BUILDING SUPERVISORY RELATIONSHIPS

Transcription

1 BUILDING SUPERVISORY RELATIONSHIPS Designed and Facilitated by Janet Waterston Human Resources Consultant June 17, 2016 Janet Waterston is a human resources and organizational development consultant with 30 years of experience. Through coaching, consulting, and training, she helps individuals and organizations achieve workplace excellence with an emphasis on best practices in employee relations. Prior to becoming a consultant, Janet was the Managing Director of Employee and Volunteer Resources at GMHC, the oldest nongovernment agency addressing HIV and AIDS, and she held senior and corporate HR positions in the medical publishing and financial printing industries. Janet has an MSW from NYU. JAWatersto@aol.com

2 TURNING EECS! INTO SEEC! Traditional approach to the supervisory relationship Explicit Expectations Constructive Feedback Supervision Most of us think to address an issue when something has gone wrong. We start by expressing our explicit expectations. If we still see no improvement in performance, we give constructive feedback, coaching the employee on how to improve. If performance still doesn t change, or doesn t change enough, we institute regular supervision meetings. In other words, supervision is used as a punishment. Proactive approach to the supervisory relationship Supervisory Relationship Explicit Expectations Constructive Feedback The proactive approach to working with employees is to institute regular supervisory interactions or meetings that usually occur weekly or every other week. The supervisor and employee share explicit expectations throughout the working relationship not just when there is a problem. These supervisory meetings also provide a vehicle for timely constructive feedback including recognition of what is being done well as well as areas for growth and improvement. Copyright Janet Waterston/Customized June

3 WORKING RELATIONSHIPS: PROACTIVE PROBLEM SOLVING Commitment Roles Expectations Working Agreements SHARING INFORMATION Problem solving under duress Growth Path Proactive problem solving Comfort Productivity CRUNCH! pinch! Further Disruption Resentment Anxiety Anger Distrust Disruption Block to relationship pinch! Copyright Janet Waterston/Customized June

4 Copyright Janet Waterston/Customized June

5 ESTABLISHING THE SUPERVISORY RELATIONSHIP There are four basic components to the supervisory and all relationships. C R E W Commitment to shared expectations and working agreements is the foundation upon which relationships are based. Role defines the functions and place within the organization. Role defines what is expected. Expectations are the tasks and standards which must be accomplished to fulfill the job. Expectations clarify how the job is to be done. Working Agreements define the way individuals work together, renegotiate expectations, and resolve differences. The ideal way to start a supervisory relationship is to have a discussion to share both the supervisor s and employee s thinking about roles, expectations, and working agreements. A commitment is then made to honor these understandings and to return to clarify and/or renegotiate them when a pinch occurs. Copyright Janet Waterston/Customized June

6 DEFINE AND COMMUNICATE EXPECTATIONS Specific Define how responsibility is to be accomplished. - Tasks necessary to fulfill responsibility - Desired outcome Discuss expectations using open, clear, two-way communication. Be explicit; don t assume. Measurable Quantify expectation so that supervisor and supervisee share understanding of what must be accomplished. When quantitative indicators are not possible, state the condition that will exist when the task is performed in acceptable manner. Agreed to: Both the person doing the work and the supervisor should agree on the expectations. Negotiation of performance standards is part of the supervisory relationship and should result in challenging yet realistic standards. Past experience, operational plans, and departmental goals can help set parameters for expectations. Reachable Standards should be challenging yet realistic. Reachable and realistic standards provide employee with sense of accomplishment, which in turn, is a motivator. Time-phased Define a specific period of time to accomplish the task. For ongoing and long-term projects, determine timeline and interim and final deadlines. Copyright Janet Waterston/Customized June

7 DEFINING EXPECTATIONS: Get SMART Select a responsibility of someone you supervise, and using SMART, define expectations by identifying tasks and standards. For the purpose of this exercise, you will not be able to get agreement, but you should be able to determine if the expectations are realistic. S M A R T Specific Measurable Agreed to by both parties Reachable/Realistic Time-phased Example: Responsibility: Maintain department s petty cash account. Expectations: Collect all receipts for petty cash distributed. Reconcile account for submission to the finance department by last work day of each month along with replenishment request signed by supervisor. Responsibility: Expectations: Copyright Janet Waterston/Customized June

8 SUPERVISION: What s This Meeting All About?? What do you want to accomplish through regular supervision?? What should the agenda look like?? What working agreements should you consider? Copyright Janet Waterston/Customized June

9 SUGGESTED READINGS Covey, Stephen, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. New York: Firestone, a division of Simon & Schuster Inc., Ellis, Susan J., From the Top Down. Philadelphia, PA: Energize, Inc., Gabarro, John J. and Kotter, John P., Managing Your Boss Harvard Business Review (May-June 1993) 150. Goleman, Daniel, Working with Emotional Intelligence. New York: Bantam Books, Oncken, Jr., William and Wass, Donald L., Management Time: Who s Got the Monkey? Harvard Business Review (November-December 1974). Patterson, Kerry; Grenny, Joseph; McMillan, Ron; and Switzle., Al, Crucial Conversations. New York: McGraw-Hill, Scott, Susan, Fierce Conversations. New York: The Berkley Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Group, 2002, Senge, Peter M., The Fifth Discipline. New York: Doubleday, Stone, Douglas, Patton, Bruce, and Heen, Sheila, Difficult Conversations. New York: Penguin Group, Copyright Janet Waterston/Customized June