The Most Important Skills for Supervisors

Sarah:  “Welcome Keera and thank you so much for joining us today.”

Keera Godfrey: “Great, thank you so much Sarah.”

Keera Godfrey: “Welcome to the Most Important Skills for Supervisors webinar. I am Keera Godfrey and I have the pleasure of being your presenter for this session. Before I begin, I would like to take a brief poll about my audience today to learn a little bit more about you. So tell me, what is your current job role? Are you A) an aspiring supervisor; B) a supervisor; C) a manager; D) a director or above; or E) are you from the L&D, the learning and development community or are you responsible for training? Please let me know.”

Keera Godfrey: “Good. Wonderful. Okay. All right, good response. Perfect. I can close the poll right now, thank you for your response. I see that we have … it’s great to see so many people from the organizational leadership role as a supervisor or above. Wonderful, yes. I think you’ll walk away with a few nuggets today, at the end of our time. I see some aspiring supervisors and some from the L&D community. Perfect. Excellent.”

Keera Godfrey: “Welcome, all of you. I think you’ll definitely be able to carve out a good path to your career for those aspiring supervisors, and for the L&D community, I think at the end of this, you’ll really see this as a resource for developing your internal teams.”

Keera Godfrey: “Here’s our agenda for today. We’ll first talk about a proven supervisory skills model and the 5 key supervisory skills needed for success. As I present each skill to you, I will begin with an application scenario, so that will be an opportunity for you to get engaged in this presentation. I will present the situation and then we’ll talk about the best actions. Our agenda today also includes a discussion about supervisory dos and don’ts, and we’ll also talk about some skill improvement tips. We will end with how to identify your supervisor strengths and weaknesses, based on the supervisory assessment tool, designed by HRDQ. If I stick to my agenda today, we will definitely have time for question and answers.”

Keera Godfrey: “Let’s begin. I’m going to begin with another poll, just looking at the scenario here. You have just been given an award for excellence in supervision for 2017, so last year. The award was created and voted on by your employees. What do you think makes excellence in supervision?”

Keera Godfrey: “If you can answer that, you can put an answer in your chat room. What do you think makes excellence supervision? A) technical expertise, or B) excellent relationships? The correct answer is excellent relationships. Most people are promoted to supervisory level because of their technical skills, and that’s since they know the job very well. However, supervisory skills are very different than the technical skills to complete a job.”

Keera Godfrey: “Research has shown that the ability to cultivate excellent relationships is an attribute of an effective supervisor. This includes building relationships with employees, the organization, and even vendors. Let’s talk about that a little bit more.”

Keera Godfrey: “For a moment, I want you to think about a supervisor that you’ve had in the past, or even in your past experience being a supervisor yourself. I’m certain you can attest to the fact that, to be an effective supervisor does seem like a balancing act. The role of the supervisor is first to align the goals of the organization, to align with the goals of the organization as you see here. Those goals can be to increase production, to increase sales, whatever the case may be. While you’re doing that, another role of the supervisor is to address the needs of the work group. Those can be, as you’re responsible for training, maybe your work group needs a performance improvement, or even there may be a need to balance paid time off and managing the resources that you have.”

Keera Godfrey: “Of course, there will always be a situation where you have to resolve conflict. In doing this, you see where it becomes a balancing act. You’re balancing the goals of the organization along with the needs of the work group. In essence, you’re being asked to do this along with that we are in the era now of increasing government regulations. They’re much more sophisticated technology. There’s a movement across cross-functional teams now in most organizations. Of course, as we work with Millennials and diverse organizations and some employees having a feeling of whether it may be entitlement or … even nowadays employees are much more educated than we’ve had in the past, so as a supervisor, there are many skills that you would have to develop in order to be effective in today’s environment.”

Keera Godfrey: “Despite these changes, the basic function of a supervisor remains the same. Getting the work done through the efforts of others. We’re going to talk about this skills that you can develop to do that a little bit better.”

Keera Godfrey: “Making the transition to an effective supervisor requires shifting of your attitude and increased ability to perceive the emotions of your direct reports, as well as to manage your own emotions. Here is a supervisory skills model that we will discuss over our time together. Look carefully at this diagram. It tells a story about the supervisor’s need to balance, or function, as they link between the organization’s management and the employees.”

