In response to Monday’s post about Nicole and her new supervisory role, we received this comment from Gail.
Just because you place an individual in a leadership or supervisory role does not necessary mean that they are fully prepared. This is especially true for individuals that have moved up the ranks to leadership. They are still working as a worker and not a supervisor or manager. I believe it is important to give leadership and management training to all managers no matter what level they are on for reinforcement. Nicole just needed some leadership training and she could have been more successful a lot sooner.
I find the preparation for most supervisors is non-existent. Most companies don’t have the first clue what they truly expect from their supervisors much less how to train for it. Supervision is a coordinator’s role, juggling materials and schedules, pacing production to meet targets, keeping bottlenecks loaded up front so they’re never idle. Supervision is knowing your team, who is not feeling well today, who busted up with their girlfriend, whose car broke down on the way to work. It is a totally different role than running a machine or doing finish work on a cabinet. Training is more than important. It is essential. More on Nicole tomorrow. -TF
I agree that a supervisor/manager’s role entails knowing what’s going on with your
team. It’s being in touch with the specific details and knowing how to apply the knowledge acquired in just the right way, according to each individual situation that makes a winning team. Leadership is definitely challenging and it’s also what differentiates an individual in a leadership role to one who is not. One thing is sure, behind every good leader, there is a good team-
the leader leads and guides while the team performs, achieves and looks to the leader for the next set of goals.
Gabriela,
You have learned a valuable lesson that most managers don’t get. Most managers think they have to do everything themselves, not understanding that the most valuable thing they can do is to build the team.