8.2 - Supervising vs. Facilitating

Box 8.5 discusses some differences between traditional supervisors and team facilitators.

In my experience, many managers experience difficulty in becoming facilitators. One job I had... I was the group supervisor for a small team of employees. I took assignments, broke them down, and delegated tasks to each employee. I then monitored and (though I hate to admit it) micro-managed the progress to ensure that each part was being sufficiently. When attending a leadership class, we were taught a new corporate approach dealing with facilitating rather than strict supervising.

I'd like to say that I became a good facilitator, but that is hardly the case. It was so much easier to delegate and hold people to deadlines rather than trying to develop the team's individual talents. I felt comfortable with my team's abilities, but did not trust that they'd come up with the necessary results if I wasn't the one leading them. Since I entered the role as a team leader, it was hard to stray from that mentality. If I had entered the role as a facilitator, I believe there would be no precedent and I would have done a better job.

Looking back on it, I can see where I overly micro-managed and struggled to retain tight control over every detail. I most certainly learned from my experiences; however, it is/was hard to see the big picture while involved in the situation.