Introduction%20to%20Supervision

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Introduction to Supervision
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The good, the bad, and the neutral

• What do you believe?
• Everyone is bad (Freud)
• Everyone is good (Rogers)
• Everyone is shaped by their history of rewards
  (Skinner)
• What you believe will shape your interaction with
  your employees

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Getting off to a good start

• Be yourself
• Start slowly
• Be confident
• Be visible
• Use your boss
• Ask questions
• Be a good listener

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Dealing with friends you now supervise

• Usually everyone will adjust quickly to your new
  roles
• Avoid favoritism. Its perception more than
  reality.
• Best answer you know Im not like that, so put
  the needle away
• Discuss the situation with your friends and ask
  them to help downplay the relationship at work.
• But dont take that to extremes either
• True friends will be happy for your success

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How would you respond to these things if youre
being needled about being a boss?

• Things must be bad if they made you a boss
• I think Herb should have been promoted instead of
  you
• I guess you know the right people around here if
  you got promoted.
• I guess you have to be a good looking woman to
  get a promotion
• Just what we need around here, another new
  supervisor

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Five things to tell your employees right away

• Keep doing your job, its business as usual
• You have no preconceived notions about anyone.
  Its a new day and a clean slate.
• You believe in teamwork and cooperation to get
  the job done
• You promise to keep them informed and hope they
  will do the same
• ANY problems should be brought to you for
  attention.

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Learning the Ropes

• Identify the priorities of your job
• Find a mentor
• Listen
• Learn to ask questions
• Review written materials
• Observe the workplace and the workers

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Establishing the right atmosphere

• Be evenhanded with everyone
• Make your own decisions
• Learn the facts
• Ask your workers for advice
• Be generous with your praise
• Stand up for your team
• Be nice, show interest
• Listen carefully to concerns
• Play to their strengths
• Demonstrate a can-do attitude
• Dont put up with slackers

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Why slow is better

• Facts take time
• There are always conflicts of interest
• Its never as easy as it looks
• It takes time to communicate (both up and down)
• Its not ALWAYS ok to take it slow

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When they try to make you look bad

• Dont let remarks go unchallenged
• But dont go overboard with a response
• Ask them to repeat what they said
• Talk to them PRIVATELY
• Tell them to stop.
• Be firm but NOT angry
• Brief your boss after you talk to the employee
• Keep your sense of humor

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Common Pests

• The complainer
• The chatterbox
• The advise giver
• The busy body
• The potty mouth
• The balkers

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Categories of Priorities

• Things that affect getting the job done
• General work flow (whos in today work
  assignments)
• Personnel matters
• Paperwork
• How important are these to your employees?

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Speaking of Paperwork

• Sometimes its just a question of figuring out
  what to do with it
• Call ins/leave slips
• Time cards
• Overtime authorization forms
• Medical slips
• Accident report forms
• Personal files (NOT personnel files)

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Basic Practices to make you a better boss

• Handle employee complaints promptly
• Be informed
• Dont let minor irritants distract you
• Dont dodge unpleasant duties
• Prevent little problems from becoming major issues

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Basic Practices to make you a better boss

• Have confidence in your employees
• Dont worry about looking foolish
• Dont dwell on any mistakes you make
• Listen carefully to everything and everyone
• Show your gratitude for assistance

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Basic Practices to make you a better boss

• Maintain your confidence
• Try to avoid mood swings
• Dont try to do everything at once
• Dont volunteer for anything
• Dont make your life miserable over your job

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Communicating

• Listening
• Keep an open mind
• Pay attention
• Assume its important
• Be patient
• Give feedback to show you heard them
• Pay attention to what theyre NOT saying
• Know when to nip it (chronic complainers)

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Communicating

• Giving praise
• Dont always praise everyone
• Be timely
• Relate it to specific behavior
• Dont praise routine effort
• Praise the group when warranted
• Constructive criticism sandwiches
• Praise your staff to others

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Communicating

• Asking questions
• Be persistent (keep asking)
• Dont get angry
• Ask SPECIFIC questions
• If you want to learn, you have to ask
• Avoid yes or no answers
• Ask for more detail
• Rephrase questions
• Ask for information, not accusation

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Communicating

• Answering questions
• Some you can answer on the spot, some you will
  need to find out.
• Like what?
• Answering loaded questions
• Think before answering
• Never feel obligated to answer right away
• Get clarification before answering
• Answer the question with another question
• Email Get one!!!!!!

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Arguments, Requests, Complaints, oh my!

• Arguments
• Emphasize the value of teamwork
• Impact on team when disagreements
• Talk to them separately
• Tell them to knock it off
• Dont get dragged into taking sides
• If it continues, talk to them together
• Feel free to talk to HR or the union

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Arguments, Requests, Complaints, oh my!

