We believe that the supervisory level of management is most critical to the success of an organization. This is where many organizations either succeed or fail.
Supervisory training requires more than a series of generic or "feel good" programs. It requires mastery of organizational skills that are unique to this level of management. The emphasis in this program is on the role and accountabilities of a supervisor as a member of the management team – and the concepts and skills necessary to carry them out.
THE PROGRAM IS DESIGNED FOR:
Supervisors, both new and experienced
Have you found the roles and accountabilities of supervisors to be vague and confusing?
Would a customized list of supervisory job duties help enhance your understanding of the position and improve your performance as a supervisor?
Would you like some help on how to play the "buffer" role between your work group and upper management?
Is improving the performance of your work group important to you?
The Supervisor as a Member of Management is designed specifically to clarify your supervisory roles and accountabilities and to enhance contribution to the management team. The course presents concepts and skills that will bolster your working relationship with your work group and with upper management.
At the end of this workshop, you will be able to:
*Introduction and overview of course content; brief descriptions of the major topics – the organizational role of the supervisor, the supervisor as head of a work group, lateral coordination with other units, and the supervisor’s role as a member of management
*The organizational role of the supervisor; case study to identify and define supervisors, managers, lead workers, top management, and staff specialists
*Open discussion to identify the unique role of supervisors as being the managements "experts" in the methods and techniques of the work they supervise; managers as being the "experts" in the methods and techniques of supervision and as being accountable for internal management; top management as being accountable for external management
*Identify the unique knowledges (plural intended) and skills that must exist at each management level
*Explain the reasons why these unique knowledges and skills must exist and the prices paid by the organization if they don’t
*Group exercise to distinguish between the duties of the supervisor and those of a manager; seeing that the work gets out vs seeing that it can get out
*The Supervisor as head of a work group; case study to establish how competing pressures and priorities in the operating environment effect supervisory performance; the concept of "really wants vs hope fors" as perceived by the supervisor’s work group
*Identifying the duties of a supervisor; a complete job description for supervisors based on job duties and accountabilities; group work to personalize the description for each class member
*Discussion of the non-supervisory demands on the supervisor’s time; pie chart to illustrate such demands as "boss-imposed activities", fire-fighting, and "administrivia"; supervisory time reduced as non-supervisory demands increase
*Routine vs pay-off duties; routine duties are ones that must be accomplished; pay-off duties are not demanded but, if done, will produce performance improvements; time demands for non-supervisory duties decrease time available for pay-off activities
*Creating a "Causal Atmosphere" as a means of setting and maintaining priorities and for assuring on-going attention by the work group to implementing pay-off duties; using the power of the informal environment
*Group discussion to select a sample pay-off duty and utilize the Causal Atmosphere concept to create a plan for planning and implementing the pay-off duty
Return to The Supervisor as a Member of Management Page*Lateral Coordination; actions a supervisor can take to establish smooth relationships with interdependent work groups
*Discussion of studies that identify the supervisor’s image of influence as a strong factor effecting the performance of his or her work group; work groups that perceive their supervisors to be influential tend to be more productive.
*Working with staff and support groups; case study illustrating the consequences when line/staff relationships are not well established
*Line/staff relationships; who is accountable for what when utilizing staff services; the organizational prices paid when staff functions are misused or accountabilities are not clearly defined; one of the prices has a direct bearing on the supervisor’s image of influence
*The supervisor’s role as a member of management; playing the "buffer role" as the interface between the work group and management; representing workers to management and management to the workers
*How might this "buffer role" effect the image of influence of the supervisor?; group exercise on getting back-up from the boss; some common mistakes that makes it difficult to get backing; factors to consider when making decisions or recommendations to the boss
*Case study on obstacles to supervision; some common obstacles and techniques for preventing and overcoming them; discussion serves as a summary of the workshop