Keera Godfrey: “As a supervisor, you’re responsible, you’re accountable to management for completing the work according to expectations, and you are accountable to your direct reports. If you look here in this model as a supervisor, you will use the direction from the organization, the direction from the business, to perform your job. As you’re taking that direction, you’re being able to translate it or align it to organize the work, guide the work, develop your direct reports, manage performance formally and informally, and of course, manage relationships with several teams outside of your work group as well. You’re doing that, transferring that, to the work group.  It goes from the direction from the business and you’re now fine tuning these five skills to be able to translate that information to your work group that work can be done.”

Keera Godfrey: “These are the five essential supervisory skills that the more effective supervisors demonstrate in the workplace. Let’s explore these a little bit more.”

Keera Godfrey: “As a supervisor, your view of work must be broader than the view of your employees. Effective supervisors must be able to guide the work group towards organizational goals in such a way that employees know their needs are not being ignored or forsaken. Let’s talk about this a little bit more, guiding the work.”

Keera Godfrey: “Here’s a scenario. A project your group received about three weeks ago seems stalled, even though your group knows more important … knows that it’s important to your best customer. So it’s stalled, your group knows that it’s important to your best customer. You decide to have a talk with your group about what the problem is. How would you start the discussion? A) would you tell your group that you need to know what’s going on with the project? Tell them you will accept whatever changes they suggest; B) would you start by stating clearly that this project must be completed, then discuss their expectations for completion, and your expectations as well; or C) would you tell the group that the project is now a top priority and give them a completion date? Please take about 15 seconds to drop your answers in the chat.”

Keera Godfrey: “Okay. Let’s see what we have. All right, the answer is B. You will start by stating clearly that this project must be completed, then discuss the expectations for completion, as well as your expectations. Guiding the work involves taking the direction of the organization, and again, translating it into actionable plans for the work group. Being an effective supervisor means understanding the bigger picture, which includes the goals of the organization. Like we talked about before, that direction from the business. Then, taking the [inaudible 00:11:17] to set clear expectations as to how the work will be carried out. This is not always an easy feat for a supervisor, particularly new supervisors, especially that before, you were a part of the work group, and now you’re in a position where now you’re the liaison between the business and that work group. It can be quite difficult to do, but that’s what we’re here today, to develop the skills to do that.”

Keera Godfrey: “Although it may be challenging at times, any direction a supervisor provides has to be supportive of the organization. That’s one of the keys I’m going to talk about a lot throughout this conversation, is supporting the organization. Everything has to align back to the goals of the organization. This means fostering an environment in which the employees are encouraged to collaborate and feel empowered to develop creative solutions to sometimes complex problems. Failure to empower employees can lead to decreased performance, of course, something we don’t want, which is increased turnover. Got to set the clear expectations from the start, and the discussion must include the team’s commitment.”

Keera Godfrey: “Now let’s talk about some dos and don’ts.  As a supervisor, you must understand the needs of the organization, and then effectively create plans within your group’s work, to meet those needs. Here are a few dos and don’ts. I want you to support the organizational goals. Get your employees involved in the planning process, and gain commitments to those action plans. Act decisively.  Employees’ work depends on the supervisor’s decision. Lagging and wavering could affect workflow and, to be honest, it’s simply a poor example. You want to definitely act decisively. Make plans with specific progress review dates. Plans are necessary to translate intentions into actions.”

Keera Godfrey: “As we go through this, let’s talk about some don’ts. Don’t tell employees that you disagree with management positions. Again, before becoming a supervisor, you may have been part of the work group and so when it’s time to talk, perhaps you may not have been speaking favorably about management. Now you’re a part of management, so please make sure that you don’t tell employees that you disagree with management. Again, the whole purpose is you’re aligning, now you’re in a position where you’re required to align with the organization and support the goals of the organization. Again, don’t consistently prepare detailed plans without consulting your employees. Make sure your employees are involved in the planning process.”

Keera Godfrey: “Don’t put off making decisions until you ensure that they are all perfect. It’s never going to be perfect. Sometimes you have to make decisions with what you have. Again, if you’re involved [inaudible 00:14:25] the employees, then that helps you make a better decision, the more people that are involved in the process. Again, don’t fail to assign responsibility of tasks. We’re going to talk a little bit about delegation. Keep that in mind. Don’t fail to align responsibility … to assign responsibility for tasks.”