• Time off requests
• Vacations are easier to plan for than illnesses
• Be flexible
• But you CAN say no
• If a legitimate business need
• If too many previous requests
• If you are shorthanded
• If it violates policy
• If someone else asked first
• If they have no time left
• If its their poor planning

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Arguments, Requests, Complaints, oh my!

• Complaints
• Is it valid?
• Can you do anything about it?
• Is it legitimate or something else?
• Are they about recent changes?
• Did you involve them?
• Lets try it for awhile
• Something will always change
• Safety complaints should always be addressed
  immediately!

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Performance Evaluation Necessary or Necessary
Evil?

• Up to you
• Can be valuable communication tool
• Your annual chance to talk to employee about
  their work behavior
• Gives direction and sets goals
• Hopefully provides constructive feedback
• Evaluations at Cobleskill

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Performance Issues

• Goofing Off
• Ask if theres a problem you can help with
• Make sure theyve been trained
• Make frequent visits to their area
• Ask them about their progress
• Tell them they arent doing their job
• Give them short deadlines
• Dont give up

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Performance Issues

• Tardiness
• Get there early yourself
• What are the rules? Who follows them?
• What is your expectation?
• Are there exceptions? How handled?
• Enforce your expectations
• Take action as necessary
• Whats the excuse exercise?

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Performance Issues

• Giving constructive criticism
• Goal is to correct behavior, NOT punish
• No ranting and raving
• Dont want to demotivate
• Focus is on the behavior, not the person
• Tell whats wrong and how to fix it
• Involve them in the solution
• Let them tell their side
• Criticize in private, praise in public
• Allow for mistakes, thats how we learn!

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Handling Difficult People

• Intimidators
• Procrastinators
• Practical Jokers
• Know-it-alls
• Sneaks and Liars
• Flirts
• Minor Irritants

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15 Supervisory Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

• 1 Why it doesnt pay to get angry
• Fear
• Apathy
• Revenge
• More errors
• Less work
• More absenteeism

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15 Supervisory Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

• 2 Setting the Right Example
• Monkey see, monkey do

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15 Supervisory Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

• 3 Keeping Distance without being distant
• Mixing business with pleasure (DONT discuss
  business with your employees)

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15 Supervisory Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

• 4 Being fair while being firm
• They WILL grumble
• Take the time to explain WHY
• Take the time to hear WHY

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15 Supervisory Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

• 5 Establishing Credibility
• Dont make promises you cant keep
• Follow through when you said you would
• Dont be inconsistent
• Dont guess whats going to happen in front of
  employees

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15 Supervisory Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

• 6 Avoiding Appearance of Favoritism
• It may not exist but people will think it does

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15 Supervisory Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

• 7 Get off the hot seat without making excuses
• Acknowledge your mistakes and then forget about
  it
• You WILL make mistakes
• If its not your fault, get your facts together

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15 Supervisory Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

• 8 When and How to Take the Blame
• Criticism of your workers is also criticism of
  you
• It is actually better to take the blame for your
  workers errors
• EVERYONE makes mistakes
• DO follow up with the worker in private

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15 Supervisory Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

• 9 Not cutting employees short when they ask for
  help
• There ARE legitimate reasons
• Sometimes they want to be reassured
• Sometimes they want to talk to you about
  something else

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15 Supervisory Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

• 10 Getting new employees off to the right start
• Dont overload with information
• How and when they get paid
• Time and attendance procedures
• Specifics of the job
• Pair them with a coworker

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15 Supervisory Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

• 11 Scheduling work fairly
• Start the day with a brief meeting about
  assignments for the day
• Dont always give the same people the same tasks
• But DO assign people to things they are good at
• AND ask people what they prefer doing

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15 Supervisory Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

• 12 Planning training
• On the job is still the best
• Consider demonstrations rather than handouts
• Have each person try it
• Follow up with more training after the intial
  stuff is done
• DONT do it when you are the busiest

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15 Supervisory Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

• 13 When morale is low
• Show concern (maybe their old boss didnt)
• Ask people on an individual basis what they think
  might be going on
• Dont downplay obvious problems
• You HAVE to be willing to listen to their issues

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15 Supervisory Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

• 14 Dealing with chronic complainers
• Is it legit?
• Are they just trying to get your attention?
• Give them a job to do whenever they complain
• Team them up with a good listener
• Refer them to someone else
• Have them put it in writing
• Try out-complaining them
• Go about your business and let them keep talking
• Tell it like it is Im too busy right now.
• Give them a time limit
• Leave whenever they show up, and walk fast.

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15 Supervisory Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

• 15 Being the boss without being bossy
• Whats your attitude?
• If you were the worker, would YOU want to be
  treated that way?
• Would you act this way toward YOUR boss?
• You can catch more flies with honey
• Strive to be polite and thoughtful
• Assert your authority ONLY when you need to

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Final Thoughts

• There will always be work to do
• There will always be problems
• DONT PANIC !