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A Good Manager Has The Skills To Bring Out Staff Potential

Wednesday 12 June, 2002
Supervisory or management staff can bring out the creative and productive potential of support staff if they have specific skills.

If you empower a staff member with a new responsibility for supervising staff, don’t necessarily expect a smooth transition to the role. Essential new competencies must be developed if the supervisor is to realise the creative and productive potential of support staff.

With the fast-paced changing workplace even an established supervisor will need to regularly consolidate and update skills to facilitate support of workplace initiatives.

An effective supervisor will need to:

  • Adopt a leadership role which emphasises performance management, and the facilitation and empowerment of team members;
  • Apply motivational techniques which encourage and reinforce desired performance;
  • Identify barriers to communication and be able to overcome them;
  • Plan and facilitate effective team meetings;
  • Conduct face to face counselling, discipline and performance improvement interviews;
  • Recognise differing behavioural needs and expectations of people and be able to deal with these differences to develop satisfying and productive work relationships and teamwork.

Establishing yourself as a supervisor or manager is not an easy matter. All supervisors must be leaders.

Effective workplace leadership

Leadership is all about using appropriate interpersonal styles and methods in guiding individuals and groups towards task accomplishment.

Every supervisor must be able to influence people to work willingly towards organisational goals and encourage high quality results. What is often required of a leader is balanced and strong concern for both people and task.

Leadership styles are categorised in relation to how control is used:

Authoritative:

Exercises strong control, giving orders and directions and encouraging staff to follow rather than gaining participation from group members. In relation to the leader's concern for people and/ or task, the authoritative leader tends to be more concerned with task achievement than with caring for people.

Participative:

Shares control encouraging involvement through the participation of group members and by fostering commitment

Laissez-faire:

Lets the group members take control. Participative and laissez-faire type leaders may be so concerned about caring for people that the individual task is not given enough attention.


Viva la difference!

Groups and individuals differ in their tolerance to control. Some need tight control whilst others respond more positively to a participative approach.

A leadership approach that is effective in one situation may be totally inappropriate in another. Generally, workers appreciate a leader who has a style that suits the particular situation.

Author Credits

Reprinted with permission of NSW Business Chamber. For more information about this article or NSW Business Chamber, its products, services and membership, please call 13 26 96 or visit the web site: www.nswbusinesschamber.com.au
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