Keera Godfrey: “Now let’s talk about some skill improvement tips, as it relates to guiding the work. Make it clear with your work group that you support the organization and its goals. Also provide direction even when in unfamiliar areas. Balance asking for information and acting decisively. Plan in advance. Being able to set a work plan. Who, what, how. A work plan is going to be quite important as it relates to guiding the work and guiding your work group through a process. Create specific and realistic plans. Plans are necessary to translate intentions into actions. Whatever strategy the supervisor decides, whatever you decide, it must be clearly defined, well understood by employees, and unmistakably communicated. Gain commitment by actively involving your work group. I can’t stress that enough. Without specific commitment, so their action plans, understanding the goals of the organization’s no good. We need to be able to have those plans so you can translate again intentions into actions.”

Keera Godfrey: “Let’s move on to our second supervisory skill. This involves assigning the right people to the right tasks, and providing necessary resources to meet work goals. This second skill is called organizing the work. Shifting organizational priorities and business transformation, and many companies are transforming and going through the business transformations to be competitive in the marketplace. In order to do that, it often necessitates, or is necessary, to consistently reorganize the work. With this change comes opportunity and there is cost associated with it. As a supervisor with responsibilities to the organization, you must consider the impact to the bottom line. The primary consideration for organizing or reorganizing the work is the effect on the organization. Again, I will always stress that it’s always working, all these skills must align with the organization and looking at how this is impact the organization.”

Keera Godfrey: “As supervisors, in the midst of all these changes, you must keep needs of your direct reports in line as well. You’re organizing the work based on the direction from the organization, as well as keeping the needs of your direct reports in mind. Let’s have a quick exercise about organizing the work.”

Keera Godfrey: “Here’s another scenario for you. Get ready, I hope you’re paying attention here. You have appointed one of your people as the leader for a project, but it’s clear that another employee is really seen as the leader by the group. The project is progressing well, but it worries you that the leadership is not where you want it to be. What would you do? A) would you make it clear to the group who is the leader and who you support, and don’t tolerate other sources of leadership; B) appoint the leader who has the group’s support as the formal project leader; or C) don’t interfere. Take about fifteen minutes to jot your … fifteen seconds, sorry, to jot your answer in the chat. ” 

Keera Godfrey: “Thank you. The correct answer is C. Don’t interfere. Supervisors are part of a hierarchy in the organization that they work. Working within the hierarchy is critical, however, as the supervisor, to have an awareness of these unspoken hierarchy, also known as the informal organization. The informal organization can have a strong impact on the organization of work, and often exceeding the effectiveness of some prearranged cross-functional teams, and that’s happened in many cases. When it is in line with the formal organization, the supervisor should simply let it be. Don’t interfere. Fighting the informal organization is often, and many of you can attest to this, can be fruitless work. As a supervisor, you should intervene only when the informal organization is working against the formal hierarchy. The need to intervene will be less frequent if you encourage a culture of transparency, trust, and teamwork. An informal leadership, in most cases, is not harmful. The answer is do not interfere.”

Keera Godfrey: “Let’s talk again about some dos and don’ts in the area of organizing the work. As a supervisor, you should develop a necessary skills to assign people and allocate resources to accomplish work goals. To be most effective and maximize employee engagement, I encourage you to understand what motivates your employees. Be sensitive to their needs, and actively listen. Also, I encourage you to seek their feedback. Let’s look at some dos here.”

Keera Godfrey: “Set schedules to meet the organization goals. Use others’ expertise to organize when necessary. Keep track of what’s going on in the informal organization. Involve others if you have to reorganize. Organizing the work efficiently often requires the assistance of people who may be more knowledgeable than you in that particular area. These people may often be within or even outside your work group. It’s okay.”

Keera Godfrey: “Here are some don’ts. Don’t accept work changes without question. Meaning that, ask questions. You’re the supervisor, you’re in a position of leadership. If you’re asking your work group to perform a task, be able to ask questions and be able to take that information to your work group. Don’t show favoritism or fail to assign unpleasant tasks. There are many times and situations, especially for you supervisors who have, again, been a part of the work group, if they know something is unfavorable, they may take on those tasks themselves. Don’t do that. Don’t fail to assign responsibility for necessary tasks. Whether it’s unpleasant and whether it’s necessary, it’s okay to go ahead and again, delegate or assign those tasks to others, and we’ll talk again about delegation. Don’t try to have complete knowledge of every aspect of the work. It’s okay. There may be some others who may be knowledgeable, more knowledgeable than you are in a particular area, and the skill of the supervisors being able to leverage that knowledge within your team and organizing the work accordingly.”

