You need just ONE APPROACH to supervision. That approach should be unique to your organization, not an “off-the-shelf” approach. Your approach to supervision should be integral to and in alignment with the strategic priorities and initiatives of your organization.

ONE plan. ONE approach. Led by ONE team. Your senior leadership team. They run the business, they should OWN the approach. Makes sense, right? That ONE team should lead the approach with ONE mind, ONE message, and ONE method. That ONE approach then becomes a vital tool for achieving business strategy.

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Successful supervision should produce TWO KEY OUTCOMES for your organization.

First, it should provide a dramatic, sustainable increase in desired business RESULTS. Second, it should powerfully reinforce your desired CULTURE.

The two key outcomes should work hand-in-hand. One without the other is not enough.

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Strategic supervision is a team effort. There are THREE KEY ROLES that need to be defined, developed, and aligned to ensure sustained success:

SENIOR LEADERS provide vision, philosophy, and direction. They work as a team to ensure alignment to both strategic and operating priorities. With the right roadmap and tools, the senior leadership team can turn supervision into a strategic tool that sustains business success.

MANAGER as COACH is perhaps the most powerful supervisory development strategy an organization can deploy. Managers of supervisors become great coaches to supervisors. It’s at the core of what they do. And there is a proven method that will help them do it successfully. Every day.

FRONTLINE LEADERS impact value, positively or negatively, every day. As they learn together, master core skills together, and implement core practices together, they become a powerful force for increasing value and achieving business success. Every day.

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Successful supervision needs good structure. And these FOUR KEY SYSTEMS help to provide that structure.

COMMUNICATION. This system facilitates the interaction between upper management and frontline supervisors. It also orchestrates collaboration between supervisors.

DEVELOPMENT. This system provides the structure, methods, and tools to facilitate targeted learning, coaching, and development of supervisors and frontline leaders.

ACCOUNTABILITY. This system helps supervisors own and regularly account for the RESULTS and BEHAVIORS that are most important to their role as a supervisor and as a leader.

SUPPORT. This system provides a support framework for supervisors to access the tools, resources, authority, and backup they need in order to do their job extremely well, every day.

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Strategic supervision should be measured. And the return on investment should be clear. We suggest FIVE KEY INDICATORS for measuring successful supervision:

SAFETY
QUALITY
PRODUCTION
COST and SAVINGS
MORALE and CULTURE

What would a 20% increase in each of the above five categories mean to your bottom line? Is such an increase possible? We believe it is.

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Successful supervision means becoming proficient in a standard set of core supervisory skills. We recommend the following SIX CORE SKILLS.

Skill 1: Own your role
Skill 2: Build relationships of trust and respect
Skill 3: Interact with impact
Skill 4: Coach for maximum success
Skill 5: Build the team
Skill 6: Lead through change and transition

As supervisors learn these SIX CORE SKILLS, together, they create both individual and organizational capacity to do great things. Capacity that otherwise would never be possible.

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Where and how supervisors learn is an important consideration. Their work environment should become their ideal learning environment.

We suggest that leaders learn best in SEVEN LEARNING VENUES:

The work itself
On-the-job action assignments
Coaching
Peer discussion and interaction
Examples, models and best practices
Online tools and templates
Classroom and formal training

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As leaders learn and master core skills, they develop the capacity to effectively implement many core practices. A core practice is a standardized method for performing specific supervisory tasks.

We suggest starting with the following EIGHT CORE PRACTICES:

1. Team Focus Meetings
2. Scoreboard
3. Daily Contact
4. One-on-one Discussions
5. Weekly Plan
6. Weekly Stewardship Report
7. Standard Work
8. Team Learning Matrix

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We recommend NINE KEY STEPS to strategically define, implement, and sustain successful supervision that is tailored specifically to your organization:

Step 1: Baseline View
Step 2: Vision and Philosophy
Step 3: Blueprint
Step 4: Leadership Alignment
Step 5: Coach and Verify
Step 6: Core Skills
Step 7: Core Practices
Step 8: Summit View
Step 9: Sustain

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We provide a 10-MONTH ROADMAP to successful supervision.

Think of the roadmap as a template for creating YOUR approach to supervision. At the end of TEN months you will have in place your own, sustainable, long-term approach to successful supervision.

Your approach will fit your culture. It will also have already produced measurable results in the areas that matter most to you.

