From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:
Using Elliott Jaques, Requisite Organization, I can see that we let go two important supervisors earlier this summer. We didn’t have a choice. Our business volume is down and it was necessary to lay them off. The managers in those departments now have daily and weekly responsibilities for production output. They now have to work directly with the production teams. As I look at things now, to me, this looks like the “new normal.” I don’t know if I will ever go back. In fact, we are looking at a couple of other supervisor positions if things don’t turn up.

Response:
Having a manager cover a supervisor role on a temporary basis may be necessary. Requisite Organization helps us understand the difference between the two roles and it helps us understand why this can only be a temporary solution.

We can all accommodate situations for a short period of time and in these times, it is necessary. Long term, however, your manager will become bored with those supervisor responsibilities, attention to detail will slip and you will have some dysfunction on your hands. And that will occur even at a lower volume level.

Your current situation may appear like the “new normal,” but things will change again. You need to discuss the temporary nature of these role assignments, and acknowledge the short Time Span nature of the goals. Also talk about the temporary discipline that will be necessary during this time, to monitor checklists, create schedules and conduct production meetings. That’s what supervisors do.

Also understand, that while your manager is playing the role of the supervisor, your systems are being neglected. If your systems are strong, you will survive this, but you still need to have periodic “system checks” to make sure they are still working.