CHAPTER – Two

SUPERVISORY MANAGEMENT
The student will/should be able to:

2.1 what are Skills important to supervisory

management
2.2 Functions of supervisors
2.3 what does a supervisor do
2.4 what are responsibilities of a supervisor
2.5 Supervision – significance
2.6 Vital Link between Workers and Management:
2.7 Main Requisites of Effective Supervision
2.8 Roles in Supervision
2.9 The characteristics of an effective supervisor are
2.10 The Supervisor As A Leader
 Supervisory management is defined as the action of

overseeing and managing employees in the workplace.

 The goal of anyone who is involved in Supervisory

management should be to help employees most

adequately fit with the needs of a company.

 Such acts as holding meetings, reviewing performance,

scheduling, assigning raises, and transfer or firing

employees could all be part of someone's job in this field.

2.1 Skills important to supervisory management

Supervisory management can employ skills such as:

 Problem-solving: Supervisors and managers are
typically good problem-solvers, providing solutions
for employees and guiding them through unique
challenges they might face at work.
 Mentoring: Leaders learn to mentor employees and
subordinates, guiding them toward personal growth
and assisting them in developing job-related skills.
 Strategy: Company leaders often use strategic
planning skills to navigate complex issues or
encourage innovation at a company.
 Self-awareness: Company leaders can acknowledge the extent
of their own skill sets and work to reduce the gap between their
skills and the company's challenges. This can help them better
meet those challenges and provide a good example for
employees.
 Honesty: Company leaders who display honesty and integrity
in speech and action promote a more honest and open
workplace. This can help prioritize communication and turn
challenges into team projects.
 Analysis: Company leaders analyze situations, problems and
challenges for details that might provide insight or a potential
solution.
 2.2 FUNCTIONS OF SUPERVISORS
1,Planning and Organizing - Supervisor’s basic role is to
plan the daily work schedule of the workers by guiding
them the nature of their work and also dividing the work
amongst the workers according to their interests, aptitudes,
skills and interests.

2,Provision of working conditions - A supervisor plays an

important role in the physical setting of the factory and in
arranging the physical resources at right place.
This involves providing proper sitting place, ventilation,
lighting, water facilities etc. to workers. His main
responsibility is here to provide healthy and hygienic
condition to the workers
3, Leadership and Guidance - A supervisor is the leader of
workers under him. He leads the workers and influences them to
work their best. He also guides the workers by fixing
production targets and by providing them instruction and
guidelines to achieve those targets.
4, Motivation - A supervisor plays an important role by
providing different incentives to workers to perform better.
There are different monetary and non-monetary incentives
which can inspire the workers to work better.
5, Controlling - Controlling is an important function performed
by supervisor.
This will involve
 Recording the actual performance against the time schedule.
 Checking of progress of work.
 Finding out deviations if any and making solutions
 If not independently solved, reporting it to top management
6,Linking Pin - A supervisor proves to be a linking pin between
management and workers. He communicates the policies of management to
workers also passes instructions to them on behalf of management.

7,Grievance Handling - The supervisor can handle the grievances of the

workers effectively for this he has to do the following things :-
 He can be in direct touch with workers.
 By winning the confidence of the workers by solving their problems.
 By taking worker problems on humanitarian grounds.
 If he cannot tackle it independently, he can take the help and advice
of management to solve it.

8,Reporting - A supervisor has got an important role to report about the

cost, quality and any such output which can be responsible for increasing
productivity.
9,Introducing new work methods - The supervisor here has to be
conscious about the environment of work place. he can innovate
the techniques of production. This will result in
 Higher productivity,
 High Morale of Workers,
 Satisfying working condition,
 Improving human relations,
 Higher Profits, and
 High Stability

10,Enforcing Discipline - A supervisor can undertake many steps

to maintain discipline in the concern by regulating checks and
measures, strictness in orders and instructions, keeping an
account of general discipline of factory, implementing penalties
and punishments for the indiscipline workers.
 2.3 WHAT DOES A SUPERVISOR DO
Supervisors are responsible for overseeing the daily functions of employees
in a specific team, department, or even a work shift.

