                             1.  SUPERVISION DEFINED
        
             The key to success for any organization whether it be a
        business, a government agency, a human services system, or and
        educational establishment is good supervision.  In the past
        twenty years as a result of good supervision in America, the
        national output doubled (George, 1970).  How has this minor
        miracle happened?  Simply put, supervisors get things done
        through the efforts of other people.  They accomplish the
        objectives of their organizations by directing the efforts of
        others.  Whether the supervisory role is simple or complex, the
        goal is still the same: to get others to perform tasks up to
        their potential to maximize output and achieve results which
        support the mission of the organization.
        
             Who are these supervisors?  What do they do?  What are their
        specific responsibilities?  What kinds of qualities do the most
        effective supervisors possess?  How do they use these qualities
        to "get others to perform tasks?"  What are the present and
        future challenges facing supervisors as the world moves toward
        the 21st Century?  It is the purpose of this paper to answer
        these questions.
        
             There are three main levels of supervision.  Top-level
        supervisors are the "big bosses" in charge of the whole
        operation.  A CEO or the owner-manager of a small firm are
        examples of this level of supervision.  Middle supervisors are
        above the first-line supervisors but are below the top-line
        supervisor.  A principal in a school is a middle supervisor; he
        is below the Superintendent of a school system, but above the
        "head teacher" or chairperson of a department within a school. 
        First-line supervisors are the key people in the managerial
        family who carry out the policies and directives of middle and
        top management through face-to-face contact with the workers. 
        Within the Abraxas Foundation, my own organization, first-line
        supervisors are the individual treatment supervisors who manage
        staff members who in turn, provide treatment for the clients
        within the facility.
        
             What are the daily tasks the first-line supervisor faces? 
        Here are some of them:
             *    Talks to employees about job-related problems.
             *    Gives directions to employees.
             *    Dictates letters, memos, shift plans.
             *    Sets treatment direction.
             *    Interviews new employees.
             *    Reads mail, reports, etc.
             *    Attends supervisory meetings.
             *    Makes decisions regarding residents' treatment
                  direction.
             *    Decides who will be promoted.
        
             These are just a few of the many tasks which the first-line
        supervisor might confront on any given work day.  He or she may
        also perform many nonsupervisory activities such as typing on the
        computer, studying a case file, doing case file reviews, or
        copying reports or other information for employees.  
        
             All these activities require two types of activities on the
        part of the supervisor: 1) Physical, or 2) Mental.  Physical
        activities involve some form of communication, like telling
        someone face-to-face to do something or talking on the telephone
        to them, writing to them, or communicating by gestures.  Mental
        activities cannot be seen by anyone.  They are acts performed by
        the supervisor like thinking about a new project, a problem
        child, or developing goals and objectives for the treatment unit. 
        
        
             To be a successful supervisor at any level several
        competencies are necessary.  These three key areas are:
             1.   Technical skills.
             2.   Human skills.
             3.   Conceptual skills.  
        
             In the treatment field, supervisors must possess the
        technical skills to role model the kinds of behaviors that the
        employees can see, hear, and feel, and then mirror themselves in
        their interventions with the clients they treat.  The supervisor
        must understand the technical skills necessary to use a computer
        to assist the employees in producing progress reports, treatment
        plans, discharge summaries, and aftercare plans.  He or she must
        also be able to write well enough to demonstrate how the
        employees should write these documents.  
        
             Human skills are those required to effectively work with
        people.  These involve being aware of ones own feelings, beliefs,
        and attitudes about others.  By maintaining a full measure of
        self-awareness, he or she can understand and accept the beliefs,
        and viewpoints that differ from his or her own.  By recognizing
        these differences, a supervisor can do a better job of
        communicating his or her ideas to others.  With human skills, a
        supervisor can be sensitive to the motivations and needs of
        others and can judge the probable effects various courses of
        action may have on employees.  These skills need to be so much a
        part of the supervisor that he or she applies them continuously;
        they cannot be separated from him or her.
        
             Supervisors need conceptual skills.  These enable a person
        to visualize something in its entirety.  A person with good
        conceptual skills can "see" and understand all parts of the
        business and how each part contributes to the whole organization. 
        Again, using the treatment program in which I work, supervisors
        must be able to conceptualize the entire treatment milieu to
        which residents are exposed.  He or she needs to understand the
        role of the counselors who provide direct care to the client, the
        life skills workers who oversee milieu management during the
        daytime and evening hours, and how these separate individuals all
        interact to provide the client with the fullest measure of
        treatment possible for the client.  
        
