Last week, I spent a lot of time with Nicole, a new supervisor in her company, talking about the difference between actually doing the work (what she used to do) and making sure the work got done (her new role). It was Nicole’s new job to coordinate people and materials, to pace production so that, at the end of the day, her team met its target goals.

It was interesting. One reason Nicole was having difficulty with her new role, is that her manager was doing it for her. Her manager was still doing the counting, still doing the scheduling, making sure things were efficient. His name was Lawrence.

It was time for me to have a conversation with Lawrence.

“Lawrence, you have been a manager now, for how long?”

“Two months. It’s really different, but it seems like a lot. Not only am I doing all the stuff I was doing before, but now I have new stuff to do on top of that.”

“Who said you were supposed to keep all the tasks you were doing before?” I queried.

“Well, my boss said I was still responsible for scheduling the people and making sure the materials were ordered. He said if we didn’t meet our daily targets, my butt was still on the line,” defended Lawrence.

“Okay, I understand. And does that mean you are the person who actually has to make up the workload schedule?”

“Yeah, but if it’s wrong, I am still in trouble.”

“Lawrence, do you have to create it to make sure it is right, or do you just have to check it to make sure it is right?”

Lawrence knew the answer, but it was tough to get him to say it. The toughest thing to do as a new manager is to stop being the supervisor. -TF