What Happens Behind Your Back?

“I may not be new to supervising others, but I don’t think I’m very good at it.”

Your HR Survival Tips

As a supervisor, your primary responsibility is to make sure your employees are performing as expected. But supervising takes time, which you may not have in abundance. So what do you do? Communicate.

Yes, talk with your employees, both individually and as a group. That may not sound like a time-saving method, but we guarantee that early communication can eliminate or lessen the need for much more time spent down the road.

If you make it a habit to communicate frequently, you’ll discover it takes less and less time. We have found it’s best to have one-on-one meetings for 10-15 minutes each week. If you have trouble figuring out what to say, here are a few conversation ideas:

• What did you accomplish this week?
• What do you have planned for next week?
• Do you have any suggestions for changes or improvements in the way the work is done or for the department/company?
• You can also use this time to reinforce recent positive behaviors or to correct negative behaviors.

It may be a little uncomfortable at first but, once your employees understand that you are interested and listening, they (and you) will gain more confidence in sharing information.

In addition, have a brief weekly meeting with all your employees together. This is a great time to update them on the status of the workload, discuss any special projects on the horizon, or to brainstorm ideas on how to improve one of your processes. As an employee once told me, “My supervisor hired me for my expertise, but never asks my opinion.” Don’t make this mistake and take the chance of losing good employees!

You will find that your employees stay more motivated and engaged in their work when they feel they have an active role in the process. These friendly meetings also open the door for easier communication about performance issues. Need more help? Check out our recorded performance webinars.