A supervisor who is overly focused on making
employees feel involved and cared for and does
not challenge them to achieve results will cause
employees to become stagnant.
A great supervisor:
Balances task-focus and people-focus to
maximize results and employee engagement
and motivation.
Challenges employees to achieve better
results.
Supports and encourages employees to help
them reach their full potential.
9
Having a Vision for the
Workgroup
In order to lead people, you need a place to take
them. Instead of focusing on all the hassles,
frustrations and negatives, the great supervisor:
Has a picture in his mind about how he
wants the department to be.
Shifts attention away from being reactive
and towards being proactive.
Uses the vision when explaining why he
needs something, “Can you keep this area
clean, because it will help us work safely.”
“Treating each other with respect is
important because it will create positive
morale and attitude.”
10
Your Role in the Leadership Team
The supervisor can feel caught in between
management’s expectations and front line
employees who must generate the results.
A great supervisor:
Recognizes her role as a filter – taking
management’s requirements and getting the
work done through her team.
Receives employee feedback, resolves as
many issues as possible on her own and
passes along important information to
management.
Always takes ownership of applying
company requirements and avoids passing
blame onto others.
11
Avoiding Silos
Silos form in an organization when there is real
or perceived competition between departments,
divisions, shifts or workgroups. Much of this
competition and finger pointing results in
wasted effort when the focus should really be on
working together to satisfy the customer.
A great supervisor:
Makes supportive comments about other
departments, shifts, or workgroups.
Avoids creating an “us” versus “them”
mentality.
Avoids making negative comments about
other groups.
Encourages employees to be more
supportive of others.
Avoids sarcastic and cynical comments
directed at other parts of the organization.
12
Inter-Shift Handoff
To avoid unnecessary frustration and ensure
each shift can be successful, the great supervisor:
Stays for at least 15 minutes after shift
change or shows up at least 15 minutes early
to spend time with the supervisor from the
previous/next shift.
Makes sure to communicate:
o Any issues with materials, equipment,
maintenance.
o Any information related to customer
requirements.
o Any quality issues.
o Any relevant employee information.
A great supervisor recognizes that he or she
should help the next shift get off to the best start
possible by ensuring materials are available, the
work area is clean and any issues are addressed.
13
Conducting a Shift Start Meeting
Consider using a brief stand up huddle type
meeting for 5 minutes at the beginning of your
shift. It allows you to communicate to employees
all at once and set a positive tone for the day
ahead.
A great supervisor:
Focuses on positives from the previous day.
Let’s employees know what is going on in the
company.
Gives the team a heads-up on what to expect
that day.
Highlights information about safety, quality
and productivity.
14
Keeping Good Documentation
Keeping good records and notes is important
because it allows the supervisor to recall specific
information about performance issues,
behaviors and results.
A great supervisor:
Keeps a notebook at all times to record
observations and incidents regarding:
o Employee performance.
o Safety & productivity issues.
o Excess scrap or waste.
o Opportunities for improvement.
o Info to pass along at shift change.
Makes sure that any notes are dated and
written neatly and professionally in case
they are needed later.
Retains these notes for six months or longer
in case they are needed.
15
Walking the Department
Some supervisors mistakenly believe that they
should wait until employees bring questions or
problems to them. This can lead to a very chaotic
and stressful day. Employees also learn that in
order to get attention from the supervisor they
need to bring her problems or questions.
In order to regain control over her day and the
department, a great supervisor:
Touches base with each employee at the
beginning and middle of the shift.
Spends 2 or 3 minutes asking about personal
matters, asks if they need anything to help
them and let’s them know about what is
going on or what to expect later in the day.
“Hi Joe, how was your weekend? … Do you
have everything you need? … Later today
we’ll be switching over to the XYZ job, any
questions?”
16
Observes how spending a few minutes with
each person sets a positive tone for the day.
Notices that there are fewer interruptions
and more time to focus on more proactive
tasks.
