While some level of technical expertise is necessary for supervisory positions – depending on the specific supervisory job – nothing makes up for failure to develop people skills. There are basically two kinds of bosses: good bosses and bad bosses. Good bosses demonstrate clear and consistent patterns of challenge and support.
They are neither “softies” nor people who don’t require best efforts.
At the same time, good bosses are often credited with providing true encouragement and support that enables high performance.
Good new managers also:
- Model appropriate behaviour. Bad bosses use a wide variety of awful/poor behaviours – and many of them are character issues.
- Character issues trickle down to employees, often resulting in lack of discretionary effort, company loyalty, and inappropriate behaviour.
- Are patient. Going slowly in the beginning earns the respect and credibility necessary to make changes – even those that not everyone agrees with – in the future. Making changes and quick decisions when first starting a new supervisory or managerial role can hurt effectiveness.
- Learn about direct reports. What are an employee’s strengths and weaknesses? Knowing who is good at what is critical to getting work done.
- Are visible and accessible. The more accessible a supervisor or manager is, the smaller the “learning curve” for getting to know and understand the boss. The more a manager is out-and-about (management by walking around), the more dialogue will take place. Being visible also improves productivity, as the mere presence of a supervisor communicates supervisory interest in the work and attention to quality of the work.