Competencies for New Supervisors

1. Competencies forNew Supervisors Why the Self AssessmentIs Important: The Vital Few John E. Jones & Chris Chen American Society for Training & Development

2. What We Will Consider • A definition of each competency • Why each competency is of vital importance to newly appointed supervisors • A step-by-step action plan for your self-improvement

3. 1. Influence – Persuades others to accept a desired point of view; gains support and commitment from others; effects change in behavior of others. • The essence of leadership is influence. • People don’t want to be managed. They want to be led. • Encourage your people. • Elucidate the organization’s vision. • Model the way.

4. 2. Facilitation – Leads meetings or group efforts without directing the outcome; creates an environment of openness and trust; leads groups to decisions where all participants feel a sense of ownership. • Efficiency: you can inform, instruct, and listen to your people all at once. • Sponsoring evenness of participation . • Capturing key points. • Not judging what they say.

5. 3. Planning and Organizing – Develops comprehensive project plans; monitors progress against goals; assigns clear responsibilities; breaks work down into manageable portions. • Resist the temptation to hold on to the power. • Empowering your people to make decisions for themselves. • No “leave alone, zap” supervision. • Collaborate with your people on establishing work plans and organizing tasks.

6. 4. Analysis– Gathers relevant information; considers broad range of issues and factors; perceives relationships among diverse information; uses logic effectively. • Working with diverse information. • Available to consult with your manager, associates, and peers on data-based problem solving.. • Thinking logically through situations that need attention.

7. 5. Decision Making – Makes timely and effective decisions. • Delaying or “putting off” decisions can be frustrating to your followers. • “Windows of opportunity” can close on you. • Timely decisions are not necessarily quick ones. • Base them on solid data, and take into account their potential impact on both the organization and your people.

8. 6. Delegating – Assigns tasks effectively to others while maintaining responsibility for results. Considers skill level of employee and challenge level of assignment. • Working with your people in ways that cause them to take personal responsibility for specific work tasks. • A developmental strategy • Stay close, in order to observe task-relevant behaviors and provide specific feedback and suggestions for improvement • “Unload” your routine tasks.

9. 7. Follow-up and Commitment – Follows plans through to closure. Persists despite obstacles. Keeps their word. • Plans: failure in the implementation stage.. • Monitoring progress toward the plan’s goals. • Adjusting the strategies and tactics used in carrying it out as needed. • “Running interference” for your people. • Do do what you promise.

10. 8. Communication – Speaks clearly and expresses self well in groups. Conveys ideas in terms the listener can understand. • The most vital competency in this set. • Self expression. • Building on the ideas of others. • People have to understand your speech. • Goals: • To make your message clear • To be understood accurately.

11. 9. Listening – Demonstrates attention to and conveys understanding of others. • Commit to a lifetime of self development in this area. • Requires keeping your mind open to what others say. • Requires , attending well to both the content of what they say and also the feelings that may be expressing. • Checking your understanding of others’ messages.

12. 10. Managing Conflict – Identifies sources of conflict. Uses conflict as a constructive process to exchange ideas. Keeps energy focused on desired outcomes. • Conflict is seldom resolved. • Isolate its root causes. • Competent in consulting with others in conflict with each other. • Commitment to shared goals. • Keeping all exchanges within the context of desired results.

13. 11. Foster Teamwork– Clarifies roles and responsibilities. • Supervisors having more people reporting directly to them. • Less time with each individual associate. • Forging work teams from groups of employees whose work is interdependent. • Searching for synergy. • Making sure that individual members have clear roles and responsibilities.

14. 12. Technical/Functional Expertise – Possesses current knowledge of profession and industry. Regarded as an expert. • Absolutely need to know the work. • Not a a “trouble shooter,,” though. • Viewed you as both knowledgeable and skillful. • Commit yourself to remaining current. • Continuously studying emerging trends and effective practices.

15. 13. Time Management – Sets efficient work priorities. Can work on many tasks simultaneously. Balances importance and urgency of tasks. • Competent in “multitasking.” • Expect many interruptions • Staying within your priorities. • Knowing when to “drop everything.” • Knowing what is important and what is comparatively trivial.

16. 14. Motivate Others – Encourages others to achieve desired results. Creates enthusiasm and commitment in others. • You cannot motivate another person . • Your people are already motivated. • Knowing what motivates your associates. • Tying work tasks to those inner drives. • Linking their motivation to your expectations.

17. 15. Coach and Develop –Gives timely, specific, constructive feedback. Provides challenging, developmental assignments. • Training employees is not the sole responsibility of trainers. • You are a frontline developer of your people. • Show, observe, give feedback, and suggest improvements in their performance • “Micro-teaching,” in which you develop your people in necessary job skills one-on-one.

18. 16. Provide Direction – Provides clear direction and sets clear priorities. Fosters a common vision. • Articulate in spelling out the vision, mission, purpose, and values of the organization. • Enrolling your people in working collaboratively toward a shared vision. • Work with your people to establish work priorities that are clearly aligned with the organization’s goals.

19. Action Plan forSelf-Improvement

20. 1. Which 2-3 competency areasdo you need to improve mostat this time?

21. 2. What’s in it for you tobetter yourself in these areas?

22. 3. What have you tried before?

23. 4. What steps can you personally take to improve in these areas?

24. 5. What help and support doyou need to improve in these competencies?

25. 6. How will you monitor your progress in self-improvementas a supervisor in these areasof competency?

26. 7. Who needs to know about this?

27. 8. How will you tell them?

28. 9. What are your first few steps?

29. Remember… • If it is to be, it’s up to me. • The power is in my hands.

30. ©2002 by the American Society for Training & Development