My Dope Supervisor

I’m writing this post because I want to acknowledge my dope supervisor. I don’t feel she gets the credit for her contributions at work, so I’m going to acknowledge her here. I’m only going to use her first name for this post.

Kim embodies the spirit of dopeness. In addition to being a great person, she’s also a cool supervisor, a good leader and a heck of a teammate to fellow supervisors and managers. She is a rarity in the workplace.

I’m going to list the things that make Kim dope. But here I want to highlight two things that totally blows my mind. First, she doesn’t curse at all. She’s supervised challenging people; she’s worked with irate customers; and she’s experienced workplace challenges as a black woman that other people would never have to, but she’s kept her composure despite what’s happening. I would have been reprimanded for the number of expletives used in one sentence.

Second, her customer service acumen is AMAZING. We work at a government agency and government employees have a reputation for poor customer service, which is true 98% of the time. You may find a few helpful and kind folks, but they are truly the exception, which is unfortunate. Kim’s level of customer service is 100% all the time, even when people are mean to her. And she still doesn’t curse!

I once asked her how she got such a good work ethic and customer service acumen as a government employee and she replied, “I treat other people the way I want to be treated.” Simple, but powerful.

Kim’s Leadership Skills

Following are the things that makes Kim a great leader to me.

1. She supervises and mentors her team members.
2. She’s patient with staff, colleagues and customers.
3. She’s a stickler for rules, which is needed to ensure consistency when dealing with team members.
4. She’s knows her job and she’s good at it. In government, people are sometimes promoted based on seniority or who they know, not qualifications. In addition to lacking knowledge, they may not have good people skills and are lazy. My supervisor knows her job and tend to be the “go to” person for her colleagues, some of whom have been in their positions longer than she has.

Kim’s Customer Service

1. Kim doesn’t want customers waiting longer than 15 minutes to see a team member during non-break times. Sometimes it’s not possible because customers have multiples issues to address or it’s busy season; but for the most part, people tend to wait less than 15 minutes.
2. When there are more customers than team members, she works her magic and helps people as much as possible with the staff we have.
3. She helps people anyway she can. A lot of people come to our department with needs we do not serve. Instead of turning them away or saying I don’t know, she will research information to at least give them a start with their needs.
4. She asks questions – a lot of them – to ensure she’s getting information needed to assist them properly.
5. When it comes to our team, she works with our schedules to make sure that our time off requests can be honored while having enough staff coverage.
6. She creates customer handouts in response to frequently asked questions. Very handy.

Kim’s WOW Moments

1. A deaf customer came in with an issue and she started a written conversation with him. I returned from my 15-minute break and she was still helping him. I don’t recall how much time she spent with the person, but when she finished, she said, “He wasn’t supposed to be here but I know he wouldn’t have gotten the service he needed at the other place.”
2. We had an Asian customer who spoke no English. Electronic devices are not allowed in our area, but the customer had a translation device. My supervisor stepped out of the area to have a typed conversation with the person.
3. A customer needed to submit information to another agency in the building. We sent him to that agency and they sent him back to us. My supervisor printed out the form he needed to submit, looked at the address and sent him to the right floor. He did not return. Here’s the kicker about this situation: the person we sent him to the first time should have known where to send him because he/she works at that agency but on a different floor.
4. One time a bunch of people came to our department to complete applications for a special event at the same time. We were not notified in advanced about the event. She had everyone to complete applications; leave them; and have team members process them. The staff called the people with the information they needed. This allowed the customers to not have to wait in the office. But she did let them know that there would be a long wait to give them a realistic timeline of the process.
5. A mother and daughter came in for service and the daughter asked if they could see the same team member because the daughter wanted to ensure that mom understood. Typically, a team member services one person at a time, but Kim allowed them both to sit with the same person.

I could continue but I won’t right now. These were just a few things that came to mind as I was writing. I am glad to have her as a supervisor. She’s easy to work with; serves others with no complaints or profanity; and is just an overall good person. Yep, Kim is the epitome of a dope supervisor.

How About You?

Have you ever had a dope supervisor? Tell us about him or her in the comment box below.