Roger Fulton - Common Sense Supervision: A Handbook for Success as a Supervisor

Chapter One
Introduction

Chapter Two
You and the Organization

Chapter Three
You As A Supervisor

Chapter Four
Winning Respect

Chapter Five
Winning Confidence

Chapter Six
Winning Loyalty

Chapter Seven
Preventing & Handling Problems

Chapter Eight
Administration

Appendix I
25 Traits of Excellent Supervisors

Appendix II
25 Traits of Poor Supervisors

Appendix III
25 Common Mistakes Made by New Supervisors

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

Common Sense is instinct, and enough of it is genius.

Josh Billings

T HE ANSWER to that question is that most people can succeed as a supervisor. But, just as with success in anything, it will require knowledge, training, experience and a great deal of effort on your part. Other people can help you, but it is you who must put forth the effort to succeed.

In addition to having the common sense to pick up this book, you already have completed several steps toward your success.

1. Your superiors already have faith in your abilities to be a supervisor since they have given you that title.

2. You probably already have a great deal of knowledge and experience in your own industry which can give you insight into future problems and solutions.

3. You already have a positive attitude toward your work and your company since you have put forth the effort to be successful in your career thus far.

Given these assets, it should not be difficult for you to build on them and to reach true success as a supervisor of others.

Supervising the work activities of other people can be a rewarding and satisfying experience. It can give you the opportunity to coordinate the activities of several people, or several groups of people, and to ultimately see the fruits of their efforts turn into a fully developed final product. One which no single person could produce alone.

In order to ultimately experience the satisfaction and rewards of your position, you must also experience the difficulties and the frustrations of dealing with your employees. Their problems, frustrations and failures can result in trying times for both of you. Helping both of you to avoid, or work through, those trying times is the purpose of this book.

Dozens of ideas, proven concepts and solutions are presented on the following pages. They are presented in a practial, concise, common sense form so that you can start using them tomorrow to be the best supervisor that you can be. It should be noted, however, that this text does not tell you how to handle every situation. That would be impossible since every situation, every employee and every supervisor is different.

Given this, the key to successful supervision is your ability to handle the unique and unusual situations which will confront you throughout your career. The material contained in this book will give you guidelines to follow for success, but it is you, and you alone, who must use these guidelines, and your own common sense, when handling each new and challenging situation.

CHAPTER TWO: YOU AND THE ORGANIZATION

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.

John Donne

A S A SUPERVISOR, you are responsible for the activities and performance of others, not just for your own performance.

Your job is now less defined with more gray areas.

Your time will be at a premium. Initially, you will feel that there are barely enough hours in the day to get everything done.

You will tend to take the job home with you morenot just paperwork, but the problems of the day as well.

You must learn to be a buffer between your own supervisors and your employees. Both sides have their own goals, desires and needs. Your job is to keep them both reasonably happy and satisfied while keeping yourself happy and satisfied as well.

Sound difficult? A little overwhelming? Relax!

Its easier than you think and it is well worth the effort.

The executive exists to make sensible exceptions to general rules.

Elting E. Morison

Even if you are not a true Executive, the quality of your life has substantially increased by becoming a supervisor.

People will have more respect for you since you have advanced in your job.

Your paycheck will go up considerably.

You will probably be getting better fringe benefits; more insurance, longer vacations.

You will be treated much better by upper level management. Youll have better access to the boss and youll be able to assist in policy-making decisions.

Enjoy those benefits!

You have earned them and you will continue to earn them, everyday.

Each honest calling, each walk of life, has its own elite, its own aristocracy based upon excellence of performance.

James Bryant Conant

This is priority one! He/she can make your life very difficult or very easy.

Here are a few rules to follow:

1. Dont take up too much of his/her time; just enough to get the information and guidance you need.

2. Dont be afraid of the boss. The boss needs you as much as you need the boss. Remember that their job is to get things done through peopleand you are one of those people.

3. Keep in mind that all bosses are people and all people have quirks. Therefore, all bosses have quirks. Learn them and heed them. Itll be to your advantage.

4. Never embarrass the boss; intentionally or accidentally.

If you can get along with the boss, youve gone a long way toward success as a supervisor.

He who has never learned to obey, cannot be a good commander.

Aristotle

Defined: This is the underground! The informal employee power structure. It is made up of regular workers who are respected by other workers for their experience, their knowledge or their connections. They control the pipeline for the informal rumors and information among the employees.

Handle this informal organization, or it will handle you. It can make you or break you depending on what is said by you and about you.

How do you handle it? By being fair and up front with all of your employees, with specific attention to the informal leaders. Just treat them right in their jobs and let them know whats going oninformally, of course. Then they will spread the truth about you and the organization rather than circulating false rumors and innuendos.

If youre fair to all, youll fare well.

The first and great commandment is: Dont let them scare you.