Help me be a better supervisor.

After many long years (three) at the bottom of the chain of command, I have finally been promoted to supervisor at work. It’s a slight raise in pay and a significant raise in things to do. Being the workhorse type, both of these are great perks!

A bit about the job: This is for a mall private security department. We have a Director, an Assistant Director, and two line supervisors (I’m one of those now). Under that is around 10-12 security officers. As far as I can tell, my duties are the standard vein of make sure everything gets written down correctly and make sure everyone does their job. I also tend to get all the special projects that come along, since the boss knows I’ll get it done and done right. The department is made up of mostly single guys in their low to mid 20’s. It’s definitely a relaxed employee relations atmosphere.
The problem that arises is that I have never been in charge before, and I need advise on how to be better at it. For the past two years or so I’ve been unofficially in charge, in that everyone basically asked me if they had a question and we’d end up doing what I recommended, so decision making isn’t the problem. What I’m having trouble with is employee discipline. I’m used to being a friend of equal footing. I’m also having trouble with being more professional, in that I’ve worked with these guys for years so I don’t really see myself as their superior yet.

Does anyone have any good solid advice on how to be a better supervisor? Anecdotes or book suggestions are always welcome.

Anecdotes: I was getting ready to write up an employee for refusing to do what I told him, on my first week on the job. I had the pen and the desk, just no forms. I had to let it pass, because I knew that MY boss didn’t know where they were. So, before you TELL an employee that you are going to write him up, make sure that your pencil is sharp, your pen works, and you have the form-already filled out.

Next anecdote: Creepy, but very intelligent, and extremely savvy in office politics, employee sexually harassed another employee. I told him that I was moving him to the other end of the building. He said “Sure, as soon as the Main Office gives you the authority to do it.” I told him that the MO had already OK’d it. The MO hadn’t addressed this issue, but they had already given me the authority by making me the boss. Point: Don’t worry about exceeding your authority. Your boss would much rather you exceed your authority every now and then rather than have you coming to him every time a subordinate whines about something. The boss is, generally speaking, on your side, right out of the gate, rather than your employees.

Don’t get too hung up on being the boss, or doing the right thing-just give out the necessary orders, and if they aren’t followed, issue appropriate discipline, then forget it. Employees don’t need a friend or a tyrant, only directions. If you do the right thing, people will follow suit.

Don’t use irony-your lessers either won’t, or will pretend that they don’t, understand you.

Don’t ask them if they understand why they are being disciplined, if the need arises, because they will say “I don’t understand.” Just tell them why. If they start to argue, don’t waste time explaining, just tell them that’s how it is. An excellent panacea is the phrase “It’s company pollicy,” and let them know that you’re a company man. This will save you much acid reflux.

I also let my subordinates know that I’m a butt kisser, which pre-empts them trying to use that phrase to minimize my authority or judgement…or to just insult me. It’s also leading by example!!!
Relax, and remember that your judgement and ability are why the uppers promoted you, so you’re doing something right!!!

This is a bit rambling, at one o’clock in the morning, but in my mind, it’s excellent advice!!!

PS, your instincts are better than any book that I’ve read on management technique.
Good luck,
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Supervisors who fail can usually be sorted into one of two categories - people who are reluctant to discipline their subordinates, and people who are eager to discipline their subordinates.

Just because you’re in charge, don’t be a dick. Also, don’t let stuff slide, if it actually matters. You can not be an effective supervisor if you’re friends with any of your subordinates. It can be lonely, if you’re in a position where there are people above and below you, but not beside you.

A few things that helped me:

Ask, don’t order. Say please and Thank You, and mean it.

  • Crush the first asshole who says you asked not ordered therefore it was optional.

Never fail to praise or criticise where it is warranted.

Learn your people, they all have different strengths, weakneses, and skills that make them more or less suited to some tasks.

As a humorus example, at the amusement park I worked in, we used to say we have 2 kinds of employees:

Rockets: Usually damn effective in straightforward non decision making tasks, but will fail if the nature of the task shifts due to circumstance.

Missles: Less productive, but they always seem to hit their target, even when a task shifts or unexpected challenges arise.

The simplest rule in the book…

While working in a supervisor position, do not TELL people what to do, ASK them to do it… you know, in the form of a question. It really makes life easier for them and at the same time prevents you from appearing as a demanding prick…

Demanding
“Joe, go clean the toilet”…

Not so demanding
“Hey Joe, can you clean up the toilet?”