After starting the shift by making rounds,
observe when more questions or interruptions
begin to emerge. This may be a sign that it is
time to make rounds again.
17
Effective Communication
Communication problems are like the common
cold – we tend to treat the symptoms instead of
seeking a cure. Communication could be defined
as “Knowing WHAT you need to know WHEN
you need to know it.”
A great supervisor:
Clarifies the desired outcome of the
communication – What do I want the person
to do as a result of this communication?
Chooses the right time and place.
Uses words, tone and body language to
transmit the message effectively.
Recognizes the need to repeat the message
many times in different ways.
Recognizes that the other person may not be
communicating clearly and effectively and
uses questions and empathy to gain greater
understanding.
Keeps others informed in a timely fashionabout information they might need.
18
Avoiding Sarcasm
Sarcasm can be defined as a mismatch between
the tone (HOW you say it) and the words
(WHAT you say). Sarcasm tends to create
shallow relationships and can cause the
supervisor to lose the respect of the workgroup.
For employees where English is a second
language, sarcasm can be very confusing.
A great supervisor:
Avoids using sarcasm, especially when
delivering performance related feedback.
Says it like it is – in order to avoid
misunderstandings.
Notices that employees will be more open
and communicative when less sarcasm is
used.
Take the sarcasm challenge – avoid usingsarcasm for one whole week and notice theimpact on relationships at work and at home.
19
Being a Good Listener
Many problems and conflicts can be resolved
simply by being an attentive listener.
A great supervisor:
Gives you his or her undivided attention and
avoids distractions.
Waits for the employee to finish speaking
before responding.
Keeps an open and neutral mind without
rushing to judgement.
Summarizes what the other person is saying
to confirm understanding.
Asks questions to help the other person
express themselves.
20
Explaining “Why”
A supervisor might think that employees should
do what he says just because he told them. Or he
might think that employees aren’t interested or
don’t need to know the reason.
A Harvard researcher demonstrated that using
the word ‘because’ and giving a reason will
increase compliance by as much as 50%.
A great supervisor:
Uses the word ‘because’ after making a
request and gives a reason because it gets
employees to buy in to taking the desired
action.
Recognizes that employees are interested in
reasons for doing what is asked of them.
21
Email Communication
Email can be an effective communication tool or
it can be a big time waster.
A great supervisor:
Realizes that email should not be used in
situations that involve criticism or
persuasion.
Recognizes that sometimes it would be
better to communicate face to face or by
telephone in order to deliver the message
effectively.
Avoids adding lots of unnecessary recipients
to the email and ‘Replying to All’
unnecessarily.
Uses the Subject to describe the essence of
the message.
Realizes that shorter messages are more
likely to be read and acted upon.
22
Puts any question or action request near the
top of the message instead of burying it in
the middle or at the bottom.
Limits most emails to only one question or
action item because that is all most people
will answer anyway.
23
Friendship and Leadership
Some supervisors struggle with leading
employees who are also their friends. This can
lead to favoritism which can impact results and
cause resentment by other workers.
By letting things go or looking the other way, the
supervisor puts his friend’s employment in
jeopardy.
A great supervisor:
Owes it to his friend to give corrective
feedback when the friend is not performing.
Realizes that a true friend wouldn’t ask for
special treatment that could put the
supervisor’s job at risk.
24
Being Approachable
When you are warm and approachable,
employees will feel more comfortable bringing
you information, both good and bad. Being
informed helps you succeed as a leader.
A great supervisor:
Avoids looking angry or aloof.
Smiles and keeps the mood loose and light.
Notices that employees are more
comfortable bringing questions and
problems forward.
25
Focusing on Positives
Where attention goes, energy flows and results
show.
When managing the workgroup, the great
supervisor:
Builds on positives.
Reinforces desired behaviors instead of
always having to correct undesirable
behaviors.
Provides deserved praise for a job well done.
