What Great Supervisors Know

By Greg Schinkel
Published by:
Unique Training & Development Inc.
148 York Street
London, Ontario, Canada N6A 1A9
info@uniquedevelopment.com
UniqueDevelopment.com
WhatGreatSupervisorsKnow.com
2011 All rights reserved. No part of this book
may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording or by any
information storage and retrieval system,
without written permission from the author.
ISBN printed. 978-0-9734253-6-9
ISBN ebook. 978-0-9734253-7-6
First printing 2011

About This Book

Being a supervisor is a challenge. Caught in the
middle between management and employees,
supervisors are accountable for the results they
generate and how they treat their employees.
While some supervisors struggle in their role,
others are calm and confident.
This book is a collection of some of the best
leadership ideas and practices we have taught
and observed in supervisors during more than
20 years of providing supervisor and leadership
training. The best practices apply to anyone in a
leadership role.
If we can help develop your supervisors, team
leaders and lead hands to achieve better results
through an engaged and motivated work team,
please contact us.
Greg Schinkel, President
Unique Training & Development Inc.

Resources to Be a Better Leader

On-site training for supervisors, managers,
lead hands and team leaders.
Workshops, seminars, keynote presentations.
Purchase extra copies of this book for all your
supervisors, team leaders and lead hands.
Purchase Employees Not Doing What You
Expect.
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Quick Reference List

From Doer to Leader
Balancing Task and People
Having a Vision for the Workgroup
Your Role in the Leadership Team
Avoiding Silos
Inter-Shift Handoff
Conducting a Shift Start Meeting
Keeping Good Documentation
Walking the Department
Effective Communication
Avoiding Sarcasm
Being a Good Listener
Explaining Why
Email Communication
Friendship & Leadership
Being Approachable
Focusing on Positives
Being Accountable

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Challenging Employees to Think for

Themselves
Constructive Thinking & Behavior
Motivating Employees
Self-fulfilling Prophecy
Confronting & Correcting Performance
Dealing with Prima Donnas
Dealing with a Difficult Employee
Negative Attitudes
Managing Conflict
Leading by Example Safety
Leading by Example Attendance
Leading by Example Quality
Leading by Example Teamwork
Continuous Improvement
Problem Solving
Leading Change
Working with Maintenance
Training Employees
Delegation
About the Author

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From Doer to Leader

Making the transition from being
worker to being the supervisor
challenge. Some newly promoted
become too bossy and others
everybodys friend.

a front line
can be a
supervisors
try to be

You were likely promoted because of your strong

technical skills, good work ethic and ability to
solve problems. Now as the supervisor, your job
is to get results through the efforts of your work
team.
A great supervisor:

Recognizes that he cant do all the work

himself and needs to get work done through
others.

Strives to be firm and fair and earns respect

by treating employees with respect.

Balancing Task & People

A supervisor who demands results without
making employees feel appreciated and involved
will eventually cause poor morale and attitude.
As motivation declines, results will suffer.
A supervisor who is overly focused on making
employees feel involved and cared for and does
not challenge them to achieve results will cause
employees to become stagnant.
A great supervisor:

Balances task-focus and people-focus to

maximize results and employee engagement
and motivation.

Challenges employees to achieve better

results.

Supports and encourages employees to help

them reach their full potential.

Having a Vision for the

Workgroup
In order to lead people, you need a place to take
them. Instead of focusing on all the hassles,
frustrations and negatives, the great supervisor:

Has a picture in his mind about how he

wants the department to be.

Shifts attention away from being reactive

and towards being proactive.

Uses the vision when explaining why he

needs something, Can you keep this area
clean, because it will help us work safely.
Treating each other with respect is
important because it will create positive
morale and attitude.

Your Role in the Leadership Team

The supervisor can feel caught in between
managements expectations and front line
employees who must generate the results.
A great supervisor:

Recognizes her role as a filter taking

managements requirements and getting the
work done through her team.

Receives employee feedback, resolves as

many issues as possible on her own and
passes along important information to
management.

Always takes ownership of applying

company requirements and avoids passing
blame onto others.

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Avoiding Silos
Silos form in an organization when there is real
or perceived competition between departments,
divisions, shifts or workgroups. Much of this
competition and finger pointing results in
wasted effort when the focus should really be on
working together to satisfy the customer.
A great supervisor:

Makes supportive comments about other

departments, shifts, or workgroups.
Avoids creating an us versus them
mentality.
Avoids making negative comments about
other groups.
Encourages employees to be more
supportive of others.
Avoids sarcastic and cynical comments
directed at other parts of the organization.

