Supervisory Development Content Library

When in the process of selection and hiring, taking a step back to analyze the needs of the position is an
opportunity for a refreshed, clear view of how the open position can support your department or unit. It will
also help you increase your chances of finding someone who can contribute to your department’s needs and
priorities and will result in increased effectiveness for you, your hire, and your department.

Your success as a supervisor depends on your ability to provide feedback and coaching in ways that support current performance, develop potential, and ensure that people are ready for the roles and assignments you give them. Your approach will be different, depending on where the employee is on the Performance-Potential-Readiness grid.

Even if you are starting with little trust or even some hostility, the foundation for effectively managing a conflict is to build whatever trust you can with the others involved. This may not be easy, especially when you are dealing with difficult behavior from another person, but it is your best path to success.

Managing work stress is all about building your capacity to adapt well and bounce back from difficult circumstances. As a supervisor, you can serve as a role model to your team in becoming more resilient and preventing burnout. How? You have the ability to lessen many of work’s greatest stressors for the individuals you supervise.

Supporting staff, faculty and student employees in their professional and career development is part of the responsibility of a supervisor and faculty advising graduate or professional students at the University of Minnesota.  Career conversations help supervisors gain insight into an employee’s motivation to guide and support their career development.

Designing the roles and assigning the responsibilities for team members in a way that aligns their individual skills, knowledge and abilities with the work is one of the key steps of building an effective team. Having clear roles and responsibilities and communicating these with one another will help alleviate conflict and improve teamwork and decision-making.

Coaching is “the process of equipping people with the tools, knowledge, and opportunities they need to develop themselves and become more effective” (David Peterson, PhD, Psychology, University of Minnesota).

Conflict at work often stems from multiple sources. Understanding the root causes of a conflict will help you figure out how to manage it more effectively which may lead to solutions that resolve the conflict.

As a supervisor, it is important to connect employee engagement with your organizational/unit priorities. 

Onboarding is a two way street - as a supervisor, you play a primary role in the process. However, the new employee must take responsibility for learning the details of their role and begin to perform their job duties. In addition, encourage new employees to ask questions to learn about their role, co-workers, organizational culture and leverage their strengths.