What Makes a Great Supervisor?

12.01.18 | Management Tips, Professional Development

Becoming a supervisor is about more than a promotion to the title. To succeed, you need to look at your personality and skills, and figure out what you can do to make sure you become a great supervisor. Consider your current leadership style and think about how you can improve. Talk to your team and figure out what they’re looking for in an effective manager. For reference, here are a few things that make a great supervisor.

Positivity

The power of a positive attitude can’t be overestimated. It’s one of the most important things you can bring to a team. When you show up for work with a good attitude, it will rub off on your team and spread to their environments, as well. Instead of being frustrated when a problem arises, your attitude will help you maintain calm and be an effective problem solver.

Delegation

A good manager understands not only that they can’t do it all, but that there are people on their team who are equipped to do it better. Hand down tasks to your employees based on their skills and areas of responsibilities. Failure to target delegating might mean passing an assignment to someone who isn’t comfortable or right for the job.

Communication

This is one of the more frequently discussed, because it is that important. Failure to both talk to and listen to your employees can lead to a dysfunctional team. They need to know you’ll keep them informed and they can talk to you about anything, and trust you’ll handle it well.

Flexibility

This branches into several different areas, including deadlines and working hours. Essentially, you need to understand your team and their limitations. See how much they’re working and how much more they have to give. Sometimes, all that could be done is being done, which means a deadline might need to be adjusted. Occasionally an employee who’s a parent might need to adjust their schedule to meet a need for their child. No matter the specific situation, being accommodating as a manager can lead to increased loyalty from your team.

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