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Inter-Shift Handoff
To avoid unnecessary frustration and ensure
each shift can be successful, the great supervisor:

Stays for at least 15 minutes after shift

change or shows up at least 15 minutes early
to spend time with the supervisor from the
previous/next shift.

Makes sure to communicate:

o Any issues with materials, equipment,
maintenance.
o Any information related to customer
requirements.
o Any quality issues.
o Any relevant employee information.

A great supervisor recognizes that he or she

should help the next shift get off to the best start
possible by ensuring materials are available, the
work area is clean and any issues are addressed.

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Conducting a Shift Start Meeting

Consider using a brief stand up huddle type
meeting for 5 minutes at the beginning of your
shift. It allows you to communicate to employees
all at once and set a positive tone for the day
ahead.
A great supervisor:

Focuses on positives from the previous day.

Lets employees know what is going on in the

company.

Gives the team a heads-up on what to expect

that day.

Highlights information about safety, quality

and productivity.

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Keeping Good Documentation

Keeping good records and notes is important
because it allows the supervisor to recall specific
information
about
performance
issues,
behaviors and results.
A great supervisor:

Keeps a notebook at all times to record

observations and incidents regarding:
o Employee performance.
o Safety & productivity issues.
o Excess scrap or waste.
o Opportunities for improvement.
o Info to pass along at shift change.

Makes sure that any notes are dated and

written neatly and professionally in case
they are needed later.

Retains these notes for six months or longer

in case they are needed.

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Walking the Department

Some supervisors mistakenly believe that they
should wait until employees bring questions or
problems to them. This can lead to a very chaotic
and stressful day. Employees also learn that in
order to get attention from the supervisor they
need to bring her problems or questions.
In order to regain control over her day and the
department, a great supervisor:

Touches base with each employee at the

beginning and middle of the shift.

Spends 2 or 3 minutes asking about personal

matters, asks if they need anything to help
them and lets them know about what is
going on or what to expect later in the day.
Hi Joe, how was your weekend? Do you
have everything you need? Later today
well be switching over to the XYZ job, any
questions?

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Observes how spending a few minutes with

each person sets a positive tone for the day.

Notices that there are fewer interruptions

and more time to focus on more proactive
tasks.

After starting the shift by making rounds,

observe when more questions or interruptions
begin to emerge. This may be a sign that it is
time to make rounds again.

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Effective Communication
Communication problems are like the common
cold we tend to treat the symptoms instead of
seeking a cure. Communication could be defined
as Knowing WHAT you need to know WHEN
you need to know it.
A great supervisor:

Clarifies the desired outcome of the

communication What do I want the person
to do as a result of this communication?
Chooses the right time and place.
Uses words, tone and body language to
transmit the message effectively.
Recognizes the need to repeat the message
many times in different ways.
Recognizes that the other person may not be
communicating clearly and effectively and
uses questions and empathy to gain greater
understanding.
Keeps others informed in a timely fashion
about information they might need.

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Avoiding Sarcasm
Sarcasm can be defined as a mismatch between
the tone (HOW you say it) and the words
(WHAT you say). Sarcasm tends to create
shallow relationships and can cause the
supervisor to lose the respect of the workgroup.
For employees where English is a second
language, sarcasm can be very confusing.
A great supervisor:

Avoids using sarcasm, especially when

delivering performance related feedback.

Says it like it is in order to avoid

misunderstandings.

Notices that employees will be more open

and communicative when less sarcasm is
used.

Take the sarcasm challenge avoid using

sarcasm for one whole week and notice the
impact on relationships at work and at home.

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Being a Good Listener

Many problems and conflicts can be resolved
simply by being an attentive listener.
A great supervisor:

Gives you his or her undivided attention and

avoids distractions.

Waits for the employee to finish speaking

before responding.

Keeps an open and neutral mind without

rushing to judgement.

Summarizes what the other person is saying

to confirm understanding.

Asks questions to help the other person

express themselves.

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Explaining Why
A supervisor might think that employees should
do what he says just because he told them. Or he
might think that employees arent interested or
dont need to know the reason.
A Harvard researcher demonstrated that using
the word because and giving a reason will
increase compliance by as much as 50%.
A great supervisor:

Uses the word because after making a

request and gives a reason because it gets
employees to buy in to taking the desired
action.