Keera Godfrey: “Let’s move on to some skill improvement tips as it relates to organizing the work. Handle shifting priorities, quickly investigate unforeseen problems, and solve them. Consult employees to gain complete knowledge of the work. Follow the rules, regulations, and guidelines of the organization. Again, I’ll say this again, and all of this has to be in line with the organization and to support the organizational goals. Depending on the industry, there’re going to be rules, regulations, and guidelines, and making sure that as you organize the work, it also aligns with those. Also, another tip is to accommodate the needs of your work group when they are not in direct conflict with the organization’s needs. Again, this a part of the balancing act which we’re talking about.”

Keera Godfrey: “Let’s move on to the third supervisory skill, which involves knowing and actively working to increase the skill level of each employee being supervised. This third skill is called developing your direct reports or developing your staff. A supervisor who is aware of the unique features of each direct report in the work group will be best equipped to help them meet their potential, and that’s what you want to do. As a supervisor, there’s a skill in being able to develop others.”

Keera Godfrey: “Hope you’re ready and paying attention here. Let’s talk about another scenario. Let’s see what you have to say here. You believe that one of the people you supervise has the potential to be promoted, but that person lacks confidence in his or her abilities. How would you build his or her confidence? Please add your answer to the chat box. Would you A) give the employee a challenging assignment you are sure he or she can complete with some effort; would you B) give the employee an easy assignment, and then praise him or her when the assignment is completed; or C) praise the employee publicly each time he or she completes an assignment? Please add your answer to the chat box.”

Keera Godfrey: “Great. Thank you so much for your participation today. The correct answer is A. Give the employee a challenging assignment that you are sure he or she can complete with some effort. This creates more engagement and a greater self-esteem on the completion. Investing in an employee’s development takes commitment, it takes trust, and a well defined objective. Clearly establish action plans and follow through by both you and the employee. Delegating work to employees, create more engagement, and build the skill base for organizing. Of course it frees you to develop your own skills. It’s okay to delegate to employees, because it’s helping to build them up.”

Keera Godfrey: “Further more, if you assign these tasks or this work as perceived as challenging and engaging, and it aligns with the employee’s underlying interest, you can boost productivity. You can boost company’s morale, and you give, again, you give those employees a greater sense of self-esteem on the completion of those tasks. Definitely you want to give the employee a challenging assignment that you are sure he or she can complete with some effort.”

Keera Godfrey: “Let’s move on here to a few dos and don’ts as it relates to developing your staff. Developing direct reports involves increasing a skill level of each employee by learning his or her strengths, and then assigning tasks according to those strengths that need to be developed. As you’re doing that through delegating work, you should start by organizing the task, and then choosing an employee who is willing and able to develop the skill to complete the task. Here are a few dos and don’ts as you go about doing that.”

Keera Godfrey: “Delegate work that develops your employee’s skills. This is intentional work, this is necessary work that you know will develop an employee’s skill. Do get to know employees on an individual basis. You have to know your employees. This doesn’t always have to be a formal process, and there are many things you can do to have discussion groups with your employees or team building exercise. Keep employees informed about the status of the request, any requests that they make for. They may come to you and say they prefer or they would like to be on a certain career track, or they have a few career goals they want to discuss with you. Keep those in mind, and make that a part of how you develop your staff. Make your expectations for results clear when you do delegate the tasks.”

Keera Godfrey: “Let’s talk about a few don’ts. Don’t complete tasks yourself because they require effort to teach others. In the supervisory role, you automatically become a teacher. You automatically become a coach. In some cases, you automatically become a mentor. You want to be able to delegate those tasks. Don’t treat employees as a group rather than individuals. In the case of supervisors, you almost have to see the trees and the forest at the same time. You have to see a group, but then also see each individual employee. Don’t forget to tell employees about the status of their request, again. Also, don’t delegate only to people who already have the skill for a task. As you’re developing your employees, you really want to look at who needs to be developed in a particular area and just because somebody already has the skill, it will be easier to give them the work to do. However, as a supervisor, you’re developing your staff, so want to give those opportunities to somebody who may need those skills as well.”

