Supervision and Management Skills - Assignment Example

Name Tutor Course Date Supervision and Management Skills Portfolio 1 Effective behavior Reasons for their effectiveness Understanding An understanding supervisor seeks to understand before seeking to be understood (Romano 14). He should understand the diverse nature of his subordinates. This will enable him to handle his subordinates at individual level and as a result he will be understood without dissent when enforcing a policy (Whisenand 92). Motivational and supportive A motivational supervisor creates conditions under which the subordinates feel appreciated for their efforts and good performance (Domonoske 334). This is an effective management behavior because it encourages the subordinates to work harder for appreciation. This makes the agency’s objectives to be realised with ease. Ineffective behavior Reasons for their ineffectiveness Dictatorial Dictatorial supervisors are power- brokers who want their subordinates to feel their influence and expect total adherence to their dictates (Belker & Topchick 41). This behaviour makes the supervisor unreachable and consequent lack of understanding which may result to morale decline among the subordinates. Paternalistic It is offensive and regarded as benevolent to those who benefit from it. It raises dissent in cases where there is a perception of unequal administration of punishment to officers who have committed a similar offense (Belker & Topchik 42). Portfolio 2. Personal qualities Example Reasons for importance Trustworthiness A supervisor is honest in dealing with peer police officers. Supervisor maintains open communication to the subordinates and communicates truth as it is. This trait is essential in that it creates a sense of partnership between subordinates and the supervisor which enhances ease of communication and information sharing in problem solving (Whisenand 78). Subordinates remain loyal to the manager who communicates to them truth as it is and not choosing what they should hear. This makes them feel at ease to share sensitive information without fear of repercussion and take their duties without dissent (Romano 15). Accountability The supervisor’s willingness to Participates in routine patrol programmes. Assessing the performance of the peer police officers. Accountability is an important quality in leadership because it is a practical way of demonstrating the importance of responsibility to junior police officers (Domonoske 332). The willingness of a supervisor to go on uniform and go out to participate in what he/she asks the subordinates to do is a motivation to the subordinates. Assessing the subordinates’ performance ensures that they accomplish their assigned duties and eventual objectives of the agency. Those who perform their duties well should be appreciated to encourage the non- performers. Portfolio 3 Scenario issues Supervisory skills needed by Stephen to address the issue Why the supervisory skills necessary to the issue Constables avoiding confrontational situations Motivation Constructive discipline Motivation encourages the non-confrontational officers to change their behaviour and join others in their duties. Recognition of subordinates who perform their duties well through praises and challenging non-performers in a positive light without embarrassing them in public will motivate such errant officers to change their behaviour and join the brotherhood in duties so that they do not feel the odd ones out (Belker & Topchik ,42). This should be done in public without mentioning of names of the officers avoiding confrontational situations followed by a closed door counseling to encourage them to be responsible in a dignified approach. Constructive discipline involves closed door criticism for the officers with deviant behaviour. If well implemented with due respects to the integrity of errant officers it will help eliminate the stray attitudes of the constables. A record should be kept for constructive disciplinary measures undertaken for future reference in case the stray officers do not change so that clear understanding of duties and responsibilities is fostered. This will ensure that the officers do not fault the supervisor for the next step of action taken against them in case they remain adamant to change. Senior constables requiring junior officers to enter Qprime data Listening Participative leadership Listening is an appropriate leadership skill because it will enable Stephen to understand the reasons why senior constables use their juniors to execute their duties (Whisenand 92). With their case well understood, sergeant Stephen will be in a position to address the problem without causing dissent and as a result, the officers will find it easy to understand and follow Stephen’s directives to undertake their duties as assigned without resistance. Participative leadership as demonstrated through the supervisor’s involvement in routine patrol is a motivation to the subordinates to be accountable for their duties and they will work as self managers without close supervision (Schermerhorn, 29). Sergeant Stephen should undertake his duties as the supervisor including entering his own Qprime while on duty to serve as an example to his subordinates. This action will make such officers with deviant attitudes to find it odd continuing using their juniors given that their supervisor handles his work on his own. Senior constables taking inappropriate carer’s leave Mentorship Constructive criticism Mentorship is essential to help the officer caught in this act understand the essence of accountability from managerial perspective and change appropriately. Supervisors should mentor their subordinates for supervisory roles for their future replacement (Peters 13). This will help officers with stray behaviour to obey the counsel and instructions given by their supervisors without resistance because they understand responsibilities of that position and look forward to ascending to it. To undertake this, Stephen should approach the officer in a language that demonstrates that the mentorship is voluntary and essential for a person caught in his/her case. Constructive criticism will help the officer with deviant behaviour to realize that he/she is an odd member of the crew and adjust appropriately to fit into the brotherhood without resistance. This should be a closed door discussion with the officer in question in an approach and language that leaves the officer with the feeling of being dignified. Portfolio 4. Elements of communication A