             With good conceptual and human skills, a supervisor will be
        able to visualize the effect that would result from giving a
        relatively new clinician a caseload he or she is not prepared to
        handle.  The supervisor can see that it might cause him or her to
        feel inadequate in undertaking such a task.  He or she will then
        provide guidance and support as the new counselor assumes
        responsibilities one step at a time thus ensuring that the new
        employee will not become initially overwhelmed.  
        
             An effective supervisor needs all three skills: technical
        skills so that he can understand and perform the technical
        activities required, human skills so that he can both motivate
        others and understand individual (and group) feelings and
        actions, and conceptual skills so that he can clearly understand
        and coordinate all the activities of the agency through wise
        decision making.  Technical skills are in greatest need in the
        lower levels of an agency.  Human skills, on the other hand, are
        in real need throughout every level of a firm.  Conceptual skills
        are more critical at the higher levels (George, 1970).
        
             Given this discussion, the question is, what does a
        supervisor actually do to perform his or her work?  How does he
        or she go about accomplishing the mission of the agency?  
        
             George (1959) listed several key steps the supervisor
        engages in while performing his responsibilities:
             1.   He must plan his work and establish objectives.  This
                  is called the planning function.
             2.   He must organize people and materials in order to
                  coordinate activities and actions.  This is the
                  organizing function.
             3.   He must secure qualified personnel to do the work--the
                  staffing function.
             4.   He must direct the efforts of his employees--the
                  directing function.
             5.   He must control the activities of his employees--the
                  controlling function (p. 10).
        
             Let's examine these functions to see what is necessary for
        the supervisor to effectively perform them.
        
             Planning is a process of developing a course of action to
        accomplish something.  It is a process of developing and
        formulating the course of action needed to accomplish agency
        objectives.  Planning is not a function reserved for top and
        middle management alone.  First-line supervisors are actively
        engaged every day in planning, although theirs is not as complex
        or extended into the future as the higher levels of management. 
        A successful supervisor plans what needs to be done, who will do
        it, when it will be done, how it will be done, and so on. 
        Without this planning by the supervisor, his or her treatment
        unit may well become disorganized, confused, and ineffective. 
        Thoughtful and careful planning by a supervisor can do much to
        change him or her from a mediocre supervisor to an outstanding
        one ready for newer and greater challenges.  
        
             Organizing consists of:
             1.   Determining what activities need to be accomplished to
                  get the job done.
             2.   Grouping and assigning these activities to employees.
             3.   Giving the employees the necessary authority to carry
                  out the activities in a coordinated manner (George,
                  1970, p. 11).  
        
             All supervisors perform the function of organizing.  Those
        at the top level are interested in the broader aspects of the
        firm, whereas, the first-line supervisor is primarily interested
        in organizing his or her own department so that the work can be
        accomplished in the most effective manner possible.
        
             The staffing function covers all activities needed to
        recruit, hire, and retain individuals in the agency.  In ours,
        this function is done primarily by the Human Resources
        Department.  However, the actual staffing patterns within a given
        treatment unit are overseen by the treatment supervisor. 
        Staffing means putting people with skills and growth potential in
        spots where their skills are needed and they can grow.
        
             Directing deals with influencing, guiding, or supervising
        subordinates in their jobs.  It consists not only of telling them
        what to do, but most importantly, of explaining why the job needs
        to be done.  It also involves a large amount of communication
        and, in most supervisory positions, consumes a greater part of a
        supervisor's workday.  
        
             The essence of controlling from a supervisory standpoint is
        simply that a supervisor must control people.  If people are
        controlled properly, then actions and events will conform to
        plans.  Essentially, control is the check-up part of managing. 
        There are many theories of controlling employees.  
        
             Theory X and Theory Y management are just two which have
        received extensive review in all endeavors of management theory. 
        McGregor (1960) contrasted two general modes of thought about how
        a manager should manage people.  Theory X was his term for the
        traditional and still largely current philosophy of management. 
        Theory Y was the emerging concept that promised to integrate the
        goals of the organization and its members.  
        
             Theory X holds that the so-called average person is
        inherently immature, that he or she is innately lazy,
        irresponsible, gullible, resistant to change, self-centered, and
        thus indifferent to organizational needs.  The managerial
        practice in dealing with such persons is to apply external
        controls (harshly, or paternalistically or firmly but fairly). 
        External control is clearly appropriate for dealing with truly
        immature individuals.  While conceding that such behavior and
        attitudes are not manifestations of their inborn nature but the
        product of their experiences.  Treat people as if they were
        children, he said--and thus chronically underestimate them,
        distrust them, refrain from delegating authority--and they will
        respond as children.  Thus, in reacting to a myth (people are
        unchangeable and immature) with external controls, managers have
        stimulated subordinates' behavior, and this in turn perpetuated
        the myth and seemingly justified their practice, for the more one
        controls, the more one has to control and, as goes the old Chines
        expression, "He or she who rides a tiger can never dismount."
        
