I am a first time supervisor that will soon have 14 reportees. Any advice?

Question

I'm particularly looking for other supervisors/mgrs on how they handled themselves in this situation when they first arrived in management. Anything you learned good/bad would be very beneficial.

Answer 1

Here's a few things...

First of all good luck... you'll need it! Managing employess can feel like babysitting sometimes. You'll have to deal with everyone's egos, emotions, personal problems and bad days as much as you'll be overseeing their productivity and performance.

With that said, there are so many things but the most important thing is to HAVE CONFIDENCE from the minute you walk in the door. Be friendly, but not too friendly. Keep a distance and don't socialize with anyone. When I say be friendly I mean take an interest in each person and pay attention to what they say, both work-related and personal. When you're talking to them one-on-one later you can bring up simple things like "How's your baby doing this week? Did she get over her cold?" By taking a personal interest in people they will begin to respect you. But never get too personal. Take the team out for lunch once a month as a group, or have working lunches with three or more employees (I suggest you order it in). But no one-on-one lunches. Drinks after work = maybe once every six weeks if that's the office culture. But you can never become their party buddy after 5 on Fridays. Find time to socialize with people at your management level from within or outside your company. They'll be great contacts and good resources as you develop as a manager. And it will ease the temptation to hang out with your team.

Some other tips worth mentioning:

• Deal with problem employees immediately. Even if they're not causing a problem for you personally. If they're disruptive, they're affecting the team's productivity and morale. Take action and don't ignore problems or the employees will question your ability.

• If you have an insubordinate employee you find out is openly criticizing you or the company you must do what Sun Tzu says: cut them off immediately. They will only damage you, the company and the department. And they encourage others to get in on it. I've seen this first-hand. An employee was allowed to stay because the department was short-handed. He stayed for a year and was all over town insulting the company and talkaing bad about other employees. The boss did not have what it takes to fire someone. This employee later quit and went directly to the competition... with dozens of trade secrets and lots of gossip about the company and its owner. It was a mess. Realize that you have to get rid of this type of employee very quickly. Be prepared to do it for the sake of your department, your company and the rest of your team.

• You have to earn the respect of the team or they'll undermine you. Think before you talk and use a level head when making decisions. If they see you as fair, intelligent and willing to work as hard as they do then you'll get that respect. The easiest way to lose the respect is to treat anyone on the team disrespectfully. Learn to curb your outward frustration and deal with it calmly and privately. Never let 'em see you sweat!

• If you have a top performer on your team that outshines the rest, reward this person and praise them in private but be careful about doing it openly when it's only subordinates in the room. They'll get jealous and team up against that employee. The next thing you know everyone will complain about your best employee, but it's all jealousy-inspired. The time to praise your standouts is when you're alone with them or when upper management or the client is listening. Be strategic with your praise. Most managers don't realize this. If your employees need public praise, then wait until you have several people to praise at once, when possible. This is a slippery slope, though because you never want to risk a great employee feeling unappreciated. Just analyze the situation and choose your style based on the team dynamic.

• Don't let employees tattle. If an employee has a problem with another employee, teach them to be adults by asking them if they've confronted the issue with the person first. Tell them it's not appropriate or professional to go to management before giving the other employee the courtesy of a conversation. Tell the employee you won't tolerate that behavior... or else everyone will be bending your ear to complain about someone else.

• Don't tolerate power struggles. You can keep this from happening by controlling dominant employees who subtly try to control or belittle fellow employees in meetings or in front of you. Call it out right away, but privately. Take a zero tolerance policy on this or you're going to spend all your time dealing with office politics. And your alpha employees will take over the place.

• Be flexible. Give employees freedom to take personal time when they need it. Remember that they're humans, not robots. People have a life and sometimes needs must be handled during 9 to 5 hours. Don't let it get out of hand but be willing to say yes more than no. Don't sweat their time off or act like you're taking it personally. Just focus on performance. When you need them to pull through on a deadline they'll be much more positive and willing if you've been fair with them.

