What is a Supervisor?

A supervisor is responsible for the day-to-day operations of a business group to

ensure employees are working toward a common goal, remaining productive, and
avoiding conflict and negative competition. The group of employees can be
distinguished by similar job roles (department supervisor) or similar shift patterns
(day shift supervisor or graveyard supervisor).
A supervisor is generally promoted from within, rather than hired externally. A
supervisor probably started as a general employee and was promoted to a lead
position before being appointed supervisor. The reason for this is that a supervisor
needs to have experience in what the group does in order to effectively guide and
direct the employees he or she oversees.
Although a supervisor oversees a group of employees, the supervisor does not have
authority to make significant decisions as they relate to the workforce. A supervisor
can assign work tasks, realign tasks within a department, or take corrective actions to
resolve employee disputes and productivity issues. However, a supervisor cannot
hire, fire, or promote employees without consulting with a manager who is privy to
higher-level organizational issues and concerns.
Sample job titles for supervisors include:

Customer Service Supervisor

Night Shift Supervisor
Accounting Supervisor
Production Supervisor
Delivery Supervisor

What is a Manager?
A manager is responsible for the high-level success of a business group or unit. A
manager is less concerned with the day-to-day activities of individual employees and
more concerned about the overall success and productivity of the group as a whole.
A manager is responsible for planning department goals and directing employees to
achieve certain end products and results.
A manager can be hired from within; however, it is more common for a company to
hire externally. While a manager needs to understand the general business goals
and positions within the department, a managers critical responsibility is to provide
guidance and direction to ensure overall departmental success. For this reason, a
manager needs to have specialized training in business operations, people
management or human resources, project management, and cost-benefit analysis.
Generally, a manager can hire, fire, and promote employees within ones department
without consulting with senior management or executives. However, a manager

cannot make significant changes to the departments goals or direction without

consulting with senior management and executive leadership.
Sample job titles for managers include:

Customer Service Manager

Quality Assurance Manager
Shift Manager
Finance Manager
Production Manager
Human Resources Manager
Client Services Manager

What is the Difference?

This article already identified the roles and responsibilities of supervisors and
managers, but it hasnt yet compared the two roles. Although there are subtle
similarities between the two positions, there are key differences that distinguish a
supervisor from a manager. These distinctions can be used to better classify and
identify roles within an organization. The following list identifies the critical differences
between supervisors and managers.

A supervisor is responsible for the day-to-day operations of employees within a

department, and a manager is responsible for the high-level success of the
department as a whole.
A supervisor is responsible for directing the work and goals of individual
employees, and a manager is responsible for directing the work and goals of a
department.
A supervisor assigns tasks to individual employees and realigns tasks among
employees, and a manager realigns official job descriptions and organizational
structures within a department.
A supervisor is promoted from within and has extensive knowledge about the
positions he or she is overseeing, and a manager is hired externally for his or her
people skills and project management abilities.
A supervisor cannot hire, fire, or promote, but a manager can make these
decisions for the betterment of the business unit.

THREE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MANAGERS AND LEADERS

A young manager accosted me the other day. Ive been reading all about leadership,
have implemented several ideas, and think Im doing a good job at leading my team.
How will I know when Ive crossed over from being a manager to a leader? he
wanted to know.
I didnt have a ready answer and its a complicated issue, so we decided to talk the
next day. I thought long and hard, and came up with three tests that will help you
decide if youve made the shift from managing people to leading them.
Counting value vs Creating value. Youre probably counting value, not adding it, if
youre managing people. Only managers count value; some even reduce value by
disabling those who add value. If a diamond cutter is asked to report every 15
minutes how many stones he has cut, by distracting him, his boss is subtracting
value.
By contrast, leaders focuses on creating value, saying: Id like you to handle A while
I deal with B. He or she generates value over and above that which the team
creates, and is as much a value-creator as his or her followers are. Leading by
example and leading by enabling people are the hallmarks of action-based
leadership.
Circles of influence vs Circles of power. Just as managers have subordinates and
leaders have followers, managers create circles of power while leaders create circles
of influence.
The quickest way to figure out which of the two youre doing is to count the number of
people outside your reporting hierarchy who come to you for advice. The more that
do, the more likely it is that you are perceived to be a leader.
Leading people vs Managing work. Management consists of controlling a group or
a set of entities to accomplish a goal. Leadership refers to an individuals ability to
influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute toward organizational success.
Influence and inspiration separate leaders from managers, not power and control.
In India, M.K. Gandhi inspired millions of people to fight for their rights, and he
walked shoulder to shoulder with them so India could achieve independence in 1947.
His vision became everyones dream and ensured that the countrys push for
independence was unstoppable. The world needs leaders like him who can think
beyond problems, have a vision, and inspire people to convert challenges into
opportunities, a step at a time.
I encouraged my colleague to put this theory to the test by inviting his team-mates for
chats. When they stop discussing the tasks at hand and talk about vision,
purpose, and aspirations instead, thats when you will know you have become a
leader.