Keera Godfrey: “All right. Let’s move on to some tips here. Tips on developing your staff. Take time to delegate. Supervisors who refuse to do this, who refuse to delegate, you’re robbing your direct reports of an opportunity to perform. Delegate work that develops employee skills and that does not require your formal authority. It’s okay to delegate the work, ask them to do it, set clear expectations. Delegate to employees who need development, and are willing to be developed. Provide clear expectations, and follow up regularly. Set challenging and realistic goals for your work group.”

Keera Godfrey: “We’re moving at a steady pace here, I think we’ll definitely get to some of your questions at the end. The fourth supervisory skill involves removing the obstacles to better performance so employees can meet their own organization’s objectives … their own objectives as well as those of the organization. The obstacles to employee performance can be found both within the employee and in the work environment itself. To be an effective supervisor, you must be mindful of being able to manage the obstacles in both areas. Again, the obstacles can be within the employee themself, their confidence, or their ability or skills, and also in the environment, the work environment. Maybe there’s an obstacle with the resources. We want to be able to balance those and help to remove those obstacles so you can manage performance. Managing performance, like all the other supervisory skills we’ve talked about so far, is a daily task that requires you to remain aware of each individual employee. You have to know what performance is required, and then what skills they have and how to fill that performance gap.”

Keera Godfrey: “All right, are you ready? Let’s have another scenario here. Tell me what you think. One of your employees is always just a little bit late completing his or her assigned tasks. It hasn’t really affected the work, but it annoys others. What would you do? Would you A) schedule a formal performance review meeting with the employee and document it; B) tell others in your group to work around it, because it’s only a minor problem, or would you C) have a short, informal meeting in which you tell this employee about the impact of the problem and discuss solutions. Please add your answer, A, B, or C to the chat room.”

Keera Godfrey: “Thank you. Great. The correct answer is C. Have a short, informal meeting in which you tell this employee about the impact of the problem and discuss solutions. Why? Because in many cases, coaching is more effective than a formal review, and it helps employees gain awareness of actions. A large part of managing performance, it involves the continual coaching of direct reports to achieve their potential, and you want to understand their career goals. Having a coaching session is important. In many cases, like I just said, coaching can be more effective than a formal review. It’s less intimidating, and most times in these sessions, your direct reports will be more comfortable with you. It begins with looking into the future and deciding, what level of performance can reasonably be expected of this employee, and also looking at what are their career goals? Beyond teaching employees how to perform, as a supervisor you should strive to instill in them a level of self-confidence in their ability to perform.”

Keera Godfrey: “Another aspect of managing performance is dealing with performance problems. What you may encounter, and in many cases I’m sure you can attest that you will encounter performance issues, I can guarantee you that. When these problems occur, the best approach you can adopt is to maintain a voice of reason and be calm. Once again, taking the perspective of the organization and encouraging employees to do the same, doing this, you will focus the discussion on performance issues that are really important. If you align performance to the organization and what is it that needs to be accomplished, then you can focus and hone in on the performance issue. The key to managing performance is helping employees to gain awareness of their actions.”

Keera Godfrey: “Let’s talk about some dos and don’ts as it relates to managing performance. When managing performance, you must track the performance of the employee, so being aware of them, and them helping them meet their own objectives and those of the organization. Here are some tips on how to do that. Here are some dos. Track performance and provide feedback on a continual basis. I know many of you have one on one sessions with your direct reports, and that’s something you should do often. I encourage that. Judge performance by how it affects the organization, always keeping in mind the goals, the objectives of the organization. Remain objective. Try to look at the situation or problem from many different angles. Get commitment from employees to improve their performance, making them accountable and giving them responsibility for their performance. Keeping employees involved in reviewing and tracking their own performance will increase their commitment to improve.”

Keera Godfrey: “Here are a few don’ts. Don’t review performance only once a year. Those annual performance reviews, that’s an HR function, but on a day to day basis, where the work occurs, you want to be able to have one on one sessions with your direct reports. Sometimes doing that weekly, to understand where they are with performance. Don’t judge employees before you talk with them about their performance. There can be many underlying reasons that performance may not be at the level that you expected, and so in this case, during those one on ones, do not judge. Go ahead and have that conversation. Allow yourself to become emotional. There are reasons why an employee may not be performing, and so once you find out what their reason is, it’s okay to show empathy as you’re going through that. Again, keeping the objectives of the business in mind, and that’s how you’re going to focus your conversation, then you can make sure that you’re accomplishing, that emotion doesn’t overpower the situation, yet you’re still showing empathy and also accomplishing the performing level that you’re looking for. Don’t try to fix every problem, no matter how small it is. You’re not going to be able to, so in this case you’re going to have to pick your battles. Looking at the needs of your organization is really prioritizing which skill, and performance level that’s required.”

