by Maria C Collins

Created on: May 15, 2010

You got promotion, congratulations. Now you have to supervise other workers. Do not allow the little demon to possess you, the one closely related to the little demon that possesses motorists. It possesses most newly promoted bosses. The little demon tells you that you have to wield your new power, and impress your subordinates, that now you are the boss you can do exactly as you please. It is not true and you know it is not.

You have had supervisors and you know how a good one behaves; the greatest thing to remember is to treat others, as you would wish to be treated.

You have skills and abilities that have led to you being able to manage others, but it does not mean that you are better than anyone else is; it just means that your skills are different. The best supervisors are the ones that can sit beside you and do your job as well as you can. It makes you more approachable, they will find it easier to talk to you and know that you understand their work difficulties and dilemmas. It gives them a voice and helps them, to understand you.

Praise is a great motivator. It inspires both the recipient of the praise and other workers. M, a young telephonist at a busy telephone exchange, took an emergency call from a lady who was panicking badly. M connected the lady to the ambulance service, the lady broke down, and M stayed on the line with her and calmed her enough to get her information to the ambulance service. The ambulance service asked M to keep the lady talking until the ambulance crew arrived at her house. A few weeks later, the Chief Supervisor called M out, poor M thought she was in trouble. The lady had written to the exchange thanking M for her calm action that day and the Chief said a commendation would go on M’s record. The Chief also thanked M and M thought that was that. When M went to break, some colleagues were clustering around the telephonist’s notice board, it carried the lady’s letter, alongside a letter from the Chief Supervisor commending M for her actions and saying the Chief was very proud of M.

Anyone who supervises workers knows that sometimes he or she will have to discipline a worker. Never do so in public, discipline should take place in an office out of sight and earshot of the rest of the staff.

Your job title may give you the right to tell workers what to do, but it is much better to ask them politely with a “please” and a “thank-you”. Yelling, screaming or swearing at workers will not get any more work out of them, it will just make them unhappy, unsure, and afraid and if anything will lower, their productivity. It is also bullying. Staying calm even under pressure will inspire your workers. Losing your temper will inspire no one.

Value your workers, take the time to appreciate their individual skills and abilities and realize that their skills and abilities are not less than yours are, they are just different. Discovering what it is that each worker is good at will help you in the future when you are assigning work. You will know what each employee’s strength is and how to divide the tasks.

You know how to be the best boss your employees ever had, think about the best boss you ever had and try to emulate those qualities. Look after your workers, and they will look after you. Loyal workers will go to the end of the Earth for a good boss, value their loyalty, trust and confidence for it will make you a valuable asset to your company.

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