I think Nick Welch makes excellent points in "Reducing complacency in the workplace". FLA, Tuesday, 30 Sept. 2014 (#687). His comment on supervision/management is "food for thought":

"A suitable process for supervising and managing operators will help ensure that standards of operation are kept at the right level. But this is only effective if those charged with the responsibility are knowledgeable enough and prepared to challenge poor practice, taking further action when necessary."

Not too long ago, I interviewed each of nearly 50 operators from different operations, asking them only two questions related to their work process:

1. During a typical work week, how many times do you talk to your immediate supervisor/manager about the work you are doing?

#1Answer: 1 to 5 times (in a typical work week.)

2. During the same typical work week, how many times do you talk to your coworkers about the work you are doing?

#2Answer: 5 to 25 times (After the brief interview, operators would often further describe their frequency of coworker talk as "continuously".)

Simple questions. (What if you asked them in YOUR organization.) The typical answers yield pointed insights into just who really is supervising/managing the work. I think the answers are cause for reconsidering who gets what kind of training and for what purpose!

Who really is responsible...and for what?

Best wishes,

Joe Monaco