             It was the success and failure of Henry Ford that led
        McGregor to propose the Theory Y management concept.  Ford was
        successful in getting men to work for twice the going wage doing
        menial work that for a period of time proved satisfactory for
        those living below subsistence levels.  But as the base of wealth
        broadened, these needs began to be fulfilled to the extent that
        the workers no longer were satisfied to work under such
        "purgatory" existence.  
        
             McGregor (1957) cited Maslow's (1954) hierarchy of needs to
        justify a need to change the focus for managers.  He wrote: 
             Management by direction and control, whether implemented
             with the hard, soft, or the firm but fair approach--fails
             under today's conditions to provide effective motivation of
             human effort toward organizational objectives.  It fails
             because direction and control are useless methods of
             motivating people whose physiological and safety needs are
             predominant.
        
             Thus a new management theory was necessary, one based on
        more valid premises about human nature and motivation.  Whereas
        Theory X held that the average person was unalterably immature,
        Theory Y holds that humans are essentially or at least
        potentially mature.  
        
             Supporting this new theory, Kerzner (1982) wrote that the
        motivation, the potential for development, the capacity for
        assuming responsibility, the readiness to direct behavior toward
        organizational goals are present in people (p. 351).
        
             Theory Y would lead to management practices that would work
        with rather than against the grain of human nature.  The goal of
        management under Theory Y then, is to "arrange organizational
        conditions and methods of operations so that people can achieve
        their own goals best by directing their own efforts toward
        organizational objectives" (Kerzner, 1982, p. 355).
        
             For a time, Theory Y was misconstrued by some as the soft
        version of Theory X.  Theory Y permits access to the full range
        of management approaches from external to self-control.  Where on
        the spectrum to peg one's approach depends on the supervisor's
        judgement of the subordinate's current state of development.  For
        example, if the employee is new and inexperienced, rather close
        supervision and guidance may be necessary initially.  But
        external control gradually decreases as the individual learns to
        make decisions and takes independent action (Haney, 1986).  
        
             A complete discussion of McGregor's work is not within the
        scope or purpose of this paper, but his premise is certainly one
        which continues to promote significant discussion in managerial
        circles in America and around the world.  
        
             The characters and qualities that make a successful
        supervisor are difficult to pinpoint precisely because some are
        more important than others.  A Supervisor must be able to inspire
        his or her employees, motivate them, and direct their work.  As
        described earlier, a supervisor must possess technical, human,
        and conceptual competence.  Being open-minded is certainly
        essential.  He or she must be able to search outside the everyday
        rut for a better method, a new policy, an improved way of doing
        things.  A successful supervisor must be able to discover what a
        problem is in times of trouble.  Many unsuccessful supervisors
        treat the symptom of the problem and not the problem.  They may
        give aspirin for a headache (the symptom), when the real cause of
        the headache is eyestrain.  The cure is to purchase glasses and
        not give aspirin.  
        