 They create work schedules, organize work processes and workflows,

train new hires, provide necessary reports related to the team function and
the employees, monitor and evaluate employee performance, and ensure
that goals of the specific team or department are met.
 When needed, supervisors also provide guidance to employees in terms of
their career or even personal challenges.
 They also help in fostering harmonious work relationships by resolving
interpersonal conflicts at work.
 To be successful in their role, they must have leadership skills, time
management skills, decision-making capabilities, analytical skills, and
problem-solving skills
 2.4 WHAT ARE RESPONSIBILITIES OF A
SUPERVISOR?
Supervisor Responsibilities Include:
 Helping the team understand performance targets and goals
 Training or ensuring that workers train adequately for their
specific roles
 Scheduling work hours and shifts
 Coordinating job rotation and cross-training
 Assisting in resolving emergencies, such as a quality or
customer problem that may escalate to the team supervisor
for handling
 Identifying and resolving workplace problems, including
tardiness or absenteeism
 2.5 SUPERVISION – SIGNIFICANCE
Supervision is primarily concerned with
overseeing or watching the performance of
workers under his control.
 He plays an important role in the
management set up.
 He is the person who is directly connected
with the workers and acts as a vital link
between the management and workers.
The significance of supervision can be
explained as follows:
1. Issue of Orders and Instructions:
The workers require guidance of supervisor at
every step. He clears their doubts and tells them the
proper method of doing a job.
2. Planning and Organizing the Work:
A schedule of work is prepared so as to ensure an
even and steady flow of work.
The supervisor lays down production targets for
the workers and determines the methods and
procedures for doing the work.
3. It is Important at All Levels:
Supervision means overseeing and watching sub-
ordinates. Top management supervises managers
whereas supervisor supervises workers.
4. Vital Link between Workers and Management:
A supervisor is a representative of the management
and a very important figure from workers point of
view.
He communicates the policies of the management to
workers (downward communication) and also
provides feed back to the management as to what is
happening at the lowest level
(upward communication).
5. Motivating Subordinates:
A supervisor is a leader at the lowest rung of
management ladder. He serves as a friend,
philosopher and guide to workers. He inspires
teamwork and secures maximum co-operation
from the employees.
6. Feedback to Workers:
A supervisor compares the actual performance of
workers against the standards laid down and
identifies weaknesses of workers and suggests
corrective measures to overcome them.
7. Proper Assignment of Work:
A supervisor makes systematic arrangement of
activities and resources for his group.
 He assigns work to each worker and delegate’s
authority to workers.
 Workers feel frustrated when the work being done
by them is not properly arranged.
 Some workers may sit idle whereas others may be
overburdened if work is not properly assigned.
2.6 Vital Link between Workers and Management:

 Supervision is primarily concerned with overseeing or watching the

performance of workers under his control. He plays an important role in
the management set up.
 A supervisor is a representative of the management and a very important
figure from workers point of view.
 He communicates the policies of the management to workers (downward
communication) and also provides feed back to the management as to
what is happening at the lowest level (upward communication).
 I) Motivating Subordinates:
 A supervisor is a leader at the lowest rung of
management ladder.
 He serves as a friend, philosopher and guide to
workers. He inspires team work and secures
maximum co-operation from the employees.
II) Feedback to Workers:
 A supervisor compares the actual performance of
workers against the standards laid down and
identifies weaknesses of workers and suggests
corrective measures to overcome them.
III) Proper Assignment of Work:
A supervisor makes systematic arrangement of
activities and resources for his group.
He assigns work to each worker and delegate’s
authority to workers.
2.7 Main Requisites of Effective
Supervision:
 Supervision deals with instructing, guiding and
inspiring human beings towards greater level of
performance.
 The effectiveness of supervision is determined
by the degree of performance extracted from
the subordinates.
 Effective supervision gives proper guidance to
the subordinates.
 Skill in Leading:
As a leader, he will be able to guide the subordinates and
promote harmonious relationship among them.
1,Skill in Instructing:
Every supervisor issues orders and instructions to his
subordinates. He requires communication skill.
2,Human Orientation
A supervisor should treat his subordinates as human
beings.
As far as possible, he should adopt a helping attitude
towards his subordinates.
3,Technical Knowledge:
A supervisor must have the knowledge of machines,
equipment’s, tools, processes and materials that are
under his charge.
 2.8 Roles in Supervision
 The job of a supervisor is a very dynamic
one, depending on the culture.
 The organization complexity of the
department's goals, access to sufficient
resources.
 A supervisor might play different roles even
in the same day.
 The supervisor’s organisational role which are as
follows:
1,As a Key Man in the Management:
A supervisor is the key figure in the organisation
because he/she makes decisions, controls work and
interprets policy of the management to the work­ers.
2. Person in the Middle:
According to this view, a supervisor has to work
between two forces, namely the management and
the workers.
On the one hand, management has a lot of technical
and production-oriented expectations from him/her,
and, on the other hand, the workers also have a lot
of reward-oriented expectations from him/her.
 3. Supervisor as the Marginal Man:
According to this sociological concept,
supervisor is either left out of main activities
and influences affecting his/her department or
he/she is just on the margin.

