Basic Overview of Supervision
Written by Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC. Copyright 1997-2008.
Adapted from the Field
Guide to Leadership and Supervision.
There are several interpretations of the term "supervision", but typically supervision is the activity carried out by supervisors to oversee the productivity and progress of employees who report directly to the supervisors. For example, first-level supervisors supervise entry-level employees. Depending on the size of the organization, middle-managers supervise first-level supervisors, chief executives supervise middle-managers, etc. Supervision is a management activity and supervisors have a management role in the organization.
Occasionally, writers will interchange "leadership" and "supervision". Both activities are closely related. Supervision requires leadership. Leadership does not necessarily have to involve supervision.
NOTE: There are two closely related topics in the library, including Management (Introduction) and Leadership (Introduction).
Suggested Previous Reading Introduction to Management
Gaining Broad Understanding of Supervision
One Definition of SupervisionTypical Experience of a First-time Supervisor
Typical Responsibilities of a Supervisor
Typical Roles of a Supervisor
What Do Supervisors Do?
Core Skills in Management and SupervisionDesigning the Organization and Staff
Staffing
Employee Training
Employee Performance Management
Personnel Policies
Basic Guide to Management and Supervision
Basic Guide to Management, Leadership and Supervision (html format)General Advice (Tips, etc.)
Various Suggestions for Knowledge and Skills Needed by 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
