Training & Development
Are You Supervisor Material?
Pitchcare Trainer and Motivational Speaker Frank Newberry looks at the difference between ‘supervisors’ and ‘managers’ and explores some of what it takes to be a good supervisor in the sector
How many supervisors are really just ‘good workers’?
How much longer groundcare and turfcare people will let managers from other sectors take charge of them rather than step up to the managerial role themselves?
This two-part article is for you if you are already in supervision or management or you aspire (one day) to be in supervision and/or management. Part II (in the next edition) is a companion piece and is called ‘Are you Management Material?’
I vividly recall being told once, by a senior manager, that I would “make a good manager”. I was already a junior manager at the time - one level above supervisor in a large organisation - so this unexpected comment was encouraging to me.
When I asked the person why he felt that I would make a good manager, I got a pretty snappy three-part response that went something like this:
You will make a good manager because: 1. You are a lazy bast**d!
2. You avoid work and, whenever possible, get someone else to do things for you,
3. You are good at spotting people with potential so that they get promoted to supervisor level and take even more work off you!
I did not know whether to feel complimented or insulted
At the time, I did not know whether to feel complimented or insulted. What the person said was at least partly true, so I guess I felt both flattered and offended. I would probably have preferred being told that I had an “aptitude for management”. The feedback was in a way prophetic in that it was an early building block in the later construction of a career in training and consulting.
I wonder what senior managers are saying about you - to your face and behind your back? And what impact will their words have on your future career?
148 I PC AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015
It is not difficult for people to form opinions about us - it is whether those opinions are what we want to hear! For example, it is my privilege to work on a number of voluntary committees in the local community. We meet regularly and, as you would expect over time, we have got to know each other a little bit.
It is not difficult to spot the supervisors
What stands out in these meetings is how a person’s occupation and background comes out in what they say, what they volunteer for and the way they prefer to make decisions and solve problems. It is not difficult to spot the supervisors, the senior managers and the good workers who volunteer and give up their time for a deserving cause. These personal characteristics inevitable inform the way the committees delegate responsibility to individuals.
So, what are you like? What do people THINK you are like, and do you have an aptitude for supervision?
I am afraid that job titles may not help you discover the truth about yourself. Many supervisors are called managers in their organisations, and there are even firms that refer to their senior operational managers as supervisors.
Let us try and define a couple of terms here. If you have an aptitude for ‘management’ then you will feel comfortable making significant decisions about what work is going to be done, e.g. contracting out services to other organisations and for what price.
You will feel comfortable making significant decisions
If you have an aptitude for ‘supervision’ then you will feel comfortable making significant decisions about how work is going to be done, e.g. manually, mechanically, one person alone, in small teams etc.
Good managers are comfortable deriving work objectives, whilst supervisors are happy deciding how to do the work needed to achieve those objectives. Managers do not mind being seen as people who impose
targets on others and good supervisors quickly adapt to being the ones who get the work team to achieve someone else’s targets!
Supervisors often perform the same kind of work that the team members do; whereas managers do not do the daily work of the team as a regular part of their work.
Supervisors, most often, have been promoted from doing operational work, e.g. groundsman or greenkeeper and, because of their experience and skill, have become adept at solving work problems.
Managers, who may come from a different work background, are usually only involved in work problem solving on an exceptional basis, or when needed to resolve the most difficult work problems. This can often be when they have to 'sign-off' or approve a solution recommended by a supervisor. In many organisations only a senior manager may have the authority or rank to take certain important decisions.
This way of working can cause organisations to promote their ‘good workers’ - hard working, skilled and dependable staff - into supervisory roles, often because they want to retain the person as a worker and as a work problem solver.
The pay rise that comes with the promotion helps employers to buy some loyalty and hold on to these ‘good workers and, by retaining their services, they hope to continue to maintain a high standard of work performance.
I have personally met many supervisors who have no aptitude
You will have already noticed that the problem here is that the ‘good worker’ is really being promoted to retain his or her services, not because s/he will make a good supervisor. I have personally met many supervisors who have no aptitude (suitability) for leadership, and some even avoid contact with people! Thankfully, these are a small minority.
The majority of supervisors I have met and
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164