7. SUPERVISORS IN ACTION. The Golden Rule of Supervision is: Any order that cannot be understood cannot be executed. Communicating to other people what they are to do is the way any supervisor gets things done. In this way, a supervisor's decisions and ideas implemented. How the supervisor tells them what to do will determine how well the job will be done and whether or not the supervisor will succeed or fail in his or her endeavors. George (1979) described six simple rules the effective supervisor needs to follow to be effective in providing direction for employees. They are: 1. Create the right climate. Directions need to be given in a climate and spirit of help and cooperation. Commands and brusque orders are the mark of an immature supervisor and seldom achieve more than a grudging compliance. Creating this type of climate does not happen overnight. Where employees willingly and enthusiastically accept a directive, the supervisor can be sure that a climate of helpful cooperation exists. 2. Make the direction reasonable. A good direction is a reasonable one. A direction that is reasonable for one employee may not be for another one. Remember that individual differences exist within all work environments. 3. Make the direction understandable. Any order that cannot be understood cannot be executed. Be sure then that the order is understood by the employee. How directions are communicated depends on the employee and the situation. Some employees need more direction; some need very little. Whatever the situation, be sure the employee understands your point of view and knows exactly what you want done. 4. Choose the right words. When giving a direction, use the right words and say them in such a way that the employee enthusiastically accepts the direction. At times a direct command is needed. On most occasions, it is better to request that someone do something rather than demand it. 5. Explain the "Why" of the Direction. If there is the slightest chance the employee will not understand why something needs to be done, be sure to tell him or her. If he or she understands why he or she was given the direction, he or she is more likely to pitch in and get the work accomplished with dispatch. 6. Be prepared for problems. No matter how carefully you go through the previous steps in giving directions, you are bound to have problems. This is just part of the job. Explain to the employee what is needed. Listen to his or her concerns. Follow up on directions given. Process the results with the employee. Acknowledge his or her successfully completing what was directed of him or her (George, 1979, p. 113-115). What if the employee refuses to follow a direction even after being requested to do so? This is not an uncommon occurrence. When there are problems, patience is necessary. Remember that the goal is to get the job done. It is then the responsibility of the supervisor to ask: 1. Did he understand the direction? 2. Is he willfully refusing or is there some reason why he did not do what was asked of him that is not obvious? 3. If is not obvious, ask him, "Is there something here that I need to know about that you aren't telling me?" 4. Ask, "Is there something that I did or said that is getting in the way of your doing what I asked you to do?" Should supervisors give answers to their employees when they ask for solutions to problems? In general, no. To do so is poor supervision. Solving a problem for an employee disempowers him or her and it does not place him or her in a place to make a decision on his or her own the next time a similar problem is encountered. What effective supervisors do in this type of situation is engage the employee in creative problem solving. Assisting the employee in discovering the answer for him or herself is much more productive and empowers the employee to continue to problem solve on his or her own in the future. Giving the employee the answer is much simpler and more time efficient. However, one of the most important functions of supervision is to train the employee to be better at all aspects of his or her job related responsibilities and problem solving is one of the most important activities of any employee's functions. The better each individual employee is at problem solving the less time the supervisor will spend solving problems for others. Time management is the key issue. Time spent initially problem solving with an employee will pay great dividends later on. This process is like the answer the little boy gave to a teacher when she asked him if he bought a cart for $6.92 and sold it for $8.24, whether he would win or lose on the deal. He thought about it for a moment and then said, he would win on the dollars but lose on the cents. In helping an employee solve his own problems you may lose on the cents (the short run), but you will win on the dollars (the long run). What are the signals that a supervisor is not doing an effective job? There is no one signal that clearly indicates that a supervisor is doing an ineffective job. However, several factors combined might tell him or her that something is not working. The following checklist (George, 1979) can be used by any supervisor to measure his or her supervisory performance. If two or more of these items apply to the supervisor, it may signal that something may be amiss. SUPERVISORY PROBLEMS CHECK LIST 1. Do you get complaints from your employees about the quality and delivery of your work? 2. Are costs increasing in your department that you can't justify? 3. Is production output per employee decreasing? 4. Have you had increases in the number of complaints or grievances within the past year? 5. Have you had to reprimand several of your employees during the past year for conflicts, hostility, and unjustified actions? 6. Do you have to watch your employees more closely than you used to because they no longer are self starters? 7. Is there indication of apathy and disinterest among your employees about their jobs and the company? 8. During meetings, do you find that attendance is poor and little interest shown in the topic being discussed? 9. Do your employees misunderstand your instructions and not do what you tell them to do? 10. Are there increased absences and turnover? Eventually, every employee problem affects work. In such instances, an understanding and cooperative supervisor who recognizes these problems can do much to help his or her employees get over this difficult time. Supervisory counseling is nothing more than talking in private with an employee. Listening carefully to what the employee has to say. Don't argue and don't criticize him. Try to understand what he or she is trying to say. Like an iceberg, only 10% of an employee's feelings are on the surface. The other 90% are below the surface. A conscientious supervisor attempts to discover these hidden feelings through an intimate talk with his or her employee. The session may provide the employee with sound advice or with hope and reassurance. It may help him or her to clarify his or her own thinking. These sessions may assist the employee in bridging the gap between supervisor and employee. In such sessions, the supervisor's role is to serve as a fact finder and listening post. Generally, the most difficult problems to identify and correct are personal problems. Whatever they are, they certainly will affect the employee's work performance. Personal problems may be interrelated with all sorts of other problems. Even though the supervisor may not like it, counseling troubled employees is a necessary part of being effective. Remember, that problem employees can do more harm than good if they are not helped. To describe all the nuances of the supervisor's role when he or she is actively dispatching supervisory duties would take thousands of volumes of text and is beyond the scope of this paper. Suffice it to say, the supervisor who hopes to be not only an effective supervisor but a leader as well, needs to master these suggested skills and many more not listed here. Reading, attending supervisory training, watching other effective supervisors work and role modeling their actions, practicing counseling techniques, learning to become an active listener, are all actions which will enhance the effectiveness of any supervisor.