• Evaluate your team regularly with six-month reviews, even if you're only required an annual one. Don't bunch them all up like most managers do. You'll be more effective if you have performance measures on your mind throughout the year. Stagger these reviews so you're meeting with an employee once every two weeks at least. Use this time to ask about their personal concerns and issues... it will keep your finger on the pulse of the entire office... and will allow you to deal with problems while they're happening, not once a year after damage has been done. An excellent tactic is to listen to the individual employee's concern and head it off at the pass during the meeting. This way you resolve it, while letting the employee see that you're no-nonsense. It also communicates that you don't approve of employees harboring complaints and turning them into sore spots that create team resentment and dissent. It seems like employees always need something or someone to complain about in order to bond. Try to nip this habit.

• Going into the role, make sure you understand from your boss and upper management what the core objectives of the company are, and how your team contributes to these goals. Understand what your team needs to accomplish and how you can best make that happen. This will give you focus to keep everyone else on track. And it will give you the perspective and wisdom that ultimately will help you make better decisions.

There's a ton of other things but you'll start to learn them as you go. And every company culture is different so part of your job is to adapt your style into the company's. The fact that you're even asking the question shows that you are conscious of the huge responsibility you've been given... and that you're a listener and open to other people's input. That's half the battle!

Good luck! :)

Answer 2

Congratulations! I have been both a supervisor and manager myself. The fact that you were selected for the job means that the recruiters saw that you have the ability to do the job so you need to dress, walk, and speak with confidence. You are there to lead. Nobody wants an unsure leader. They will see you as weak and may try to undermine you. You should read the company's procedural manual and follow the rules. This is to protect you as a supervisor. Learn the company's culture.

Be a leader, not a boss. You are the coach of the team. Do not say to your staff "do this ,or else". A great leader is able to influence others (has influencial power rather than coercive power). Show them the big picture. Help them to see how their role contributes to the companys' objectives. Try to learn in detail what each persons job is. If you learn to do their jobs well you will be better able to supervise them so while overseeing them, learn their role. Always try to be where the action is. "Walk the floor" so to speak. Be a model leader.

You might find that you prefer some personalities more than others and this is normal. However, show no favouritism. Treat all as equal....and there will be some who are just obnoxious. Treat them equally well also.

Empathy is very important but not beyond the company's procedures. Listen to your staff. Praise them publicly and reprimand them in private. This is extremely important.

Motivate, motivate, motivate. Always try to find new ways to motivate them. A fun thing to do to make them feel special and to motivate them is to find out their birthdays and send wonderlful e-cards to them. Oh! They will really appreciate that! You can also buy birthday cakes. Once employees feel that you care about them they will be more productive.

Performance reviews are important. Always discuss reviews with employees and suggest ways for improvement. Build the confidence of weaker employees by delegating duties to them that you know will challenge them. Guide them through each duty at first them leave it all up to them. Measure their performance and point out strengths weaknesses. Remember that the chain is as strong s the weakest link. Your is to achieve the company's goals so set deadlines about 3 days or so in advance of what you really want so that you are never behind on a project/job.

Remember to build a team spirit and reward great performances. Encourage low achievers and if you need to fire someone stick to the company's rules and do it.

From time to time you might have challenging situations. Keep a level head and try to be calm. Generate ideas for solutions to each situation and do not be afraid to ask questions of your superiors especially if they have worked in your role before.

Finally, remember that you are an individual with a personality. Blend your personality with your responsibilities. Never try to be a different person. Blend the responsibility of being a great supervisor with the real you and you will succeed. All the best!

Answer 3

So many good suggestions, so little space here. So I will not bore you much but a couple of things.

1. Obviously, you have demonstrated that you can get the job done but do not think in one moment that you can do it better than anyone else. Instead, set your mutual expectation high. Let your people know..." If you expect me to be here anytime you need me and that your pay check is here every friday, what can I reasonably expect out of you"?

2. Let them know you job as manager is different than theirs and that "you expect they do their job better than you do". This will put the monkey back on their back instead of everyone running to you and say "well, what do you want to do? you are the boss". There isn't enough time in a day for you to do everyone's job.

3. Make the habit of them coming to you with a problem but only with a couple of suggestions as well. If they think it through before hand, they usually will solve it better than you do. Otherwise it will be upward deligation all the way. Your job is the get the most out of them, not them out of you.

4. Your office is like an incubator. You hatch eagles and you hatch turkeys. There will be the time when the fletchlings leave the nest. The turkeys will always blame the company for not doing enough for them and the eagles will always say they have done it themselves. Don't take it personally, just do you job.