Recognizes that employees are interested in

reasons for doing what is asked of them.

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Email Communication
Email can be an effective communication tool or
it can be a big time waster.
A great supervisor:

Realizes that email should not be used in

situations that involve criticism or
persuasion.

Recognizes that sometimes it would be

better to communicate face to face or by
telephone in order to deliver the message
effectively.

Avoids adding lots of unnecessary recipients

to the email and Replying to All
unnecessarily.

Uses the Subject to describe the essence of

the message.

Realizes that shorter messages are more

likely to be read and acted upon.

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Puts any question or action request near the

top of the message instead of burying it in
the middle or at the bottom.

Limits most emails to only one question or

action item because that is all most people
will answer anyway.

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Friendship and Leadership

Some supervisors struggle with leading
employees who are also their friends. This can
lead to favoritism which can impact results and
cause resentment by other workers.
By letting things go or looking the other way, the
supervisor puts his friends employment in
jeopardy.
A great supervisor:

Owes it to his friend to give corrective

feedback when the friend is not performing.

Realizes that a true friend wouldnt ask for

special treatment that could put the
supervisors job at risk.

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Being Approachable
When you are warm and approachable,
employees will feel more comfortable bringing
you information, both good and bad. Being
informed helps you succeed as a leader.
A great supervisor:

Avoids looking angry or aloof.

Smiles and keeps the mood loose and light.

Notices
that
employees
are
more
comfortable
bringing
questions
and
problems forward.

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Focusing on Positives
Where attention goes, energy flows and results
show.
When managing the workgroup, the great
supervisor:

Builds on positives.

Reinforces desired behaviors instead of

always having to correct undesirable
behaviors.

Provides deserved praise for a job well done.

Notices when low-performers do something

well and offers praise.

Is specific when providing positive feedback.

Notice at least 3 things every day that are going

well and provide positive reinforcement. Watch
how morale and attitude improves.

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Being Accountable
Some supervisors refer basic problems and
decisions to their manager to solve. As a result
the manager ends up making decisions and
solving problems the supervisor or front line
employees should solve.
When
explaining
company
policies
to
employees, a supervisor might be tempted to
blame it on HR or management. HR told me I
had to do this. The boss said we need to
This approach causes employees to lose respect
for the supervisor.
A great supervisor:

Takes ownership of problems and decisions

within her span of responsibility.

Avoids passing blame to others.

Personally demonstrates support for the

company policy, procedure or requirement.

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Challenging Employees to Think

for Themselves
Answering every question an employee brings to
you may create an overly dependent
relationship. See if you can help employees think
for themselves and improve their selfconfidence. Helping employees become more
self-reliant will free up your time to take care of
larger issues and proactively make the
department better.
A great supervisor:

Gets the employee to answer his or her own

question, What do you think would be the
best approach?

Helps the employee become a better

problem solver, What are some different
ways you can tackle this problem?

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Constructive Thinking & Behavior

People can be defensive in two primary ways:
1.

Aggressive They judge and attack others

in order to cover up their own weaknesses.
By finding faults with others, being overly
controlling, competitive and perfectionistic
it protects people from admitting their own
mistakes and being open to change.
2. Passive They avoid and play the role of
victim, not expressing their concerns and
hoping that problems will take care of
themselves or someone else will take care of
them. Approximately 60% of the workforce
is passive.
A great supervisor:

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Challenges themselves and others with a

focus on achievement.
Views situations and people with curiosity.
Remains open and approachable.
Focuses on positive and encouraging others.

Motivating Employees
Many supervisors mistakenly think that
employees are only concerned about wages and
job security. In reality, wages and job security
are typically number four and five on a list of top
motivators.
Every employee is motivated, just not always to
do what the supervisor wants.
A great supervisor:

Provides challenge for employees through

job rotation, cross training and asking for
input and ideas.

Helps employees think for themselves,

answer their own questions and solve most
problems on their own.

Avoids giving the same jobs to the same

people just because it gets the work done.

Provides praise and recognition for a job

well done to help build the esteem and selfconfidence of the employee.

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Makes the employee feel part of the team by

not playing favorites, not criticising in front
of the workgroup and not talking about
employees behind their back with other
employees.

Keeps the workgroup informed about what

is going on in the company.

Confronts and corrects

behavior promptly.

Avoids punishing good employees by giving

them more work and rewarding poor
performers by assigning less work.

