The Just Don't Get It!

Giving the Job Back to Supervisors So what do high-performing plants do differently? They defend supervisors' time. They draw lines. They cut out the noise. Draw boundaries: Be clear on what is and isn't a supervisory task. Fix structural gaps: Don't use supervisors as plug-and play fillers for missing roles. Cut meetings: If they don't need to be there, don't make them be there. Automate the headaches: Ditch or digitize repetitive reporting tasks. Protect floor time: Let them be where it matters most walking the floor, coaching, and solving problems with their teams. Supervisors are not Swiss Army knives. They're the hinge between management's plans and daily reality. If that hinge gets jammed, the whole system creaks. A Story from the Floor When I took over one struggling site, the supervisors worked a "4x10" schedule-four ten-hour shifts. In theory, that left them three days off. In practice,

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