Notices when low-performers do something
well and offers praise.
Is specific when providing positive feedback.
Notice at least 3 things every day that are going
well and provide positive reinforcement. Watch
how morale and attitude improves.
26
Being Accountable
Some supervisors refer basic problems and
decisions to their manager to solve. As a result
the manager ends up making decisions and
solving problems the supervisor or front line
employees should solve.
When explaining company policies to
employees, a supervisor might be tempted to
blame it on HR or management. “HR told me I
had to do this.” “The boss said we need to…”
This approach causes employees to lose respect
for the supervisor.
A great supervisor:
Takes ownership of problems and decisions
within her span of responsibility.
Avoids passing blame to others.
Personally demonstrates support for the
company policy, procedure or requirement.
27
Challenging Employees to Think
for Themselves
Answering every question an employee brings to
you may create an overly dependent
relationship. See if you can help employees think
for themselves and improve their self-
confidence. Helping employees become more
self-reliant will free up your time to take care of
larger issues and proactively make the
department better.
A great supervisor:
Gets the employee to answer his or her own
question, “What do you think would be the
best approach?”
Helps the employee become a better
problem solver, “What are some different
ways you can tackle this problem?”
28
Constructive Thinking & Behavior
People can be defensive in two primary ways:
1. Aggressive – They judge and attack others
in order to cover up their own weaknesses.
By finding faults with others, being overly
controlling, competitive and perfectionistic
it protects people from admitting their own
mistakes and being open to change.
2. Passive – They avoid and play the role of
victim, not expressing their concerns and
hoping that problems will take care of
themselves or someone else will take care of
them. Approximately 60% of the workforce
is passive.
A great supervisor:
Challenges themselves and others with a
focus on achievement.
Views situations and people with curiosity.
Remains open and approachable.
Focuses on positive and encouraging others.
29
Motivating Employees
Many supervisors mistakenly think thatemployees are only concerned about wages andjob security. In reality, wages and job securityare typically number four and five on a list of topmotivators.
Every employee is motivated, just not always todo what the supervisor wants.
A great supervisor:
Provides challenge for employees throughjob rotation, cross training and asking forinput and ideas.
Helps employees think for themselves,answer their own questions and solve mostproblems on their own.
Avoids giving the same jobs to the samepeople just because it gets the work done.
Provides praise and recognition for a jobwell done to help build the esteem and self-confidence of the employee.
30
Makes the employee feel part of the team bynot playing favorites, not criticising in frontof the workgroup and not talking aboutemployees behind their back with otheremployees.
Keeps the workgroup informed about whatis going on in the company.
Confronts and corrects unacceptablebehavior promptly.
Avoids punishing good employees by givingthem more work and rewarding poorperformers by assigning less work.
31
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
How a supervisor treats his or her employees is
reflected back to the supervisor as positive or
negative behavior. This helps explain why an
employee might be difficult to manage for one
supervisor and easy to manage for another.
A great supervisor:
Recognizes that what she believes to be true
of the workgroup will impact their attitude
and behavior towards the supervisor, their
job and the company.
Knows that in order for employees to
change, the leader must change first.
32
Confronting and Correcting
Performance
Instead of avoiding a discussion about a
performance problem or being overly heavy
handed, a great supervisor:
Realizes that most performance issues can
be resolved quickly by mentioning it to the
employee.
Takes a progressive approach by increasing
the consequences if unacceptable behavior
or results continues.
Focuses on the action or behavior without
attacking the person.
Recognizes that the objective is not to
punish – it is to correct.
33
Dealing with Prima Donnas
Some employees may think of themselves as
being “more special” than everyone else. A great
supervisor knows how to tactfully and
respectfully help prima donnas to be better team
players.
A great supervisor:
Avoids giving exaggerated praise to build the
ego of one employee over the others.
Recognizes the risk of having only one
employee capable of performing a work task.
