The Work Supervision System

Ensuring excellence in work supervision can be a harder topic for the group leader, since many groups do not have a prior agreement on what constitutes appropriate standards of supervising work. In many firms, this is an area left for each senior person's autonomy, with project leaders free to manage in the style they prefer.

We believe that the quality of work supervision is so critical that it deserves special attention. In Practice What You Preach, it is shown, in a global statistical study, to be one of the prime determinants of financial success. As always, we think that it is wise to engage your senior colleagues in establishing standards, rather than trying to impose standards upon them. You should ask what standards of work supervision they think they ought to be accountable for. Note that we do not suggest that you establish standards you will "try for," because "agreeing to try" leaves a lot of loopholes. ("I didn't agree to do this, I agreed to try, but I got busy. Sorry!")

Here are some standards we would propose. We think it reasonable that the junior people on a transaction are entitled to certain expectations:

1. When tasks and projects are assigned to them, they understand thoroughly what is expected of them.
2. They understand how their assigned tasks fit into the overall objectives for the engagement.
3. Help is available when they need to have questions answered.
4. They receive prompt feedback, good or bad.
5. When they are corrected for something they did or failed to do, it is done in a constructive way.
6. They receive good coaching to help improve their performance.
7. They are kept informed about the things they need to know to do their job properly.
8. They have the freedom to make the necessary decisions to do their work properly.
9. They are actively encouraged to volunteer new ideas and make suggestions for improvement.
10. Team meetings are conducted in a way that builds trust and mutual respect.
11. In each engagement very high standards for performance are set and enforced.
12. They feel like a member of a well-functioning team.
13. Their work makes good use of their knowledge and ability.
14. Their projects help them learn and grow.
15. Their work is interesting and challenging.

If you have difficulty getting your senior colleagues to accept these accountabilities, ask them to cast their minds back to when they were junior people. Ask them how they wished to be treated when they were juniors! (Not how they were treated, but how they wish they had been treated!)

You will probably end your discussion with a different list (and maybe a shorter one) than ours, but that's OK. What you will have accomplished is raising your people's sensitivity and awareness to the fact that there are some standards of behavior in work supervision that must be considered and enforced.

After this discussion the group leader should monitor performance in this area, formally or informally. The formal approach might involve a questionnaire completed by all the staff on each project, rating their work experience, with the forms going back to the practice leader.

However, such formality might not be needed if the group leader is prepared to walk the halls, hang out in the coffee room, or chat by the water-cooler. It is usually not difficult for an activist group leader to find out which senior colleagues are doing this well, and which are not. The key is the group leader's willingness to act on the information. For example, he or she could drop by a senior colleague's office, close the door, and say something like:

"Richard, this is just between us, but I wanted to pass on some things I'm hearing. I've been talking to our juniors and, to put it bluntly, you're not their favorite person to work for. They say they don't get enough guidance from you as to what you want them to do, and you don't give a lot of feedback.

"I've no idea if this is true, but it might get to the point where our best juniors avoid your projects. This would be tragic, because you've got a lot to offer and your clients deserve to be served by the best we've got. Can you tell me what's going on from your perspective? Is there anything at all I can do to help?"

Naturally, this approach won't work every time. But if the group leader is diligent in having such conversations every time they are needed, people will eventually get the message that the standards are real. The group leader does not need to act like a bully, or a cop, but it can be remarkably effective to be the conscience of the group, continually reminding people of the standards you (collectively) set for yourselves.

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From FIRST AMONG EQUALS by Patrick J. McKenna and David H. Maister. © 1997-20062002 by Patrick J. McKenna and David H. Maister. Reprinted by permission of The Free Press, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York. For more information, visit www.firstamongequals.com.

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