4. Supervisor as Another Worker:

According to this view, a supervisor is just like a
worker lack­ing authority and having a feeling that
he/she is not part of management. Only his/her desig­
nation is changed.
5. Supervisor as a Human Relations Specialist:
As per this view, a supervisor is considered to be a
human relations specialist looking after the human
side of operations.
 2.9 THE CHARACTERISTICS OF AN EFFECTIVE
SUPERVISOR ARE

An effective supervisor plays a vital role in leading

the team and improving productivity.
As a matter of fact, the main objective of a good
supervisor is to gain collaboration of the team to
reach their goal without any mistakes.
To do that, the supervisor needs to have certain
important qualities.
Specifically, these include
 good listening,
 communicating skills,
 and teamwork.
I )Communicate, listen and motivate.
A supervisor must know how to communicate
effectively to deliver his message promptly.
Also, they should be able to listen actively and
empathize.
II )Be a team player and a great leader
The effective supervisor should work well with
other people on their team and support them.
 For this reason, knowing how to delegate the
work to the right person can help the work
flow smoothly.
 What’s more, being a motivational leader
also helps with improving productivity.
III) Be result-oriented
The team needs help in staying focused on a project.
Hence, the supervisor should be highly result-
oriented to achieve the goals expected.
To do that, they need to establish clear and specific
goals with the team and find ways to overcome
challenges. This will make sure the goal is met.
 Other important qualities of an
effective supervisor are:
The effective supervisor:
 Knows how to communicate
 Is very creative
 Actively listens and observes
 Guides & motivates the team
well
 Has good teamwork skills
 Is result-oriented
 Keeps focused on the goals
 Knows how to improvise and
has initiative
 Is well-organized and
versatile
 Respects everybody
 Is a good mediator
 Is very honest
 Take others’ needs into
consideration
 Makes decisions well
 Is a good negotiator
 Knows legal aspects
 Is technical literate
 Resolves conflicts
 Controls her/his stress,
aggression, and
frustration
 Is a good coach
 Seeks help and support
 Recognizes his/her
mistakes
 2.10 The Supervisor As A Leader
Key differences between supervisor vs. leader
The following are some ways a supervisor position is
different from a leader position:
Responsibilities
One major difference between a supervisor and a leader is the
types of tasks they complete.
 Supervisors complete technical and administrative
duties. They also make sure their team meets
organizational standards and completes their projects on
time.
 A leader's job responsibilities involve acting as an
intermediary between the supervisor and other team
members. They assign tasks to certain team members and
create a timeline to follow. Leaders also communicate the
strategic direction after the supervisor creates it.
 Focus
Another difference between a supervisor and a
leader is their primary goals.
 Supervisors tend to focus on an
organization's daily tasks and creating
optimization. They also ensure
organizational compliance and accuracy to
ensure order and predictability.

 Leaders tend to concentrate more on the

resources and goals of their team or
organization. Their main focus is on the
growth and change of the organization.
 Position in an organization
Leaders and supervisors have different levels of authority.
 A supervisor is a type of management position
responsible for the results of their team members.
Organizations hire them to fill a specific job. Supervisors
tend to have more control in the development of work
rules, training plans, performance evaluations and other
related organization regulations.

 While leaders also hold a higher level of authority A

leader is someone who guides a group or
organization in the direction toward a vision.
They motivate others to achieve goals and reach
their full potential. Leaders also assign work to
team members and provide support to help them
complete tasks.