Recognizes that the boasting nature of a
prima donna employee might be covering up
a lack of self confidence or insecurity.
Knows that criticizing, ignoring or
humiliating the prima donna employee is
not an effective approach.
34
Requests and supports the prima donna to
share his or her expertise with other
employees instead of holding back
information.
Is willing to confront the prima donna about
his or her impact on the workgroup in terms
of superiority and boasting.
35
Dealing with a Difficult Employee
It is interesting that some difficult employees
may be more cooperative with some supervisors
and not with others. This implies that the leader
creates some of the difficulty.
Ignoring problem employees can create
resentment among the best employees.
A great supervisor:
Speaks respectfully at all times.
Does not avoid the difficult employee.
Sees when the difficult employee does
something right and gives them positive
feedback.
Avoids allowing the difficult employee to set
the agenda for the whole workgroup.
Addresses unacceptable behavior promptly.
36
Negative Attitudes
An attitude is how we think about something.
Each of us has some negative thinking about
certain people or situations. Negativity only
really becomes a problem when we communicate
negatively.
A great supervisor:
Focuses on the behavior not the person.
Instead of saying, “Bill, you have a negative
attitude.” The great supervisor says, “Bill,
when you say negative things about your co-
worker it drags down the morale of the
whole team.”
Notices when employees either stop being
overly critical or begin to talk more
positively and are more encouraging.
Notices when a problem employee does
something positive and reinforces it.
Gives out more praise to reinforce positives
instead of focusing on faults.
37
Managing Conflict
In healthy organizations, conflict is essential for
change and improvement. While aggressive
behavior is most commonly associated with
conflict, passive behavior can be a bigger
problem because people have concerns but do
not discuss them openly.
When a conflict exists, the great supervisor:
Puts the issue on the table for discussion.
Helps others to express their concerns.
Shows empathy for other points of view.
Proposes potential solutions.
Gets commitment.
Follows up.
38
Leading by Example – Safety
In order to demonstrate the importance of
safety, the great supervisor:
Says, “Safety is important because I care
about you and want you to go home in the
same condition as when you came to work.”
Wears his or her safety equipment.
Addresses safety infractions immediately
and consistently.
Provides positive feedback when employees
demonstrate safe practices.
Never trades off safety against productivity.
39
Leading by Example
- Attendance
In order to demonstrate the importance of
employees being to work on time every day, the
great supervisor:
Says, “I need you here on time, every day
because you are an important part of the
team.” “When you are not here we miss you
and have to move people around to fill in.”
Is on time or early for work.
Addresses an attendance issue immediately,
“I noticed you were late today, is everything
okay?”
Notices when attendance improves and says
something positive, “Thank you for being
here on time every day this week, you are an
important part of the team.”
40
Leading by Example – Quality
In order to demonstrate the importance of
quality, the great supervisor:
Says, “Quality is important because our
customers expect it.” “Quality helps ensure
our job satisfaction.” “Doing it right the first
time keeps us from having to redo our work
over again.”
Addresses quality issues quickly, “I have a
concern that you did not follow the standard
operating procedure and caused
unnecessary scrap.”
Reinforces quality-related behavior, “I
appreciate the attention you gave to that
difficult job. The customer will appreciate
it.”
Explains why parts with potential quality
issues ultimately might get shipped to the
customer, “Quality assurance determined
that the parts were within spec.” “The
customer said they would accept the parts as
is.”
41
Leading by Example - Teamwork
Because teamwork is important, the great
supervisor:
Says, “When we work together as a team we
get more accomplished.” “Working together
makes it easier and more enjoyable to be at
work.”
Avoids playing favorites and is fair and
consistent.
Keeps employees informed about what is
going on.
Asks for employee input on better ways to do
things.
Encourages employees to help each other
when they see a co-worker struggling.
Avoids saying negative things about other
people, shifts or departments.
42
Continuous Improvement
Because the supervisor is closest to the work
being performed, he or she is expected to
identify and lead continuous improvement
efforts.
