ABSTRACT
Supervision of staff may mean supervising a team of several workers or only one or two workers, depending on the size of the agency and the kind of assignment that has been made. The supervisor is expected to have knowledge of what needs to be done. The staff supervisor is in a rather different situation from the team leader in that he is in essence a part-time supervisor. The mid-position between the operational worker and those concerned with management is both a vital and a difficult role. Nowhere is the gate-keeping role more important than in the decision-making process. The team leader’s participation in management will vary with the size and structure of the agency in which he works. The team leader or supervisor of basic grade workers holds a vital role. The position is difficult if he has to carry assignments that are not well defined or pose conflicting demands.
