When employees have questions and supervisors don’t yet have all the answers, communication becomes especially important. Learn more about how supervisors can provide clarity without promising certainty, make room for employees’ reactions, and help teams focus on what they can influence.
Coaching may already be happening more often than you think. A quick conversation after a meeting, a project debrief, or a check-in about a stretch assignment can all help employees learn from experience and prepare for what comes next. The difference is not the length or formality of the conversation. It is whether the supervisor creates space for reflection, listens with genuine curiosity, and helps the employee apply what they learned. Explore how everyday interactions can become meaningful coaching opportunities without adding another meeting to your calendar.
As a supervisor, you ask for feedback, and the answer is, “Everything’s fine.” Does that mean there is nothing to improve or that the question was too broad, unexpected, or too risky to answer honestly? Getting meaningful feedback from your team takes more than asking "How am I doing?" It happens when requests are specific, psychological safety is high, and feedback is part of your regular routine. Learn how to move beyond “it’s fine” by asking better questions, building trust, and turning vague answers into actionable conversations.
Summer does not always bring a slower pace. For many University teams, it brings shifting schedules, coverage gaps, fall preparation, and the challenge of keeping newly drafted goals from fading into the background. This article offers five simple ways managers can help their teams pause, re-center, and turn summer drift into shared direction.
Explore why AI use can leave managers feeling frustrated and how to respond in a practical, development-focused way. The article offers a simple AI literacy framework, prompt elements that can improve outputs, and questions supervisors can ask to better understand how their teams are using AI.
For many supervisors, this is where AI is beginning to play a role, helping draft messages, organize thoughts, and prepare for challenging conversations. In a recent Supervisory Conversations session, many managers shared that they are already using tools like Gemini to support their communication and day-to-day work, from refining email tone to preparing for difficult one-on-one conversations.
But as AI becomes faster and more capable, an important question remains: where does the tool end and the leader begin? This month, we explore how supervisors can use AI as a helpful support, not a replacement. We also share a few simple habits, like revising AI responses, asking questions about the output, and setting clear expectations. These steps can help you use AI wisely while staying focused on what only you can do as a leader.
Great leadership starts with understanding who you are — and who you’re becoming. In the first of a new periodic series profiling university supervisors, we spotlight Lovey Peissig.
Faculty and staff consistently report that they rely most on their direct supervisor and department head for information about priorities, change, and direction. When managers fail to communicate strategically, they create an “information vacuum.” That vacuum is quickly filled by rumor, speculation, and uncertainty, which erodes engagement and trust. The article below highlights three essential ingredients of effective communication and offers three practical everyday tips for improvement.
