Skills and Practices in Organizational Supervision
Written by Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC. Copyright 1997-2008.
Adapted from the Field
Guide to Leadership and Supervision.
(This page is referenced from Basic Overview of Supervision and Supervisoral Development.)
NOTE: The following areas of knowledge and skills are typically mentioned among those that should be mastered by supervisors. Note that supervision is a management role -- areas of knowledge and skills required by new managers often include those required by new supervisors.
NOTE: The Basic Guide to Management and Supervision includes overviews of each of the following areas of knowledge and skills, along with links to additional, advanced and free information. Many of the following links are to section of the Guide. Therefore, the reader should consider printing out the Guide for ongoing reference to understand areas of knowledge and skills required by new supervisors and managers.
Sections of This Topic Include:
Using the Following ListsCore Skills in Management and Supervision
Designing the Organization and Staff
Staffing
Employee Training
Employee Performance Management
Personnel Policies
Additional Information for Nonprofits
Additional Knowledge Areas and Skills Required by Nonprofit Supervisors
Using the Following Lists
Some Disagreement About Competencies Need by Supervisors
Most people will agree on what key knowledge, skills and abilities are required to drive a car -- this is not the case with supervisor training. Introductory courses, workshops and seminars on supervision can include a wide range of topics and depend very much on what the designer of the training program believes supervisors should know. These beliefs can vary widely, particularly because: a) trainers have varying opinions about roles of supervisors; and b) the nature of today's workplace is changing to include more, eg, self-managed teams, emphasis on leadership, diversity management, performance management, etc.Some Misunderstandings About Competencies Needed by Supervisors
There are often misunderstandings about the role of supervisors, for example, people mistakenly believe that supervision occurs only with entry-level workers. This belief is incorrect. Chief Executive Officers are supervisors of Chief Financial Officers, and middle-line managers are supervisors of first-line managers, etc.Also, trainers can forget that supervisors are seldom only responsible for supervision. Too often, supervision is carried out "in the background", secondary to getting a product or service out the door. Consequently, supervisory training programs sometimes neglect to include key skills, such as handling burnout, stress management, time management, etc.
Don't Get Hung Up On Categories -- Different People Will Categorize Topics Differently
If the reader had the opportunity to review a wide variety of supervisoral development programs, he or she would notice a wide variety of approaches to categorizing topics. Don't get hung up on the "right" way to categorize the the following topics.
Core Skills in Management and Supervision
Problem Solving and Decision MakingPlanning
Delegation
Basics of Internal Communications
Meeting Management
Managing Yourself
Designing the Organization and Staff
Designing the Organization and StaffStaffing
Defining a New Job RoleHiring (Advertising, Screening and Selecting)
Building Teams
Employee Training
Orienting New EmployeesJob Training
Employee Performance Management
Setting GoalsSupporting Employee Motivation
Observing and Giving Feedback
Conducting Performance Appraisals/Reviews
Addressing Performance Problems
Firing Employees
Personnel Policies
Developing Personnel PoliciesDeveloping an Employee Manual
Sample List of Personnel Policies
Additional Knowledge and Skills Required in Nonprofit Management
FundraisingPublic Policy
Volunteer Management
For the Category of Supervision:
Related Library Topics
Recommended Books
For Supervising Yourself, See
Personal Development -- Related
Books
For Developing Individuals, See
Training and Development
-- Recommended Books
For Supervising Teams, See
Facilitation and Teams -- Related
Books
General Information About Supervising Other Individuals
Field
Guide to Leadership and Supervision in Business
- by Carter McNamara, published by Authenticity Consulting, LLC. Provides step-by-step, highly practical guidelines to recruit, utilize and evaluate the best employees for your business. Includes guidelines to effectively lead yourself (as Board member or employee), other individuals, groups and organizations. Includes guidelines to avoid burnout -- a very common problem among employees of small businesses. Many materials in this Library's topic about staffing are adapted from this book.
Field
Guide to Leadership and Supervision With Nonprofit Staff
- by Carter McNamara, published by Authenticity Consulting, LLC. Provides step-by-step, highly practical guidelines to recruit, utilize and evaluate the best staff members for your nonprofit. Includes guidelines to effectively lead yourself (as Board member or staff member), other individuals, groups and organizations. Includes guidelines to avoid burnout -- a very common problem among nonprofit staff. Many materials in this Library's topic about staffing are adapted from this book.
The following books are recommended because of their highly practical nature and often because they include a wide range of information about this Library topic. To get more information about each book, just hover your cursor over the image of the book. A "bubble" of information will be displayed. You can click on the title of the book in that bubble to get more information, too.
Also See
Human Resources -- Recommended Books
Leadership -- Recommended Books
Management -- Recommended Books