             George (1979) described the successful supervisor as
        possessing the following qualities.  He or she should have/be:
             1.   Ambition - the desire to manage and grow.  He should
                  always be willing to learn, to develop new skills, to
                  broaden his job.  He should not be afraid to take a
                  chance but instead should possess confidence that he
                  will succeed.
             2.   A self-starter.  He should think and move on his own
                  initiative and not wait to be told by others to do
                  something.  To do this he needs self-confidence and
                  courage to move ahead. 
             3.   Able to think.  This is perhaps the hardest task most
                  people face.  Most of us find it easy to do, to act, to
                  perform.  We have difficulty, however, in thinking
                  clearly about a problem--our minds wander, we are
                  distracted by noises or other problems, or we prefer to
                  do things rather than think about how to solve
                  problems.
             4.   Able to express himself clearly.  The best idea in the
                  world is worthless unless it is communicated well. 
                  Most supervisors spend most of their time
                  communicating.  Therefore, they need to do it well.  We
                  aren't talking about great speaking or great writing. 
                  What we are talking about instead is the basic ability
                  that a supervisor needs to get ideas across clearly to
                  his employees so that they can understand what he wants
                  them to do.  
             5.   A salesman, or possess the ability to "sell" an idea to
                  his employees.  Any idea that you think up and
                  communicate to others needs to be "sold."  Selling an
                  idea--convincing others of its worth--is one of the
                  supervisor's prime tasks.  Selling a plan of action is
                  a vital part of a supervisor's job of communicating to
                  his employees.
             6.   Moral integrity.  Truthfulness, honesty, and integrity
                  should be so much a part of a supervisor that his
                  subordinates will have total confidence in him and his
                  actions.
             7.   Able to organize effectively.  This is another very
                  important attribute, because a supervisor is constantly
                  called on to organize his own work as well as the work
                  of his men in order to maximize output.
             8.   Willing to tackle hard problems and make tough
                  decisions.  Anyone can make an easy decision, but a
                  good supervisor must be willing to tackle the hard
                  problems and make tough or unpopular decisions.
             9.   The ability to work with and through other people.  He
                  has to be able to get along with others and to get them
                  to do what needs to be done for the organization.
             10.  Dynamic and have the ability to inspire others.  This
                  is that special something, which you can't put your
                  finger on, that makes you want to follow the directions
                  of and work with some leader.  
             11.  The ability to size up others and recognize individual
                  strengths and weaknesses.  This is a critical ability
                  needed by supervisors in order to get the right man in
                  the job, as well as to reject the unqualified
                  applicant.
             12.  Like people.  He should like to be with people and work
                  with people.  In fact, it is hard to visualize a
                  supervisor who doesn't like his people, who doesn't
                  have a sense of loyalty and feeling for his employees.
             13.  A balanced person.  This means that he should be
                  levelheaded, understanding, firm, able to laugh, and
                  fair.
             14.  The ability to delegate authority to others.  He should
                  get satisfaction from seeing things done through the
                  independent efforts of his employees.  
             15.  A willingness to subordinate his own desires and wishes
                  to those of the supervisors or bosses.  He  will have
                  to realize that he cannot have his own way over every
                  matter but must instead submit to his bosses' wishes.
             16.  Levelheadness and wisdom.  He will need to mediate
                  difficult situations and render fair and impartial
                  answers to petitions.
             17.  A thorough understanding of what his job is and what he
                  is supposed to do.  Knowing the technical aspects of
                  his job will give him confidence and assurance in
                  dealing with problems and in talking with employees.
             18.  Be able to win the friendship, loyalty, and support of
                  his employees as well as of his other associates.  He
                  will need to possess and show a spirit of willing
                  cooperation with other supervisors in his division as
                  well as in other areas of the firm.  
             19.  A good mind and a good education.  A good mind is
                  reflected in an open and willing-to-learn attitude in
                  tackling problems.  A good education is not reflected
                  in the number of years spent in school, but in the
                  quality and amount of information he has absorbed. 
                  Experience in many instances can compensate for formal
                  education.
             20.  To see the whole picture using conceptual skills in
                  order to understand what top and middle management want
                  done and why.  To be a successful supervisor, he will
                  need to understand the whole picture and communicate
                  this in an understandable way to his fellow employees.
             21.  Patience.  This is a virtue the supervisor will need to
                  be successful.  Patience to listen to and understand
                  employees; patience to spend whatever time is needed to
                  understand and improve work situations and worker
                  relations; patience to take the time necessary to plan
                  the total work flow and organize it in such a way that
                  employees will feel comfortable in doing their jobs.
             22.  Flexible.  Resisting change is one of the surest ways
                  to slow down progress.  Successful supervisors are the
                  ones with open and receptive minds who do not resist
                  change.  They welcome new ideas, new ways to performing
                  old jobs, and new concepts about how things can be
                  improved.
             23.  Self-confident.  A supervisor needs to have faith and
                  confidence in his abilities and his capacity to plan,
                  organize, and direct the efforts of others.  
             24.  Initiative and the desire to succeed.  If his desire to
                  be a successful supervisor is strong enough, he may
                  well overcome shortcomings that he sees in himself. 
                  Determination, willingness, and the strong desire to be
                  a successful supervisor will put him well on the way to
                  achieving his goal (pp. 14-16).
        
             After reviewing these qualities, is it facetious to believe
        that one person can and must possess all of them to be
        successful?  No, because no person can possess all of them at the
        same time immediately.  These are a catalogue of all the
        qualities that George (1979) believed were a condition for
        success.  Initially, most individuals will not possess all or
        most of them.  Like any other profession, a developmental period
        of time will be necessary for the individual to become
        successful, and effective.
        
             To develop these qualities, hard work, motivation, and
        formal and informal education will be necessary.  Experience will
        become a valuable teacher.  Rolemodeling other successful,
        effective supervisors will produce noticeable results.  Desire
        and passion will motivate the individual to succeed where the
        more passive, timid individual will undeniably fail (Robbins,
        1985).  
        Study, hard work, and on-the-job training will, in the long run,
        produce success and lead to a rewarding work experience.  Not
        everyone is willing to commit to this type of regimented
        lifestyle even though the prize sought is financial or other less
        measurable rewards.  
