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Supervisors should focus on cost efficiency as an important element of an organization's success. Several techniques can be adopted which would not only save time, money and effort, but could also ensure effective operations. A review of a company's condemnation system requires engineering tests to determine the shelf life or salvage value of components before considering them as 'scrap.' Suggestion systems and competitive cost comparisons are among the other ways supervisors can achieve cost efficiency., Are you cashing in on the values of color coding in your operation? As a member of the profit-based Rainbow Division, you can use green on product labels to tip [...]

Supervisors who issue special assignments cannot expect their subordinates to deliver the desired outcomes if they fail to communicate their expectations clearly. Subordinates cannot deliver what is expected of them if they are not given proper directions, support resources, time off from routine duties, explanations of the problem and the boundary limits, and feedback. Supervisors can avoid these pitfalls and ensure the effectiveness of their special assignments by developing a written document for each of these assignments. The good Assignment Checklist should address five important issues: the scope of work, ground rules or boundaries, schedules and target dates, final report of accomplishments, and the signing of the report by the people who will implement the recommendations., 'You did it all wrong!' 'That's not what I wanted!' 'You'll have to do the whole thing over again.' 'How can we put out high quality products and service when [...]

Supervisors need to communicate with their subordinates even if they can work well without supervision. Failure to communicate meaningfully with subordinates is dangerous because it can lead to the weaker performance of the department. To create a positive, fruitful relationship with subordinates, supervisors should build personal credibility, ask for volunteers for dirty jobs, solicit the advice of subordinates about certain tasks, share information and assess themselves., The statement, 'Works well without supervision,' frequently appears in employee performance reviews. What does it mean? Quiet time for learning, thinking and designing is generally recognized as a practical necessity. [...]

The 'can-do' approach allows supervisors to employ a problem-solving approach that motivates employees to participate in solving problems and develop new and creative ideas for productivity improvements. It also offers them a chance to improve communication and build a stronger relationship with employees for a healthier organization., SCENARIO 1: Accidentally, you discover that one of your department employees has been shortcutting manufacturing procedures. This shortcutting procedure has not sacrificed quality at all, yet has cut the process [...]

Supervisors can help employees meet goals and produce quality work by letting them know what is expected of them. This can be achieved by communicating to employees the standards for expectation. Four models for setting numerical goals or performance expectations to ensure that employees perform their roles and responsibilities in the workplace are discussed., When you think of coaching, what comes to mind? Boys and girls wearing baseball caps being shown how to slide into home plate? A tennis instructor demonstrating the proper back [...]

Supervisors of a project office in a company that is implementing a continuous improvement initiative are required to make measurements. They are responsible for using a different measurement technique for each of the three main processes involved in a project office. These are statistical process control for requirements management process, survey for team leadership and budget awards for special project leadership., Imagine yourself in the following situation. You are the supervisor of a Project Office in a large company that is struggling to implement a Continuous Improvement Program. Your boss calls [...]

Several cost-saving tips for cost-conscious supervisors are offered. These include using computer-stored form letters instead of individualized letters, creating a task force to solve business problems rather than seeking the advise of vendors, and carefully planning the mailing of marketing materials. Other cost-reduction techniques are chosing alternative dispute resolution over litigation, encouraging employees to use motorcyles or bicycles to commute to work, and providing an effective health program to save on health costs., In this age of the computer answering letters individually when a form letter will do adds up to profit dollars down the drain. Yet Cleveland-based management consultant Margaret Hatch states [...]

Supervisors given a new supervisory job should first focus on demonstrating their commitment to the individual employees who work under them. These employees need to feel that they are appreciated and valued and that their contributions to the organization are recognized. After getting to know their employees, supervisors should then encourage them to develop a team mind-set. Finally, they should build up their employee orientation programs as a future investment on their human resources., Countless supervisors at all levels are struggling with the challenge of starting a new supervisory job. Much is said and written about the new quality culture in business and renewed [...]

Management tips for supervisors are presented. The first advice deals with ways supervisors can encourage creativity in employees. These include determining specific problems in the department and recommending courses of action. The second advice presents ways supervisors can motivate themselves. The third deals with the cultivation of information for future use. Lastly, the use of imagination in problem-solving is recommended., HOW TO PROMOTE CREATIVITY AMONG YOUR PEOPLE There was a time when creativity was considered the province of a chosen few - artists, sculptors, writers and the like. More recently, [...]

