Quick Start for Supervisors

Good performers are often promoted into management.  Because they are good individual contributors, we assume (or hope!) they will be good supervisors as well.

Most work in time-compressed, fast paced environments that require them to be involved in a multitude of tasks, so any time devoted to supervision must be done efficiently and effectively.

Too often, they just haven’t been given skills or tools necessary to succeed.  Quick Start for Supervisors is intended to develop basic supervisory skills used to set, communicate, monitor, and coach employee performance, and do so in a positive way that builds trust and cooperation, maximizes employee morale and worker satisfaction, and reduces tensions, conflicts, and employee turnover.

It specifically addresses the transition from co-worker to new supervisor and offers advice to overcome the challenges that this unique situation poses.

The program is easily customizable (including content, course title, and cover artwork changes) to meet a client’s specific needs and training objectives.

What Makes “Quick Start for Supervisors” Different?

  • Proven Content:   Over the past fifteen years, these course materials have been ‘field-tested’ by hundreds of participants and a variety of facilitators.  We take a ‘continuous improvement’ approach to these course materials and are always willing to update/change materials to make them better.
  • Easily Customizable and Tailored to your Specific Needs:  While the content of this program has been proven through years of facilitation and delivery in a variety of settings, we realize that no ‘off the shelf’ program has likely ever been written that meets your needs exactly.  So, we make it easy to make basic changes to the content and flow of the sessions so that it truly meets your training needs and objectives.  That can also mean changing the title of the program, changing the colors or graphics, and adding your logo to the materials to personalize them and make them your own.
  • Cost-Effective Customization:  Other publishers offer the capability to make changes to their materials, but any changes made usually carry a hefty price tag in customization fees.  That’s because they have a ‘warehouse full’ of already printed materials that they want to sell.  We do not print “Quick Start for Supervisors” training materials until our client has approved final changes from a working draft.   This ‘just in time’ printing allows us the flexibility to make desired changes that don’t add to the cost of producing the final materials.
  • Train-the-Trainer Preparation without hefty Certification Fees and Requirements:  While we do believe that the person conducting the training program needs to feel confident and competent with the training materials before he/she facilitates, we offer flexibility in how/when that Train-the-Trainer preparation occurs.  Experienced trainers will likely feel very comfortable working with the completely-scripted Leaders Guide and prepare from it.  Others may want some additional telephone coaching before they facilitate.  And still others will want to ‘see it in action’ and be a participant while one of our facilitators conducts the program.    All are available as options to prepare to facilitate this program.
“Quick Start for Supervisors” Session Topics:

 Session One (4 hours)

 Moving from        Co-Worker to Supervisor
  • Who was your best/worst boss
  • Reflecting on the attributes of a ‘good boss’
  • Reasons why employees work for you
  • Assessing the motivation and competence levels of those that report to you
  • Making an effective transition from peer to supervisor
  • Issues you may face when interacting with  former peers
  • What every good managers does – what every good manager does not do
 Understanding the Role of Supervision
  • Supervisory functions:  Planning/organizing, staffing, directing, controlling, monitoring, and providing timely feedback
  • The focus of management personnel at different levels in the organization

 
 Dealing with Negativity
  • Causes of negativity
  • What to do when you ‘inherit’ negativity
  • Effective methods of dealing with negativity in the work environment

Session Two (4 hours)

 Effective Communications
  • Understanding the communication choices we have
  • Identifying the different styles of interacting with others:  Assertive, Aggressive, Passive, Passive-Aggressive
  • How OK/OK attitudes impact communications
  • Getting tuned into your employees – Levels of listening
  • Reaching shared understanding – making sure ’message sent is message received’
  • Learning four communication tools to increase listening capabilities and enhance overall communications (paraphrasing, empathic listening, creating non-judgmental discussions, and ‘Owning Your Own Stuff’)’

Session Three (3 Hours)

 Understanding Different Work Styles:Different People…Different Needs…
  • Utilizes the DiSC Classic® behavioral style assessment (DISC)
  • Understanding your personal work approach and the different work approaches that others may use
  • Creating positive work environments
  • Teambuilding:  Working positively with the different work styles to create understanding, appreciation, and respect among co-workers
  • Tapping into the richness of the talent of your team – how to get the most from those that report to you