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unacceptable

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
How a supervisor treats his or her employees is
reflected back to the supervisor as positive or
negative behavior. This helps explain why an
employee might be difficult to manage for one
supervisor and easy to manage for another.
A great supervisor:

Recognizes that what she believes to be true

of the workgroup will impact their attitude
and behavior towards the supervisor, their
job and the company.

Knows that in order for employees to

change, the leader must change first.

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Confronting and Correcting

Performance
Instead of avoiding a discussion about a
performance problem or being overly heavy
handed, a great supervisor:

Realizes that most performance issues can

be resolved quickly by mentioning it to the
employee.

Takes a progressive approach by increasing

the consequences if unacceptable behavior
or results continues.

Focuses on the action or behavior without

attacking the person.

Recognizes that the objective is not to

punish it is to correct.

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Dealing with Prima Donnas

Some employees may think of themselves as
being more special than everyone else. A great
supervisor knows how to tactfully and
respectfully help prima donnas to be better team
players.
A great supervisor:

Avoids giving exaggerated praise to build the

ego of one employee over the others.

Recognizes the risk of having only one

employee capable of performing a work task.

Recognizes that the boasting nature of a

prima donna employee might be covering up
a lack of self confidence or insecurity.

Knows that criticizing, ignoring or

humiliating the prima donna employee is
not an effective approach.

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Requests and supports the prima donna to

share his or her expertise with other
employees instead of holding back
information.

Is willing to confront the prima donna about

his or her impact on the workgroup in terms
of superiority and boasting.

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Dealing with a Difficult Employee

It is interesting that some difficult employees
may be more cooperative with some supervisors
and not with others. This implies that the leader
creates some of the difficulty.
Ignoring problem employees can
resentment among the best employees.

create

A great supervisor:

Speaks respectfully at all times.

Does not avoid the difficult employee.

Sees when the difficult employee does

something right and gives them positive
feedback.

Avoids allowing the difficult employee to set

the agenda for the whole workgroup.

Addresses unacceptable behavior promptly.

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Negative Attitudes
An attitude is how we think about something.
Each of us has some negative thinking about
certain people or situations. Negativity only
really becomes a problem when we communicate
negatively.
A great supervisor:

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Focuses on the behavior not the person.

Instead of saying, Bill, you have a negative
attitude. The great supervisor says, Bill,
when you say negative things about your coworker it drags down the morale of the
whole team.
Notices when employees either stop being
overly critical or begin to talk more
positively and are more encouraging.
Notices when a problem employee does
something positive and reinforces it.
Gives out more praise to reinforce positives
instead of focusing on faults.

Managing Conflict
In healthy organizations, conflict is essential for
change and improvement. While aggressive
behavior is most commonly associated with
conflict, passive behavior can be a bigger
problem because people have concerns but do
not discuss them openly.
When a conflict exists, the great supervisor:

Puts the issue on the table for discussion.

Helps others to express their concerns.

Shows empathy for other points of view.

Proposes potential solutions.

Gets commitment.

Follows up.

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Leading by Example Safety

In order to demonstrate the importance of
safety, the great supervisor:

Says, Safety is important because I care

about you and want you to go home in the
same condition as when you came to work.

Wears his or her safety equipment.

Addresses safety infractions immediately

and consistently.

Provides positive feedback when employees

demonstrate safe practices.

Never trades off safety against productivity.

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Leading by Example
- Attendance
In order to demonstrate the importance of
employees being to work on time every day, the
great supervisor:

Says, I need you here on time, every day

because you are an important part of the
team. When you are not here we miss you
and have to move people around to fill in.

Is on time or early for work.

Addresses an attendance issue immediately,

I noticed you were late today, is everything
okay?

Notices when attendance improves and says

something positive, Thank you for being
here on time every day this week, you are an
important part of the team.

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Leading by Example Quality

In order to demonstrate the importance of
quality, the great supervisor:

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Says, Quality is important because our

customers expect it. Quality helps ensure
our job satisfaction. Doing it right the first
time keeps us from having to redo our work
over again.
Addresses quality issues quickly, I have a
concern that you did not follow the standard
operating
procedure
and
caused
unnecessary scrap.
Reinforces quality-related behavior, I
appreciate the attention you gave to that
difficult job. The customer will appreciate
it.
Explains why parts with potential quality
issues ultimately might get shipped to the
customer, Quality assurance determined
that the parts were within spec. The
customer said they would accept the parts as
is.