Stress in the workplace has led to employee resignations, absences, decreased productivity and increased workers' compensation claims. Supervisors are advised to consider painting the workplace and acquiring equipment with colors that reduce bad stress and promote good stress. Color experts report that several restful and exciting colors can influence worker behavior regardless of the employee's age, culture, education, color preference or sex., Stress eruptions in a work group are as cyclical as the phases of the moon. The stressors come in three shapes. First is group stress caused by rumors of rightsizing, [...]

Supervisors should know the proper way for managing their superiors to ensure their own success. Proper management requires supervisors to know the company objectively and to explain to their bosses situations as they see it. Supervisors should present plans before their bosses, start putting plans into action, ask for advice, get the job done and seek knowledge from their bosses. In addition, they should always train someone to take over their jobs in case they get promoted., Make your plan, and key it on five things. It needs to be: simple, measurable, attainable, productive and based on one of your personal strengths. New position, new company, new [...]

Byline: MATTHEW HELLER Enforcing a corporate substance-abuse policy is easier said than done. Overaggressive enforcement can result in claims by workers for invasion of privacy and researchers concluded in 2002 [...]

Ethics and responsibility are values that should go hand in hand in the workplace. Managers and supervisors are thus faced with the challenge of being both ethical and responsible. A manager who is both ethical and responsible is an asset to the company and its stockholders. Likewise, the ethical manager serves as an example to subordinates, motivating them to act in the same manner.

Supervisors can use the critical zone as a window of opportunity to revitalize, renew and redirect employees after a reorganization. During the window, which lasts from six to 12 months, supervisors can build a new relationship with employees that is based on performance. Supervisors can also gain employee commitment to and involvement in the organization's success where success means continuous improvement.

Managers in various organizations are discovering that employee involvement (EI) leads to greater productivity and efficiency. Employees who are involved in operations turn out to be highly adept in solving operating problems. In thislight, the first-line supervisor plays a significant role in the transition to EI since he is in direct contact with the workforce in their daily duties., As organizations strive for greater productivity and efficiency, the move toward deeper involvement of operating employees in problem-solving and decision-making is gaining momentum. Managers of various types of organizations have [...]

Many companies are encouraging their employees to develop money-making and money-saving ideas. A discussion of some of these ideas which were adopted by the respective companies is presented. The ideas range from maximizing facility spaces to careful monitoring of office paper use., Companies nationwide are coming up with imaginative new programs to encourage employees at all levels to suggestmoneymaking and money-saving ideas. 'And they're implementing more than a third of what they [...]

Many productivity experts emphasize that delegating authority to subordinates greatly increases a company's productivity. Despite such assertions, many supervisors are still unwilling to delegate functions because they often fear that their subordinates will be unable to fulfill the tasks. To assist supervisors, several tips on delegating responsibility to subordinates are discussed., Secrets Of Successful Delegation Delegating not only makes your work easier and employees' jobs more interesting it also helps you improve your department's productivity ... identifies you as leader ... [...]

Managers and supervisors must fully understand the 'halo effect' and to take preventive steps to minimize its negative impact. The 'halo effect' refers to allowing one trait of a person or one aspect of a situation to affect one's judgment of another trait or aspect. A lack of awareness of the 'halo effect' and its impact can lead to some serious management problems. Some preventive measures that managers can take to neutralize the 'halo effect' are offered., BEWARE OF THE 'HALO EFFECT' Most of us take pride in keeping our judgments strictly objective. Yet, the truth is, we are all subject to what is known as the [...]

Cost reduction can be achieved by supervisors by coordinating with other departments. A cooperative work environment promotes motivation, thus increasing productivity and reducing product rejects, breakage and spoilage. Managing by fear alienates employees and creates an adversarial atmosphere in the workplace. Supervisor can avoid such a situation by upgrading labor relations through employee empowerment, partnering and focus group meetings., Many shippers with private fleets, according to studies conducted by International Harvester Co., are ill-informed about the operating details of their transportation departments. Top management settles for the 'feeling' that [...]

Supervisors can make office grapevines, the quick communication network in the shop and office, work to their advantage. Since supervisors provide the most direct contact point between management and the rank-and-file, they are mainly the ones who can keep a grapevine healthy and efficient. Supervisors must not use the grapevine to communicate, but must listen to what it says as it reflects employee concerns. Some guidelines on how to best deal with grapevines are provided., Some supervisors think they understand what communications with employees are all about. They think that the shop grapevine is a linear construction, that it has only a main trunk which [...]