 

Session Four (4 hours)

Setting Standards and Giving

Performance Feedback
  • Why set performance standards and minimum expectations?
  • Determining and defining acceptable levels of performance
  • Communicating performance standards in a way that produces desired results
  • Orienting a newly-hired employee
  • When and how often to review performance:  Conducting periodic performance reviews and employee-agenda meetings
  • The formal Performance Appraisal process
  • Using a Performance T-Tracker 

Session Five (4 hours)

 Delegation
  • Is this Delegation?
  • Responsibility – Authority – Accountability
  • The benefits of delegating
  • What prevents managers from doing more delegating?
  • Understanding what supervisors can and cannot delegate
  • A simple assessment to determine current delegation abilities
  • Using the steps in effective delegating
  • Determining Authority Levels when delegating
  • The supervisor’s ongoing role in delegated work

 
 Dealing with Conflict
  • Building trust using the Communications Comfort Ladder
  • Realizing how our own apprehensions create and escalate conflicts
  • Understanding the difference between misunderstandings and disagreements
  • “Crucial Conversations” – how the stories we are telling ourselves impact conflicts
  • There are five different approaches to resolving conflict – understanding when to use which approach
  • Preparing for a conflict discussion
  • Conducting an effective conflict-resolving discussion

Session Six:   (4 hours)

 When Someone Is Not Performing – Disciplinary Conversations
  • Why do supervisors avoid discipline?
  • Monitoring and defining sub-standard performance
  • Providing and receiving timely performance feedback
  • DiSC Management Strategies – Using the DiSC Supplemental Report entitled “How I Manage Others” to understand my natural management style
  • Incorporating elements of DiSC in how to coach employee performance
  • Coaching – conversations that develop employees skills and talents
  • Disciplinary Conversations – the necessary discussions when someone is not performing
  • Conducting the actual Performance Conversation – the steps you need to cover in an effective coaching or disciplinary conversation
  • The Coaching/Disciplinary Session Planning Worksheet – a comprehensive planning document that incorporates all the learning so far and prompts the supervisor to ask the right questions and gather relevant information.

Session Seven:  (4 hours)

 Putting It All Together  

 

 

Conducting  Effective Meetings

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Graduation and Celebration!
  • Incorporating the learning from the previous sessions into relevant discussions and safe practice.  (Four different options for practice are offered and can be utilized based on the needs/preferences of the participants.)

 

 

  • Defining the necessary elements of good meetings
  • Understanding the role of Meeting Chair, Meeting Participant, Time Keeper and Recorder
  • Appropriate content of meeting – plus other ways to get messages to employees
  • Planning, communicating, and conducting effective meetings
  • Making meetings motivational and beneficial
  • Keeping meetings productive:  Handling the interpersonal challenges and conflicts that can occur in meetings
  • Handling the interpersonal challenges and conflicts that can occur in meetings

 

  • We recommend some type of ‘graduation’ and celebration at the end of the series and offer a variety of ideas that can be fun and have high impact
  • We include a template for a Certificate of Completion that can be used to recognize successful completion of the course materials.

 

 

 

 

Client Comments:

“We have been using a custom version of Dee’s ‘Quick Start’ program for several years.  We find her design of the content is engaging and entertaining.  Our participants enjoy each training session.  But it isn’t just about having a good time.  We have seen a positive difference in the supervisory skill levels in our organization that has resulted in higher employee performance and fewer ‘disciplinary write ups.’    (Insurance Company)

 “I first became aware of this supervisory training program when it was offered to our Store Managers at a retail operation I worked at.  Later when I became the Vice President of Human Resources at this Hospice, we used Dee’s ‘Quick Start’ program as the first formal supervisory training offered to our management staff.   We’ve offered this training series every year since, and it is required for anyone who joins our management team.  (Everyone from the CEO on down has attended these sessions and found them useful.)  ‘Quick Start’ is comprehensive and yet spells out the necessary skills of how to supervise others in a simple, straight-forward manner that is easy to grasp and implement.”  (Hospice Facility) 

 “It’s fun…and it works!  What else can I say?  I use it with a variety of my clients and Dee is always willing to help with the any course content or title modifications that will insure a successful implementation.”  (Independent Training Consultant)