Keera Godfrey: “Let’s look at a few skill improvement tips. Perform these steps, I’m encouraging you to perform these steps on an ongoing basis with your employees. Tell them what you expect of them. Monitor their progress and provide feedback. Formally evaluate their performance. Again, in line with the annual performance reviews, have a system where it’s one on one sessions with your direct reports. Provide suggested action and improve employee performance …. to improve employee performance, provide those suggestions and feedback. Address performance problems as soon as they occur. Do not let it linger, do not let it wait until one more time, one more time, I’ll give them one more time. As soon as you see it, go ahead and address it so it won’t snowball into something bigger. Learn to distinguish between problems that need formal attention and those that don’t. Confront behind the scenes problems when they affect performance. You can see here, probably you get the sense by now that in order to do this, I really need to know my employees. I really need to understand who they are, what their goals are, what are their strengths and weaknesses? We’ll talk about something resources for how you can do that.”

Keera Godfrey: “All right, let’s move on to number four. No, I think this is our last one, number five. Let’s go here. Managing relationships. The fifth supervisory skill involves developing and retaining good relationships with other groups, so that your employees and organization can meet the goals. These relationships that I’m talking about here includes relationships with the organization, relationships with your direct reports, and in essence, relationships with vendors as well. This skill that we’re going to talk about now is called managing relationships.”

Keera Godfrey: “As a supervisor, you and your direct reports don’t work in a vacuum. As organizations become more connected, internally and externally, the ability to manage relationships with other groups has become a key skill for supervisors. Now, in many organizations, you’re seeing cross-functional teams work together, and in many organizations there are now global teams that require to work together. Between human resources, technical experts, regulatory bodies, and internal and external customers, as a supervisor, you have your hands full trying to maintain good relationships with all of these groups. That’s a skill that you’re going to have to cultivate in order to be effective. Let’s talk about managing relationships. ” 

Keera Godfrey: “Here’s a scenario for you.  You have been blindsided quite a few times recently by changes in the organization that you don’t know about, that you didn’t know about, but other supervisors did know. Your group is starting to get upset. What do you do? Do you A) ask your boss to keep you better informed about what is happening; B) make an effort to get to know other supervisors and talk to them about what is happening; C) resolve that you never know everything, and then teach your people how to react quickly to unexpected things. Please, using the chat room, the chat box, please answer A, B, or C. What would you do in this situation?”

Keera Godfrey: “Great, thank you for your responses. I appreciate it. The correct answer is B. Make an effort to get to know the other supervisors and talk to them about what is happening. Like the other supervisory skills we talked about earlier, managing relationships should be guided by the goals of the organization. Taking an organizational perspective in dealing with how you put together your work group, doing that puts everyone on common ground, providing a reasonable basis for decision making. It helps to do that, because now you’re building these relationships with other groups, and now you’re on common ground.”

Keera Godfrey: “When it comes to interfacing with these groups, though, real cooperation is not a matter of just getting along well. It takes into account the constraints and goals of others. It’s working together, really making sure that what they’re trying to accomplish aligns with what you’re trying to accomplish, and exchanging the resources as well. Communication is going to be key, it’s going to be crucial in maintaining good relationships, particularly with groups that interact regularly with yourself as the supervisor. Keeping other groups informed of your plans and keeping abreast of activities of the rest of the organization, ensure that your work group will be well positioned to succeed. Again, making an effort to get to know those supervisors and others supervisors, they’re just a good source of information and support, and you want to leverage that information and support within your organization, because it does help your work group.”

Keera Godfrey: “Let’s talk a little bit about some dos and don’ts. Managers should work closely with others to ensure that your work group is effective, and the organizational goals are met. Here are a few dos. Do keep other work groups informed about your plan when possible, and when reasonable. We’re not talking about just exposing everything and copying five and six people on an email, we’re not talking about that. It’s really when it’s possible and reasonable, and there’s a particular goal in mind. Consider others’ requests for help based on the needs of the organization. As you go to others, they’re going to come to you, too, and you want to be mindful of that and be open to helping. Become generally familiar with other work groups, and learn to manage conflict. There’s going to be conflict. In any type of group setting and type of team setting, you’re going to get to that point. As the supervisor, you want to become very familiar and develop those skills and how to manage and mitigate conflict. Do develop relationships with other supervisors. Again, it does nothing but help. It’s a skill that you really will have to develop in order to be successful.”