senior constable taking inappropriate carer’s leave Information Stephen will need to collect adequate information supporting suspicion that the senior constable has been taking a care’s leave yet he is not the primary care giver. This will ensure that his claims are not baseless (Whisenand 81). Meaning While communicating to the senior constable, Stephen needs to convey the meaning of accountability and honesty in professional endeavors so that the constable gets to understand the essence of changing his deviant behavior (Domonoske 327). Expectation Stephen would expect a mixed reaction from the senior constable. He may accept that it was improper for him to take inappropriate carer’s leave and change or he may rebel Stephen’s instructions due to the feeling that he has been in practice for a longer period of time than the senior constable (Domonoske 334). Perception Stephen will be able to know whether he is being understood based on the attitude portrayed by the senior constable during interaction time and thereafter. This could be in terms of whether he ceases from taking the carer’s leaves (Gill 112). Stephen should ensure a two-way communication during interaction with the constable so that from the tone of response from the constable, he may be able to know whether the constable is taking communication positively or not (Gill 287). Two-way communication Stephen can ensure a two-way communication by making it a dialogue between him and the senior constable. This will be achieved if Stephen employs listening skills and making information passed on to the constable short and brief to give him a chance to respond (Peters 13). Portfolio 4 – Part 2 Information: The information sergeant Stephen has about the senior constable taking inappropriate leave must be passed on to the recipient for there to be successful communication. Otherwise it is futile if there is no any information Stephen passes to the sergeant during their interaction (Whisenand 81). Meaning: Meaning is the essence of communication. The recipient, in this case, the senior constable must receive the meaning of Stephen’s communication about his taking of carer’s leave inappropriately for it to be a success (Whisenand 79).For the recipient to receive the meaning of the message, sergeant Stephen should ensure that his message is short, precise and put in a language that preserves the dignity and integrity of the senior constable. This will make the senior constable to take the message and decode its meaning without rebellion. Expectation: This is the response to the sender of the message by the recipient. Normally, the sender of the message expects either negative or positive response from the recipient. For effective communication, there should be positive response to the message from the recipient. Sergeant Stephen should communicate to the senior constable the message as it is according to his findings without exaggerations in order to receive positive response. Generally, for an effective communication, Sergeant Stephen must receive some form of feedback from the senior constable. (Whisenand 80). Two way communication: this ensures that communication is interactive. It is essential for Stephen to get feedback from the senior constable. If it is not obeyed then there will be no feedback and as such communication between the two will be futile (Whisenand 81).Two way communication will be enhanced if Sergeant Stephen makes short and precise communication to the senior sergeant and allow his recipient to make a response to it. Continuous speaking without allowance of response from the recipient overloads the message and consequently making it complex for the recipient to decode meaning properly. In such a scenario, the recipient is bound to make ineffective response because of lack of proper understanding. Portfolio 5 There are two major motivation factors that can be used to motivate employees in an organization set up. Namely; external and internal. External motivation involves the use of direct benefits like praises and pay raise to motivate employees to work while internal motivation relates to organization objectives, job performance and personal desire for professional excellence and self fulfillment. Employees who are driven by external motivation factors work hard at their place of work because they want recognition as good performers and eventual realization of material benefits like pay rise and promotions. Those driven by internal motivation factors work hard to realize professional fulfillment and their internal desire to offer service to mankind in their profession (Peters 14). The use of external motivation factors aforementioned above is adequate to address the issue of those officers avoiding confrontational situations because it will motivate them to join others in the quest for recognition. To its effect, police officers who perform their work well should be recognized through such ways as praising them in public for their effort and at the same time challenging non-performers, without mentioning their names, to rise to the occasion and deliver their best as their compatriots in service (Belker & Topchik, 42). In general all police officers should be mentored by their supervisor on the importance of accountability in relation to professional fulfillments like rise in promotional rank and pay rise. This will motivate them to work hard towards their professional fulfillment and actualization which will consequently result into the realization of the police agency’s goals and objectives. It is worth noting that, while paying recognition to performers, as a supervisor, one is expected to observe the principle of fairness so that those who fall short of earning such recognition work hard for it instead of developing a perception of it as a benevolent recognition of those allied to the supervisor. This will motivate those officers avoiding confrontational situations to abandon their old habits and join the brotherhood in such situations for recognition (Romano 16). Internal motivation strategy is essential in addressing the issue of officer avoiding confrontational situations because it puts their goals and personal commitments in line with the agency’s goals and objectives so that the accomplishment one leads to the accomplishment of the other. The officers avoiding confrontational situations should be informed that they did not just land in that profession and as a result they have a duty to keep law and order and to protect the people in situations as the one they are avoiding to participate