Tell me, which would you prefer to listen to all day?..

Good luck…

Don’t get involved in petty disputes between employees, unless you really have to. This can become a huge time sink if you don’t control it. If Employee A complains to you about Employee B, asked them what they’re going to do to solve the issue. Sometimes you have to just tell them to suck it up, because getting along with people who are different to you is just part of working life.

Similarly, when someone comes to you with a problem, ask them what solutions they’ve already thought of. It’s easy for employees to get into the habit of identifying problems but doing nothing to solve them, so make them responsible for the solution as well. Your role is to say, ‘Yes, I like option B, go ahead and do it.’

If you have to introduce a new initiative and your workers are reluctant to make the change, ask them for ideas on how to make it less painful (whilst making it clear that the change has to happen). Getting them to concentrate on the solutions makes them feel more empowered. Don’t ever fall into the trap of ‘I’m with you guys on this, but head office say we have to do it.’ That’s a cop-out and it’s unprofessional.

Notice when someone does well and let them know. Always give praise at an appropriate level, if you over-praise, it loses it’s impact. For example, an employee who dealt well with a difficult customer deserves you saying, ‘You dealt really well with that.’ They don’t necessarily deserve a certificate handed out at the weekly meeting.

Sometimes you’ll get an idea about how to change something to make it better. Sometimes it’s better to present this by raising the issue and asking employees how to solve it, and guiding them towards the solution you’ve already thought of. People are much more willing to try something new when they feel that they came up with the idea.

Just a few thoughts off the top of my head!

If there is a decision to be made, make it. Listen to your people, but make the decision. If your unit screws up, find out why and fix it. When talking to your bosses, say that we screwed up (instead of Jim or Fred srewed up)but here is how we are fixing it. When you get praised, make sure you say things like we did a good job, don’t take the credit yourself. Make sure people working for you get credit.

As said above, don’t get into petty work conflicts. Make sure your unit is the unit that gets along with the other departments at your job. If they have a conflict with someone outside of your unit, tell them to bring the issue to you and you will hash it out with the boss of the other department, they should never be getting into open conflicts with other departments.

I’ll chime in with another vote for the most fundamental rule of success: say “please” and “thank you.” It helps create an environment that is civil and cooperative.

Be clear in your expectations and be consistent in how you manage. Everyone should know what they are expected to do and everyone should meet the same standards.

Treat everyone the same – respectfully. No “favorites,” no “friends” on the job, so that some of your direct reports have more or better access to you than others. Even if you don’t think your friendship with a subordinate means you manage differently, there will be a perception of favoritism that you will not be able to avoid. You can be friends with whomever you want outside of work, of course.

Do not date / have a relationship with / sleep with, anyone you manage. Just don’t.

If you have to discipline, document. This will ensure that you and your employee are literally on the same page about what the problem was, what the consequences are, and what the future expectations are. It will also cover your ass and the company’s ass in the event things get worse and further action has to be taken down the road.

Protect your employees. If things go wrong, take responsibility as the manager, and then chew whatever ass needs to be chewed without throwing your employees under the bus. The best manager I ever had took responsibility for every mistake made by his team, and though we damn sure heard about it, he never tried to blame specific members of the team, even when they deserved it. (ETA: I mean he didn’t blame us to upper management. He certainly assigned blame at the team level where appropriate.) The worst manager I ever had took credit for every achievement and no blame for any mistake.

Take seriously employee complaints of discrimination and harrassment. Address them promptly and directly, and escalate them up the management chain so that you are not ultimately responsible for how they are handled. If you have to turn into a humorless wonk who isn’t any fun any more because you no longer waggle your eye brows at a nice pair of breasts or enjoy a good off-color joke – so be it. You’re a manager now, my friend.

That said, do not act like you are “superior” to your direct reports. As others have said, borrow a rule from Jeopardy! and phrase things in the form of a question. Have a benign sense of humor when you can, ask how they’re doing, listen when they are talking to you, be responsive to their concerns, even if your response is a polite and regretful, “No, you can’t switch that shift I’m sorry, the other guy is too new so I need you to work it.”

  1. Your subordinates are not your friends–even if they are. At work its business–if your “friends” can’t get that, too bad.