Keera Godfrey: “Let’s look at a few don’ts here. Don’t try to acquire resources by complaining about your group’s situation. We’re not looking for sympathy, we want empathy. That’s not what you want to do. You don’t want to complain about it, you want to really set it up, making those relationships meaningful and making sure that they align with your work group goals, and again, the goals of the organization. Don’t try to have complete knowledge of the other work groups. You really want to know at the surface level what is it that they’re performing. Maybe some timelines and things, and then seeing how you can work within that timeline and seeing how you can, again, leverage the resources within the organization, leveraging that knowledge. Don’t turn down all requests for help that inconvenience your group. Sometimes there may be a situation that your group is inconvenienced. However, when you’re working together, sometimes you may be inconvenienced by a request, and sometimes they may be inconvenienced by your request. Really look at each situation objectively and being able to decide how you’re going to proceed. Finally, don’t accept work from other work groups without question. Ask. Being able to say, I hear what you’re asking, and tell me know. I would like to know more about your request.”

Keera Godfrey: “Here are some tips here on managing relationships in the work environment. The first tip is, view other work groups as partners. They are partners. You work for the same organization, you’re aligning to the same organizational goals. They are partners. Acquire resources by framing requests according to what is good for the organization, rather than a microscopic view of what’s important to the work group. And then, know how and when to ask for support from other work groups. Respond to requests from other work groups by understanding the organization’s goals, and hopefully here now you do see how communication becomes so important. Understanding your work group, understanding the people on your team and your work group. Understanding the other work groups, and then understanding the needs and the goals of the organization. It’s a lot of information passed back and forth that you have to be aware of, as an effective supervisor. Then of course, network with other supervisors for help and information. That’s going to be important as you’re working through and gaining success as an effective supervisor.”

Keera Godfrey: “We did it. Here is a recap of the five supervisory skills. Receiving direction as a supervisor, this is the balancing that you’re doing. You’re receiving direction from the business, understanding what that direction is, understanding the objectives of the business, and then you’re going to be using your skills to develop your staff, to developing your direct reports. Managing relationships, managing performance, guiding the work, organizing the work. You’re doing this, and then you’re translating that information to your work group. You’re managing that. I encourage you to continue to fine tune your skills by practicing what you have learned today. Let’s end here with talking about effective supervisors.”

Keera Godfrey: “For those on the call who are responsible for supervisors or for those aspiring supervisors, you can develop strengths of an effective supervisor by assessing and identifying what to do, what do your work group, what do they do well? How they need to be developed. Do they need coaching, do they need mentoring, do they need training? Of course, working with your L&D team, you can begin to figure out how to do that, what’s the best way, what resources are available in your organization? And of course, identifying where the performance gaps. There are online supervisory assessment tools that can help you to do that. For those current supervisors, for those in the L&D and the training community, you can take these assessments as well, and these are available to help you fine tune the skills that you already have.”

Keera Godfrey: “I hope you enjoyed this presentation today. It was indeed my pleasure to present this webinar to you. As I send this over to Sarah to see if we have any questions, I ask that you please take note of my contact information on the screen, and I would like to let you know that it has truly been my pleasure having this opportunity to speak with you today. Sarah, it’s all yours. Are there any questions?”

Sarah:  “All right, Keera, thank you so much. Yes, Keera’s information is on that screen there. Go ahead, get in touch with her for any other questions after this webinar, and then also we do have some time for live Q and A. Go ahead, shoot those into the chat box now, and while we wait for some of those questions to filter in, let me just tell you a little bit about a discount that we’re offering for everybody on the line today. Keera, if you could just advance to the next slide please.”

Keera Godfrey: “Sure.”

Sarah:  “Thank you. Supervisory Skills Questionnaire, that’s the foundation of today’s session, and we’re actually offering a 30% off discount on that product. Go ahead and use the code SSQ18 at checkout. Let’s see, the questions are coming in quickly.”

Sarah:  “Our first question is coming from Laura. Will this program teach them what they need to know in one session?”