Most organizations have marginal performers who do not perform up to par due either to incompetence or lack of proper training. Supervisors have the responsibility of training or re-training personnel to ensure that everybody is contributing to a department's goals. To do this, a supervisor must first identify the problem at hand. Once the problem is identified, the supervisor can start coaching marginal performers by knowing the subject at hand, and communicating it effectively. The supervisor should also be able to instill trust through patient coaching, and to monitor personnel development through constant follow-ups., Absolutely no amount of leadership strength can replace the need for the supervisor to develop people within his/her area of responsibility. It's been said that good managers leave weak organizations [...]

Supervisors support rehabilitation Line managers and supervisors are generally supportive of helping employees with common mental health problems return to work, this study finds. However, many feel that the interventions [...]

Byline: Michael Patriarca An 'Editor at Large' column last fall, 'Managers No Longer an Afterthought in Camels Ratings' [Sept. 9], reported dissatisfaction among federal and state bank supervisors in the [...]

Joseph Yam, who retired in October after serving as Hong Kong's top banking regulator, suggested recently that supervisors should worry more about examining the risks of questionable financial products than [...]

Middle managers must take a proactive approach in the execution of their duties and the management of staff if they are to ensure efficiency and productivity amidst the growing trend of corporate downsizings and reorganizations. The ability of middle managers to prepare themselves for these corporate changes will rest on an awareness of emerging trends in supervisory management and their facility for understanding these developments. Among the emerging trends are the replacement of autocratic organizational structures by more participative frameworks, the development of a corporate culture that emphasizes employee self-reliance and openness as a result of a more democratic and autonomous work environment, increasingly horizontal interorganizational communication, and a greater acceptance of the individuality of every employee., A very wry riddle might pose the question: What do donuts and corporations have in common? The answer: a hole in the middle. Think about it. A clever middle manager [...]

In the eyes of some naive workers who aspire to be supervisors, one of the advantages of the job is that you just tell people what to do and it [...]

Making the organizational mission statement work for the supervisor What do administrators and directors in the boardrooms and executive suites know about the day-to-day grind of a hotel's housekeeping staff, [...]

How many times have you needed something -- perhaps an authorization for overtime or a temporary employee -- but you did not bother asking your supervisor? How many times have [...]

Not so very long ago, while reworking a training class for new supervisors, we had a belated glimpse of the obvious: Zingerman's 5 Steps to Effective On-shift Training (see Staff [...]

It's not surprising that confusion is the order of the day when it comes to how the U.S. residential mortgage industry is supervised. The supervisory framework can befuddle even the [...]

The role of supervisors' leadership on the behavior and occupational safety of subordinates in manufacturing industries is discussed.

Many call centers have implemented a comprehensive, multi-hurdle hiring process featuring advanced screening and assessment tools to ensure that they attract and acquire the best agents possible. Few centers, however, [...]

One lawsuit can cripple a construction firm, and one overlooked detail can cost a worker his life. At the 2005 Annual Construction Safety Conference, presenter Patrick Conroy, vice president of [...]

A coach is always preferred to a referee boss because of the working atmosphere he maintains in an office. The best way to become a coach is to proactively work with members of the respective team, to identify challenging new tasks and helping them create a plan that will lead to a successful end result.

Q: I have been employing Latino people for more than a year. One recently came to me, asking if he could go to Mexico for a month or two because [...]

Bank examiners used to count the cash box; now they read manuals. Supervisors executing modern risk-based examination programs live in the world of internal controls and written procedures. They look [...]

By ben willmott Line managers provide the crucial link between HR and delivering business performance. This was the key message from the People Mean Business seminar, based on the latest [...]

Experienced aggregates operations establish business plans identifying goals for their organizations, the means to achieve the goals, and the ways to overcome obstacles to success. Similarly, operations should consider developing [...]

Many grounds managers across the country tell me how difficult it is to get their point across to their supervisors. Some even feel they must constantly justify their position or [...]

Some staffers said, 'Jim Kelly's smart.' Others disagreed. 'He's brilliant,' they insisted. The distinction was immaterial, Chief Engineer Cliff Koppel thought. The project leader was one pain in the butt. [...]

Want to be a hero? Save your boss some money. Find a way to do things cheaper and faster. Get more out of existing personnel. Save energy. Better yet, do [...]

creative problem solving as a complement to rational problem solving 'It has been suggested that innovation will be to the 2000s what total quality management was to the 1970s, what [...]

You can change your department so it is a better place to work. You can revitalize your subordinates -- without changing any reporting relationships. You can rearrange your workplace and [...]

how to make a clean getaway A personal file of stimulating ideas, little-known facts and daily problem solvers With the advent of warm -- or cold -- weather come thoughts [...]

Time isn't just money. It's the life's-blood of every business organization. Time is every supervisor's most precious resource. If you run out of time, it doesn't make any difference how [...]