It may seem like being in a workplace without a supervisor is a very relaxing and stress-free arrangement. The truth is it can be really challenging for working individuals to come to the office everyday without a supervisor to oversee what they are doing.
Supervising is not an easy task; it involves huge responsibilities, so the person who takes on the position has to have certain capabilities. When a supervisory role is available, the management selects the one who has leadership qualities, someone who can efficiently handle and direct a group of people.
Yet, working individuals must not rely too much on their supervisors. One of the sure indicators of personal career progress is developing the ability to self-supervise. This does not necessarily mean working without a supervisor who keeps an eye on your activities. Beyond work, self-supervision also encompasses the personal aspects of your life. Good self-supervision is also about not depending on other people to direct your daily routines and activities. This article will highlight helpful tips to effective self-supervision.
Develop the Skills Needed to Self-direct
In order to effectively self-supervise, the necessary skills must be enhanced and incorporated in the process. Take a self-evaluation of your individual skills and find out what are the abilities that you still have to develop. Self-supervision is a skill in itself, but it still requires other crucial skills such as self-management, planning and organization, problem solving and decision-making.
The workplace makes a good venue to develop these skills. Actively participate in team tasks and contribute with your ideas. Volunteer to take on a certain role or task. Start noting down your tasks on a daily basis and learn how to prioritize them to improve planning and organizing abilities. You can do the same thing at home. Practice good time management by setting timeframes or durations for each task. Do the same for your household chores and other extracurricular activities.
Set the Management As Role Models
Organizational leaders make good examples of effective self-supervision. In the workplace, be vigilant and observant of the way they carry out their roles. You may notice that they project a certain kind of leadership aura and self-confidence. Learn their ways of boosting confidence in what they do. Self-supervision requires a good level of confidence and trust to be able to direct and manage your own activities.
You can also ask for insights from them – how they manage to succeed in their careers, their experiences, the challenges they go through, and how they are able to effectively supervise their members. Through this, you will have a good idea of their ways and means in portraying the supervisory role.
Do not be Afraid to Make Mistakes
Some individuals are a little too confident that they can get by without being directed by other people. There are also perfectionists in handling their own work and activities. Actually, being particular with not failing is a good thing.
The only downside is when you do not know how to humbly accept mistakes and failures, especially if it is of your own doing. Because self-supervising entails no one but you, learn how to be responsible and accountable for your own actions.
When still in the stage of learning how to effectively self-supervise, take every failure as a lesson. Mistakes remind you that there are imperfections in the way you handle your activities and you have a chance to correct them the next time.
In fact, supervisors are not exempted from committing flaws when performing their role. They are just good at dealing with such shortcomings because they have learned these things from experience.
Being able to supervise yourself is a huge personal accomplishment. It simply means independence in various aspects of dealing with day-to-day activities. At work, management sees a person who can self-supervise as a potentially good leader. If you have aims of stepping up the corporate ladder, begin by learning how to self-supervise and the management will recognize you for that.
Apart from the workplace setting, you also become an expert at handling personal issues and problems, and work on them independently without depending so much on others.