Keera Godfrey: “Oh, that is a good question. Laura, I wish I could say yes, but the reality is that the course that HRDQ offers, it’s a more comprehensive course, but it’s designed to help you improve your skills. Every supervisor needs … they will receive the skills as needed, however, they will need to have the opportunity to practice. The true skill is really developed once they’re practicing what they’ve learned in the course through their actual work environment. The ability to practice and being able to fine tune those skills really occurs in the live setting, working with their work group. In reality, they will need multiple sessions and even refresher training as you go along. You receive the information in the classroom, but true learning takes place when you’re actually in that environment. So no, it won’t just be one session.”

Sarah:  “Wonderful, thank you. Let’s see, moving on, our next question is coming from Mike. How do you ensure there’s application or a transfer of learning after the program?”

Keera Godfrey: “Really, don’t expect perfection. Even, this was a great webinar if I must say so myself, but don’t expect perfection even after listening to this. The transfer of learning requires this practice that I was talking about with Laura. I would encourage you to take a more in depth course to develop your supervisory skills, in an environment that allows you to practice. You’re taking the course, and then again, you’re allowing yourself to practice in a safe environment where you have a coach or you have an instructor who’s able to let you know what to do and what not to do, and how did you perform. So that transfer of learning takes place, again, once you leave the classroom, you want to immediately apply the skills you have learned today, immediately apply those skills you’ve learned in the classroom. Then, take advantage of the other tools that HRDQ provides as well, as that may be some other tools with team building or coaching, negotiation, whatever the case may be. You ensure that by being a part of the training session, applying what you’ve learned immediately, and then constantly fine tuning those skills.”

Sarah:  “Wonderful. Let’s see, next question is coming from Mary. Which one of the skills seem to give supervisors the most difficulty?”

Keera Godfrey: “All of them. No, all of these skills work in unison, and they’re needed for effective supervision. To demonstrate that in the workplace, you’re going to need all of them. If I had to choose one, I would say that probably managing relationships probably gives the greatest challenge. The reason being is that it’s the skill that can’t really be taught in the classroom. It’s the skill that you must develop how you’re going to show care and concern and empathy during times when … you may need it yourself as a supervisor. Sometimes developing those relationships, managing all of those relationships, again, the relationships among your team, the individuals, cross-functionally, among the other work groups. Again, sometimes, it may be global. Then also with your manager as well, and then with the organization. I think managing relationships sometimes proves to be the most difficult.”

Sarah:  “Perfect. Moving on, our next question is coming from Ed. What, if any, other instruments or activities can I use with this program?”

Keera Godfrey: “Yeah. Ed, I think all the resources that HRDQ provides, I think the online, the supervisory skills assessment, so the questionnaire, I think that’s a great resource to be used with the program. For the L&D community, all of these can be purchased and you can teach these in house yourself. There are also some games that HRDQ provides that can also fine tune these skills and offer opportunities for practice in a safe environment of a classroom. There are lots of resources that you can use that can help you be effective.”

Sarah:  “Perfect. I think we just have time for one more question, and that question is coming from Lauren. When is it a good time to give this program to my supervisors?”

Keera Godfrey: “When is it a good time? Anytime is a good time. It’s never too late. For the seasoned supervisors, for those aspiring to be supervisors, it’s never too late. There’s opportunity, you can fine tune your skills and you can develop new skills. It’s never too late.”

Sarah:  “Agreed. We had some great questions today. I’m going to go ahead and [inaudible 00:57:40] that questions box. I know we did not get time for all these questions, but what we’re going to do is we’re going to put those unanswered questions into a Word doc, and then we’ll actually be sending those out to Keera, and she’ll be answering those. We’ll probably be sending those out about mid-next week with those answered questions. Keera, would you like to add any final thoughts before I wrap up the session for today?”

Keera Godfrey: “Thank you. I would say thank you so much for all of you for attending this webinar today. I hope that it was helpful to you. Again, you can get in contact with me if you have any questions going forward. I wish you well on your supervising journey. I wish you well. I think it’s a wonderful place to be, for those aspiring, tell you congratulations in advance. I think you’ll do well. Thank you for this opportunity from HRDQ-U as well. For all of you, enjoy the rest of your day, and I appreciate it. Thank you.”

Sarah:  “Wonderful. Thank you, Keera, again. Everybody on the line, we appreciate your time, and we hope you found today’s webinar informative. Thanks all. Bye bye.”