Leading by Example - Teamwork

Because teamwork is important, the great
supervisor:

Says, When we work together as a team we

get more accomplished. Working together
makes it easier and more enjoyable to be at
work.

Avoids playing favorites and is fair and

consistent.

Keeps employees informed about what is

going on.

Asks for employee input on better ways to do

things.

Encourages employees to help each other

when they see a co-worker struggling.

Avoids saying negative things about other

people, shifts or departments.

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Continuous Improvement
Because the supervisor is closest to the work
being performed, he or she is expected to
identify and lead continuous improvement
efforts.
Nearly every process has waste that can be
eliminated.
A great supervisor:

Personally leads continuous improvement

efforts.

Involves and challenges

improve processes.

Systematically identifies and

excess waste from the process.

Standardizes the work so it can be repeated

consistently and improves the process over
time.

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employees

to

eliminates

Problem Solving
As a front line trouble-shooter, the supervisor
needs to use basic logic to apply the best solution
to the problem.
A great supervisor:

Avoids passing on the problem to the

manager without some suggested solutions.
Gets employees and support departments
involved in solving the problem.
Defines the problem correctly in terms of
what is happening/not happening.
Identifies the possible causes and most likely
root cause.
Develops
alternative
solutions
and
prioritizes them by probability of success,
cost and speed of implementation.
Applies the best fix, verifies it is effective and
communicates the solution to others who
need to know.

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Leading Change
Resistance to change is typically related to fear
of the unknown and a disruption to existing
habits.
At the same time, when we reflect back on
change, there is usually something positive that
comes from it. Employees will take their cue
from observing how their leader deals with
change.
A great supervisor:

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Is positive towards change.

Provides a logical reason for the change and
specifics on what needs to change.
Reminds employees they have dealt with
change before and have what it takes to
succeed.
Makes the change feel smaller and easier to
tackle.
Adjusts systems to make it easy to change.

Working with Maintenance

In an operations environment maintenance
plays a supporting role by providing equipment
and systems that are available and capable to
meet requirements.
A great supervisor:

Encourages employees to solve as many

problems as possible before calling
maintenance.

Takes the time with maintenance to describe

the problem and learn about the equipment.

Looks for opportunities to improve the

process and get greater output by working
with
maintenance
on
continuous
improvement initiatives.

If you are a maintenance supervisor remind

yourself and your crew that your mission and
purpose is to serve operations.

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Training Employees
Training employees to be able to do the job right
and then do it quickly pays off with higher
productivity, quality, flexibility and employee
satisfaction.
A great supervisor will use these six steps:
1.

2.

3.
4.

5.

6.

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TELL the employee all the steps, quality

requirements and refer to job aids or
procedures.
SHOW Demonstrate the steps while
describing them again and referring to job
aids or procedures.
ASK if they have any questions and if they
are ready to give it a try.
HAVE THEM DO the job while describing
the steps as they do them and referring to
the job aid or procedure.
OBSERVE Watch the employee perform
several cycles of the job and provide
coaching.
CHECK the output for consistent quality.

Delegation
By delegating, a supervisor motivates employees
by providing them with an opportunity for
challenge and learning. The supervisor benefits
by freeing up his time for more important,
higher value tasks. When an employee struggles,
avoid taking the assignment back from them.
A great supervisor uses these six steps when
delegating:
1.

Give the background of the assignment.

2. Describe the importance.

3. Clarify expectations in terms of results.
4. Confirm understanding.
5.

Ask for their approach to the assignment.

6. Follow-up to see the assignment was

completed successfully.

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About the Author

Greg Schinkel is the President of Unique
Training & Development Inc. and has impacted
more than 500,000 people through his writing,
broadcasting, speaking, training and coaching.
He co-authored the best seller Employees Not
Doing What You Expect published on three
continents. His second best seller is Awakening
the Workplace. His third book, a collaboration
with his father Irwin is Fusion or Fizzle: How
Leaders Leverage Training to Ignite Results.
Greg and his team specialize in training
supervisors, team leaders, lead hands and
managers in how to use constructive leadership
practices to generate best-ever operating results.
With the perfect blend of style and substance,
Greg is a top rated keynote speaker and trainer.
As a leadership coach, Greg specializes in
turning abrasive managers into pussycats.
Greg is in the top 10% of all speakers and
trainers as a professional member of the Global
Speakers Federation and has served as chapter
President of the Canadian Association of
Professional Speakers.

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