The Supervisor Toolkit was developed exclusively for supervisors to help them be more effective in critical areas of responsibility. Initially developed by a team of supervisors in the Engineering Division, the toolkit provides practical suggestions to address the issues and situations that supervisors find most challenging in their work. The content is relevant to science, engineering and operations supervisors with all levels of experience. Only supervisors have access to the toolkit.
The Supervisor Toolkit is like the “Wikipedia” of information created by and for Berkeley Lab supervisors. It was designed so new best practices and practical guidance can be added and shared with all supervisors. If you have a new topic suggestion, submit it through the feedback button in the toolkit, or talk with your local HR Division Partner. The staff at Berkeley Lab Learning Institute will collect suggestions, seek input from supervisors and subject matter experts, and publish the new content on behalf of supervisors.
The toolkit highlights best practices and guidance that are common to all supervisors in any team or organizational context. It is not a process guide that will become outdated every time a procedure changes. Your Division Business Manager, Business Analyst or HR Division Partner, can assist you with local processes and procedures.
Focus On Partner and Effective Work Relationships
The Supervisor Toolkit also includes best practices and guidance that are practical and applicable for all of the different kinds of work relationships that supervisors, and their employees and teams engage in at Berkeley Lab. For example, it has content for:
- New supervisors transitioning into a supervisory role with a new team.
- Experienced supervisors dealing with difficult employees and challenging performance issues.
- Supervisors who work on a project with internal colleagues from different disciplines and other divisions, and/or with people who are not from the Laboratory (such as users, stakeholders, funders, collaborators and vendors).
Given this focus on effective work relationships, the single word, “partner,” will be used throughout the toolkit when referring to any of these internal and external work relationships. Partner exemplifies the approach to work relationships that has proven most important to the success of “team science” at Berkeley Lab.
Opportunity to Link to Division-Specific Content
There are other best practices and guidance that are important for supervisors to know and consider because they are unique to the work and/or work relationships of a particular Division (e.g., matrix work environment, user facility, multi-location groups and work). If your Division has unique circumstances that are particularly challenging for supervisors, contact your local HR Division Partner who can assist in developing content to help supervisors address those circumstances. Divisions will have the option to post division-specific content on their own websites then ask for the Supervisor Toolkit to point to that content.
How To Navigate The Supervisor Toolkit
For quick and easy access to the Supervisor Toolkit, bookmark the link.
There are other ways to access the toolkit:
To navigate in the Supervisor Toolkit, the best place to start is the home page. All content can be accessed from the home page by clicking on the topic of interest. Topics are grouped by an area of supervisory responsibility.
From the home page:
- Read content from start to finish, or review and print by topic as needed.
- Return to the toolkit’s home page at any time by clicking “Supervisor Toolkit” in the breadcrumb trail above the page’s title.
- Use the browser’s back button to return to previous page.
Disclaimer
The Supervisor Toolkit does not replace, take precedence, or assume authority over official Berkeley Lab policies, procedures, PUB3000, or the RPM. The toolkit is designed to aid with the implementation and administration of UC and Berkeley Lab policies and procedures. The Supervisor Toolkit is regularly reviewed and tailored to meet the needs of Berkeley Lab supervisors.
