A supervisor generally has more responsibility than he can personally carry out. He usually gets jobs done by his subordinates. His job involves wide and varied contacts with different groups and individuals in the organization, who influence the area ans style of his work. The framework of supervision, determined by organizational structure, policies and contact groups, make a demand on supervisors to make necessary adjustments to the situation and develop effective techniques of getting work done through there people.

It is often said that the position of a supervisor is a central one in any organization. The workers experience management, primarily though the supervisor who is their immediate superior. He inducts, trains, instructs, compliments and rewards his workers. He maintains daily and intimate contacts with them. He is the ever present reminder of management.

It is through him that management make contract with workers on a daily basis. He conveys to workers decisions, views and problems of the management. He is an important link in the chain of command. In this position, he s bold enough to look in two directions at the same time. The location and description f supervisory job indicates that he is a key man in the middle. Yet supervisors consider themselves as marginal men, placed on a side or on the margin of the primary relationship between management and workers. It is clear that the popular description of supervisory role does not agree with the practical experience of supervisors in the work situation.

A supervisor is likely to feel helpless and ineffective in a situation where contradictory demands are made on him. The workers expect technical help on the job, fair treatment and sympathetic interest from the intermediate superior while the management expects loyalty, exercise of authority and maximum possible production. A supervisor finds himself in a tricky position, compelled as he is to serve two masters-to perform two sets of tasks the task of technical production and the task of maintaining social authority. Effective supervisory performance depends on the extent of co-ordination and compromise that the situation admits. To a very considerable extent, the approach and techniques adopted by supervisor determine the effectiveness of performance and achievements.

Not only should the supervisor know more than his old time counterpart about jobs supervised and their management, but also he has to relate himself to a wider range of people. In any reconnaissance, the supervisor is likely to be interacting with his superiors, with certain staff specialists, with heads of other departments, with his subordinates, workers and union representatives exploration of these relationships a they influence his performance, makes it easier to understand how a modern supervisor feels n his everyday life.

More Notes on  FRAMEWORK OF SUPERVISION