Types of Supervisory Skills

TechnicalHuman relationsConceptualDecision making

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A supervisor is a manager at the first level of management.

Categorizing the Skills

Technical skills – the specialized knowledge and expertise used to carry out particular techniques or procedures.

Human relation skills – the ability to work effectively with other people.

Conceptual skills – the ability to see the relation of the parts to the whole and to one another.

Decision-making skills – the ability to analyze information and reach good decisions.

Knowledge skills – the ability to utilize various communication technology to manage and distribute continuous streams of data.

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Relative Importance of Types of Skills for Different Levels of Managers

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Supervising a Diverse Workforce

Opportunities and challengesCurrent trends enable supervisors to draw on a greater

variety of talent and gain insights into a greater variety of perspectives than ever before.

The even greater diversity expected in the U.S. workforce of the future requires supervisors to work successfully with a much wider variety of people.

Subtle discriminationSubtle forms of discrimination persist in every

workplace, and everybody holds some stereotypes that consciously or unconsciously influence their behavior.

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General Functions of the Supervisor

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Planning

It is the supervisor’s job to determine the department goals and the ways to meet them.

Organizational goals are the result of planning by top managers.

The purpose of planning by supervisors is to determine how the department can contribute to achieving the organization’s goals.

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Organizing

Planning is the what. Organizing is the how.How to set up the groupHow to allocate resourcesHow to assign work to achieve the goals efficiently

At the supervisory level, organizing usually involves activities such as scheduling projects and assigning duties to employees.

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Staffing

Staffing is the activities involved in identifying, hiring, and developing the necessary number and quality of employees.

A supervisor’s performance depends on the quality of results that the supervisor achieves through his or her employees.

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Leading

The supervisor is responsible for letting employees know what is expected of them and for inspiring and motivating employees to do good work.

Influencing employees to act (or not act) in a certain way is the function of leading.

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Controlling

Monitoring performance and making needed corrections is the management function of controlling.

In many organizations, the supervisor is still responsible for controlling, but he or she works with others to carry out this function.

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Relationships Among the Functions

Usually planning comes first, followed by organizing, then staffing, then leading, and, finally, controlling. This order occurs because each function depends on the preceding function or functions.

Typically, supervisors spend most of their time leading and controlling.

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Supervisor Responsibilities

Carry out the duties assigned to them by higher-level managersGive managers timely and accurate information for

planning

Keep managers informed about the department’s performance

Cooperate with co-workers in other departments

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Responsibilities in a Changing Organization

Today’s supervisors have to be skilled at online as well as face-to-face communication, and they have to be prepared to change as fast as their employers do.

The changes occurring in the modern workplace require supervisors to rely less on their technical expertise and more on their ability to understand, inspire, and build cooperation among people.

Information technology has made it easier for employees to do work in many locations, so supervisors need to motivate and control employees they may not see face to face every day.

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Responsibilities and Accountability

Whatever the responsibilities of a particular supervisor, the organization holds the supervisor accountable for carrying them out.

Accountability refers to the practice of imposing penalties for failing to adequately carry out responsibilities, and it usually includes giving rewards for meeting responsibilities.

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Becoming a Supervisor

An employee with a superior grasp of the technical skills needed to perform well in the department.

A person with the most seniority.An employee with good work habits and

leadership skills.Recent college graduates.

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Typical candidates to be made supervisors:

Preparing for the Job

Learn about management through books and observation.

Learn as much as possible about the organization, the department, and the job.

Once on the job, continue the learning process.

Acknowledge another person’s feelings if they were also a candidate for the position.

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Obtaining and Using Power and Authority

Have the new supervisor’s boss make an official announcement of the promotion.

State your expectations, desire to work as a team, and interest in hearing about work-related problems.

Don’t rush to make changes in the department.

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Characteristics of a Successful Supervisor

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