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What Great Supervisors Know

By Greg Schinkel

Published by:

Unique Training & Development Inc.

148 York Street

London, Ontario, Canada N6A 1A9

info@uniquedevelopment.com

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

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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.

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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.

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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

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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?”

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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?”

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.”

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.