  2. Praise in public, criticize in private.

  3. If your subordinate is screwing up, its your job to make them better. Some people are hopeless, but most aren’t. Think long and hare before you give up on someone–a lot of failures are due to bad management.

  4. Make sure everyone knows their worth to the organization. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve had “slugs” who, once I said, “This organization’s success is tied to you and your success,” didn’t want to let me or the organization down.

  5. Reward good performance, but don’t hand out rewards like they were candy–you diminish their value when everyone gets them. Nothing is less motivating than seeing people get an award because it was “their turn”

  6. Defend your employees when they deserve it. take personal responsibility when they don’t. Both your employees and your employer will notice in a favorable light.

Goodness, there’s a LOT of good advice already in this thread. I just came in to say by virtue of the fact that you’re asking the question, I think you’re on the right track. The Dope should write a book on good management skills. We’d make a fortune.

My biggest hurdle in becoming a supe’ was telling people “no”.

So basically get used to telling people “no”.

Also, as far as call in’s are concerned; I tell my people “Look, I don’t need to hear the excuse as to why you can’t make it to work today; just call and tell me you will not be here. That’s all I care to know.”

I also let my folks know that they are the “brains and brawn” of this operation. I’m just a middle man between management and the floor. So when we have objectives to achieve; I don’t tell them how to acomplish said objectives, but rather ask them what’s the best plan of attack.

Once they tell me their thoughts I can say “OK let’s go for it” or I can make slight modifications to their plans as I see fit.

Employees tend to like it when you give them the freedom to do what they’re best at.

Congratulations!

You’ve gotten much great advice already.

While I agree with the advice not to act superior, I came into the thread to advise finding some ways to set new boundaries. You will be busier now and use that as an opportunity/ pretext to step out of social situations with coworkers that might compromise your authority or appearance of being unbiased. If you have an office with a door, establish your right/ need to close that door sometimes when you’re dealing with a bunch of number-crunching or phone calls. Don’t spend the whole day back there, but don’t be too available, either. Find yourself needing to run errands rather than eating lunch with the gang every day. If you’re casual and like to eat lunch with them, maybe plan on joining them once a week. After all, once you’re the boss, they will want to be able to whine about work sometimes without you there. When the time comes that you need boundaries, you’ll be glad you have established them.

If you can get past the fact that the books often look really dorky, I have always been pleased with the Crisp Learning books. Yes, they tend to put everything in terms someone with a 10th grade education can understand, but IME they have the fundamentals right. Amazon.com : crisp supervision

Good luck!

There are a lot of repeating duties to be done. Schedule them. Make a chart and assign employees to each task well in advance. Then they fill in that they have accomplished it, you check up. That way nothing slips. Include maintenance ,cleaning, training, whatever can be scheduled. It takes a lot of thinking and planning out of your day.

Golden rule: The people you supervise are the ones that get the actual work done, not you. Your job is to deal with all the crap so they can do their job. If you keep this in mind, it will show, and they will be better and happier at their jobs. (Which isn’t to say you shouldn’t discipline when necessary; nothing is worse than when the crap that’s keeping you from doing your job is coming from a coworker).

What I would add – and maybe this is obvious, because it applies to some extent to non-supervisory jobs, too – is that the most important thing to do first is to figure out how you’re going to deal with your boss, because they’re all different.
Which decisions do they want you to come to them for, which ones do they want you to deal with but keep them informed about, and which ones do they want to not every have to know about? Sure you need to do this for any job, but the issues get stickier in management and can have wider ramifications, so it’s even more important to know which category something is in.
How much do they want to give you advice and help you develop your management skills?
How are you going to have to manage the relationship with your boss so that they’re happy but you’re not seen by your employees as never standing up for them or being on their side?

I always like to think of it like this - how would I get these people to follow me or do their jobs properly if I didn’t have the title behind me? If you have to “write people up”, threaten or constantly discipline them, that’s generally a sign of either poor leadership or a bad employee. Usually the first.

I wouldn’t worry so much about being friends or not friends or playing favorites. Just try to treat everyone fairly, professionally and with respect.

The biggest thing is making sure that your expectations for people are clearly communicated. And be visible. My boss is always talking about how “busy” she is and disappears for days at a time. That’s bad leadership. I don’t need her up in my business every five minutes, but there is clearly a disconnect between whatever she is doing and how it trickles down to the work the rest of the team is doing.
In other words, don’t “act” superior. “Be” superior.