Nearly every process has waste that can be
eliminated.
A great supervisor:
Personally leads continuous improvement
efforts.
Involves and challenges employees to
improve processes.
Systematically identifies and eliminates
excess waste from the process.
Standardizes the work so it can be repeated
consistently and improves the process over
time.
43
Problem Solving
As a front line trouble-shooter, the supervisor
needs to use basic logic to apply the best solution
to the problem.
A great supervisor:
Avoids passing on the problem to the
manager without some suggested solutions.
Gets employees and support departments
involved in solving the problem.
Defines the problem correctly in terms of
what is happening/not happening.
Identifies the possible causes and most likely
root cause.
Develops alternative solutions and
prioritizes them by probability of success,
cost and speed of implementation.
Applies the best fix, verifies it is effective and
communicates the solution to others who
need to know.
44
Leading Change
Resistance to change is typically related to fear
of the unknown and a disruption to existing
habits.
At the same time, when we reflect back on
change, there is usually something positive that
comes from it. Employees will take their cue
from observing how their leader deals with
change.
A great supervisor:
Is positive towards change.
Provides a logical reason for the change and
specifics on what needs to change.
Reminds employees they have dealt with
change before and have what it takes to
succeed.
Makes the change feel smaller and easier to
tackle.
Adjusts systems to make it easy to change.
45
Working with Maintenance
In an operations environment maintenance
plays a supporting role by providing equipment
and systems that are available and capable to
meet requirements.
A great supervisor:
Encourages employees to solve as many
problems as possible before calling
maintenance.
Takes the time with maintenance to describe
the problem and learn about the equipment.
Looks for opportunities to improve the
process and get greater output by working
with maintenance on continuous
improvement initiatives.
If you are a maintenance supervisor remind
yourself and your crew that your mission and
purpose is to serve operations.
46
Training Employees
Training employees to be able to do the job right
and then do it quickly pays off with higher
productivity, quality, flexibility and employee
satisfaction.
A great supervisor will use these six steps:
1. TELL – the employee all the steps, quality
requirements and refer to job aids or
procedures.
2. SHOW – Demonstrate the steps while
describing them again and referring to job
aids or procedures.
3. ASK – if they have any questions and if they
are ready to give it a try.
4. HAVE THEM DO – the job while describing
the steps as they do them and referring to
the job aid or procedure.
5. OBSERVE – Watch the employee perform
several cycles of the job and provide
coaching.
6. CHECK – the output for consistent quality.
47
Delegation
By delegating, a supervisor motivates employees
by providing them with an opportunity for
challenge and learning. The supervisor benefits
by freeing up his time for more important,
higher value tasks. When an employee struggles,
avoid taking the assignment back from them.
A great supervisor uses these six steps when
delegating:
1. Give the background of the assignment.
2. Describe the importance.
3. Clarify expectations in terms of results.
4. Confirm understanding.
5. Ask for their approach to the assignment.
6. Follow-up to see the assignment was
completed successfully.
48
About the AuthorGreg Schinkel is the President of UniqueTraining & Development Inc. and has impactedmore than 500,000 people through his writing,broadcasting, speaking, training and coaching.He co-authored the best seller Employees NotDoing What You Expect published on threecontinents. His second best seller is Awakeningthe Workplace. His third book, a collaborationwith his father Irwin is Fusion or Fizzle: HowLeaders Leverage Training to Ignite Results.
Greg and his team specialize in trainingsupervisors, team leaders, lead hands andmanagers in how to use constructive leadershippractices to generate best-ever operating results.
With the perfect blend of style and substance,Greg is a top rated keynote speaker and trainer.As a leadership coach, Greg specializes inturning abrasive managers into pussycats.
Greg is in the top 10% of all speakers andtrainers as a professional member of the GlobalSpeakers Federation and has served as chapterPresident of the Canadian Association ofProfessional Speakers.