Nicole was still stymied over our discussion about the role of the supervisor. “But if I am not actively working on the line with everyone else, I don’t feel like I have accomplished anything at the end of the day.”

“Nicole, let’s talk about the value-add of the supervisor. While your team members do the work, your job is to make sure the work gets done. The value you bring to the party as the supervisor is that the work is complete, at the target volume, at the defined quality standard and on time. To make that happen, your job is to schedule the appropriate materials, schedule the appropriate team members and make sure the right machines are available. Your value-add is consistency, thoroughness (no gaps) and completeness (the job gets finished).

“The Mom and Pop just starting out doesn’t have to worry about that stuff. They just have to finish today’s job for today’s customer. As organizations grow, as volume increases and there are more customers than you can count with fingers and toes, these are the issues that make or break a company. Is the right volume of product (or service) produced, of consistent quality, on time? Successful supervisors are responsible for taking the organization to that next level. It is a different sense of accomplishment, yet critical for the company to grow.” -TF

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

Nicole was complaining. Her department was behind. She was working 10-12 hours per day and could never seem to get ahead. She thought her boss should appreciate her efforts and hard work, but instead, she got quite the opposite. He was disappointed in her performance and intended to follow-up on her numbers every two weeks instead of once a month.

“What am I supposed to do?” she said. “I get here an hour early and leave an hour after my team has gone home. It seems, they are always pulling me into the weeds. I just can’t get anything done.”

“Tell me about the weeds part. How does your team drag you into the weeds?”

“They always need help. I try to work alongside them for most of the day, but then I cannot get my stuff done.”

“Then, stop!” I said. “You are the supervisor. You are there to make sure the work gets done, NOT to work alongside your team. If they have a problem, help them through it, but then get back to your responsibilities. You are supposed to do production counts three times during your shift so you can know if you are ahead or behind. That’s your job. Your team is not meeting its daily production and they don’t even know it.”

I continued, “I will be back tomorrow. I want to see the 10 o’clock count and the 2:30 count posted on the white board. We will work from there.” -TF

In response to Wednesday’s post, Sean writes:

How does someone make this leap from technician to manager? I see it all the time in IT, and I think it’s why there are so many bad managers out there. Isn’t this the Peter Principle, where people are promoted to their level of incompetence?

It’s more than a leap. It is a completely different skill set. The technician is an expert in a technical skill. The technician does the work.

One stratum above is the supervisor. The supervisor does NOT do the work. The supervisor makes sure the work is done; completely, accurately, no missing segments and on time. The tools of the supervisor are checklists and schedules. This is not a subtle concept and most companies don’t get it.

The role of the supervisor is coordination. It is not that people are promoted to their level of incompetence. Brilliant technicians are promoted to a role where they are expected to use a skill set they have not developed and the company is not prepared to train. There are so many bad managers out there because companies do not know how to train managers. -TF