5. Finally, be the lead horse and always look forward. If you are not the lead horse, the view never changes, you will be looking at a bunch of horses behinds.

Answer 4

First Time Supervisor

Answer 5

I can see from the answers you are not short of good advice, so just a few tips from experience.

The most important rule is the golden rule Treat all employees as you would wish to be treated if you were in their shoes. Remember all of us are more alike than different, so what you would like in respect, discipline, training, etc will also be liked by others.

Basic characteristic of humans is to want to be important. Doing a job well makes then feel worthwhile and hence important. Be optimistic about your employees. Assume each wants to do a good job, and it takes bad management to cause an employee to want to do a poor job. The exception to this will merely prove the rule.

Explain to employee why the job is important and its role in the overall company plans. Provide employees with information and update on comapny progress and developments, new products etc. This is not essential to do the job, but it does help the employee to feel the importance of the contribution and hence own importance. The idea that an employee should be told only what is needed to do the job is counter productive. "need to know" is negative approach.

Keep reminding yourself that HALF the employees are not as smart as you.

You represent the company to the employees. It is therefore vital that you are positive about the company, its objectives and its products.

It is your job to see that company rules are followed. It is therefore vital that you understand each rule and the reason why it is important . Discuss rules with your superior and personnel dept. If you disagree with any rule take up your concern with the appropriate authority , never with employees.

People like to work efficiently. Noone wants to be idle. Organization and overview of work to seek efficiencies is important. You set the example so must do your role effectively.

Experience example . Company coffee break was 10 minutes. If any employee overstayed I marked them late. Senior employee complained that another dept allowed employees to overstay this time so unfair that they could not do so. I explained it was a company rule and as a supervisor I would enforce it. On the other hand if any employee found this too harsh I would approve his/her application to move to the other dept. This was met with horror "Noone would go there . It is too inefficient" she said. I suggested that our efficiency might have a little to do with the fact that we followed the rules. No employee transferred and all met the coffee break rule.

You represent the employees to management. See that each gets proper credit for contributions. Employees suspect [unfortunately with some cause] that the supervisor takes credit for their ideas with management. Having told your boss that an employee came up with a good idea ask your boss to congratulate the employee on it. that way he/she knows she/he got credit and incidentally that it must have been you who told the boss, building trust with the employee.

Training is your job. You should take a "training' course. While doing the work is not your job. since you must train you should learn every job. Technical and content knowledge should be sought. Take all available company supervisor and management courses. You cant know too much about your company its products its marketing and the various functions necessary in the company. Knowledge is power and confidence. confidence is the sine qua non of success ,whether supervising or playing golf.

Seek better ways to do the work in your dept. Supervisors are not generally expected to improve work patterns and organization, but management are, and you would like to take the next step.

Good luck

Answer 6

Learn about your employees, care about them, but remember that no matter how friendly you are, you will always be viewed as "the company" to them. Watch your back by following procedure, but be their voice to upper management. Get support from other supervisors, they can let you know what your culture is. Above all, follow your heart, not politics with your people. Save the politicking for upper management...they are the masters of that domain.

Answer 7

Be consistent..Most important..Do not treat people differently
Be compassionate in that people have issues outside of work which can affect their performance
Be demanding but realistic
Reward good performance
Demand safety ..This is not optional
Never ever lie to people..say you don't know or that you can't say..One lie and you are through
Do not get in shouting matches..Always stay calm
Follow the rules otherwise you set a precedent you can't get out of

Answer 8

I think that the most important management skill you can bring to your job is the ability to Listen and understand your people. Treating your people as you want to be treated by your bosses is something you want to keep in the foremost part of your mind, too. I have always found that once you have your people trained in their jobs, it's a simple matter of just letting them do those jobs. Your most important job is to keep it all flowing smoothly. Communicate, set the example, know the strengths and weakness of your people, and try to have fun!

Good Luck!

Answer 9

Don't "buddy up" with ANYBODY. Strive to be known as FAIR and level headed. Give thought before you take action. The Golden Rule...

Answer 10

Learn from your subordinates, but don't look down on them. Its your job to lead and also to inspire their work. Form a team and you will be able to get them to outperform everyone.

Answer 11

You are not their friend, you are their supervisor. Behave professionally and you will be just fine.