in. They should be informed that by absconding duties assigned to them, they limit themselves to grow in their profession. With an awakened conscience and desire for excellence, the police officers in question will change their behaviour and join others to work to achieve their goals and commitments in life and in so doing; they will achieve the agency’s objectives without strain and rebellion. To achieve this, the supervisor needs to train and mentor the subordinate members on the objectives and goals of the police agency and the importance of professional ethics in policing. On professional ethics, the supervisor should highlight on accountability at work and the fulfillment that comes with excellence of their employer which melts down to them. They should also be trained on professional goal realization and the importance of being self managers in their professional pursuit (Gill 227). With the knowledge of the objectives of the police agency, work ethics and an informed conscience that it is only morally right to receive a just pay for a just work done, the police officers will take their duties with minimum supervision and without any rebellion. Portfolio 6 The three major power tactics which should be employed by Sergeant Stephen in handling the case of the senior constables using their juniors to enter their Qprime data are delegation, affective and conceptual tactics. Delegation tactic is where the supervisor gives his supervisory power and authority to a subordinate to undertake his duties for a specified time frame. In this case, Sergeant Stephen should talk to the senior constables on the importance of accountability whenever an assignment is given to an officer irrespective of the rank held by that officer in the police agency. He should also inform the senior constable on the duties and responsibilities of the supervisory position and the expectations of the agency and the peers from that position (Romano 15). With conviction that the senior constables have acquired information on the duties and responsibilities of a supervisor, Sergeant Stephen should convince one of the senior constables to voluntarily accept a delegated duty of a supervisor for one day with the responsibility of ensuring that all his juniors fill in their Qprime data in time. At the end of the day, the delegated supervisor should share his experience with his colleagues who were using their juniors in filling their Qprime data (Romano 14). Delegation should be rotational so as to involve all the senior constables caught in the vice. With the experience of the expectations of Sergeant Stephen from his subordinates, the senior constables will change their habits and start filling for themselves (Schermerhorn 133). Delegation tactic has the advantage of making the affected constables experience the expectations of their supervisor from them and out of their clear conscience on accountability they will change without resentments. The main disadvantage of delegation tactic is that the affected officers may refuse to accept the delegated supervisory duty or accept it and deliberately use it to tarnish the office image to put Stephen in management trouble (Schafer 19). Affective tactic is an emotion- based tactic where the supervisor through action and involvement wins over the empathy of his subordinates. In this case Sergeant Stephen should engender to involve in all ordinary police tasks including filling his Qprime data whenever he goes on patrol. His action will challenge the conscience of the senior constables in question to change and start filling in their Qprime data (Schermerhorn 57). Affective tactic has the advantage of winning over the conscience of the senior constables on long term basis and as such they will be self-driven once that level of emotional control is achieved. On the other hand, affective tactic is disadvantaged in the event of the affected senior constable failing to gain the emotional control of Sergeant Stephen. They may end up exploiting his lack of combative action and as a result worsen the situation (Schafer 16). Conceptual tactic is where the supervisor undertakes to gain enough knowledge on the organization structure of the police agency, leadership hierarchy, mission, vision and objectives and apply management measures that leading to their achievement without causing dissent among the subordinates (Schafer 13). Sergeant Stephen should endear to gain information on the aforementioned aspects of the police agency and thereafter develop programmes to inseminate the knowledge to his subordinates. With that knowledge, the senior constables will know what they are expected of by the management and their compatriots and the expected disciplinary measures to be taken against them in the event of failure to abide by the demands. With this knowledge, they will change appropriately (Schermerhorn 23). In summing up, conceptual tactic has the advantage of disseminating general knowledge of various levels of accountability within the policy agency with authority demanding adherence by all crew members and as such, the members with deviant behaviors will develop a sense of responsibility not only to Sergeant Stephen but also to the entire management structure (Schermerhorn 112). The limitation of conceptual tactic is the possibility of it failing to win over conscience of the deviant members because it is an obvious authoritative demand which they had defied earlier (Schermerhorn 202). Works Cited Belker, Loren, & Gary Topchik. “Choosing a Managerial style of Your Own.” In The First Time Manager 5th edn. New York: AMACOM, 2005. 39-42. Print. Domonoske, Clair. “Towards an integrated theory of police management.” International Journal of Police Science and Management, 8.4(2006): 326-335. Print. Gill, Rogger. Leadership and empowerment: theory and practice of leadership. London: SAGE publications Ltd, 2006. Print. Peters, Paula. “7 tips for delivering performance feedback.” Supervision 61.5 (2002):12-14. Print. Romano, Stephen. “Communication survival skills for managers.” FBI law enforcement Bulletin 71.9 (2002):1-17. Print. Schafer, Joseph. “Police Leadership: Experiences and Perspectives of Law Enforcement Leaders.” FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin 77.7 (2008): 13-19. Print. Schermerhorn, John. Management: theory and practice 9th ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2008. Print. Whisenand. Supervising police personnel: The fifteen responsibilities 6th ed. Upper Saddle River N.J: Pearson education inc., 2007. Print. Read More