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STEP 1 involves setting a BASELINE VIEW. Strategic supervision begins by taking an honest look at where you are currently. Senior leadership needs to be on the same page, looking at the same things, and focused on the same opportunities.

1.1  Focus the SENIOR LEADERSHIP TEAM

1.2  Establish METRICS

1.3  Take INVENTORY

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STEP 2 involves creating a common VISION of SUCCESS for frontline leadership and a common PHILOSOPHY for how you intend to develop and lead the frontline leader. 

2.1  Create a common VISION

2.2  Create a common PHILOSOPHY

2.3  Articulate a consistent MESSAGE

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STEP 3 involves creating a detailed BLUEPRINT for the implementation of the Strategic Supervision process.

3.1  Define STANDARDS

3.2  Design SYSTEMS

3.3  Plan LOGISTICS

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STEP 4 involves ALIGNING all LEADERS in the organization to the Strategic Supervision process. They will know the WHY, WHAT, HOW,and WHO. Each leader will know their role.

4.1  Hold LEADER SUMMIT

4.2  Align DIRECT REPORTS

4.3  Align SUPPORT organizations

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STEP 5 involves launching the COACHING and VERIFICATION method. Managers of frontline leaders will become effective coaches to frontline leaders.

5.1  Provide COACHING and VERIFICATION training

5.2  Launch COACHING method

5.3  Launch SCOREBOARD method

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STEP 6 involves providing basic training to all leaders on the CORE SKILLS.

6.1  Core Skills TRAINING

6.2  Core Skills COACHING

6.3  Core Skills FOLLOW-UP and VERIFICATION

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STEP 7 involves implementing CORE PRACTICES.

7.1  Core Practice TRAINING

7.2  Core Practice COACHING

7.3  Core Practice FOLLOW-UP and VERIFICATION

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STEP 8 involves creating a SUMMIT VIEW of progress made and results attained after 10 to 12 months.

8.1  Conduct a Summit View ASSESSMENT

8.2  Create a Summit View REPORT

8.3  Hold a Summit View DISCUSSION

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STEP 9 involves SUSTAINING the PROCESS. Leaders adjust and reaffirm their commitment to Strategic Supervision.

9.1  RENEW and REALIGN Commitment

9.2  REVISE the BLUEPRINT

9.3  Hold LEADER SUMMIT

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CORE PRACTICE 1:

Team Focus Meetings

Hold regular, frequent, and standardized meetings with your entire team to set the tone for the work period, create and sustain focus, review and discuss team results, emphasize key priorities, facilitate essential learning, and identify issues and opportunities.

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CORE PRACTICE 2:

Scoreboard

Create a sustainable display of how well your team is doing at what matters most.

Make sure your team scoreboard is:

1) visual
2) simple
3) accurate
4) current
5) relevant, and
6) owned by the team

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CORE PRACTICE 3:

Daily Contact

Make contact with each direct report each day. Approach them in their work area, observe them, and engage them. Catch them doing the right thing. Take mental note of how to best follow-up.

 

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CORE PRACTICE 4:

1 on 1 Discussions

Schedule and hold private one-on-one coaching discussions with each direct report. Discussions should be 1) scheduled regularly and in advance, 2) 30 minutes, 3) private setting, 4) follow a consistent format, and 5) focus on building capacity.

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CORE PRACTICE 5:

Weekly Plan

Set time aside each week (e.g. 30 minutes Thursday afternoon) to plan your following work week.

Your weekly plan should answer these key questions:

1) What do you most need to accomplish next week?
2) What will be your strategy or action plan for accomplishing each?
3) How will you structure your time?

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CORE PRACTICE 6:

Stewardship Report

Take the initiative to send a report to your boss each week. Keep your boss informed. Your credibility will go up for sure.

Your Stewardship Report should address four key areas:

1) What you have accomplished the past week.
2) What you have learned the past week.
3) What you plan to accomplish next week (weekly plan).
4) What questions, ideas, concerns you wish to discuss with your boss.

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CORE PRACTICE 7:

Standard Work

Identify the most essential work tasks or processes for your team or work area.

Determine the best method (best practice) for accomplishing each essential work task or process.

Document those methods, tasks, and processes.Create the standard.

Train those standards.

Follow-up and verify that work is being done to the standard.

Continually improve.

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CORE PRACTICE 8:

Training Matrix

Continually assess each of your team members on each of the essential skills and work activities for your area.

1) Not yet trained.
2) Trained and applying.
3) Fully capable.
4) Mastered. Able to teach and coach others.

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