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Working Supervisor's Support Kit A collection of tools and information that will help you do a better job as a boss.

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The world and the world of business are in the midst of dramatic, substantive change and we've only begun to discern the outline of where we might end up. We do know a few things.

We know that people, complete with their knowledge and relationships are the only true source of lasting competitive advantage. Everything else, whether intellectual property, business processes, access to materials, everything, can be copied or replaced with a substitute.

We know that more and more of the people in our company will be knowledge workers. Knowledge workers are most productive when they are self-directed and when they have access tools they need. That's where technology can help.

Technology makes it possible to create productive commercial communities of knowledge workers. That will happen more rapidly and effectively if we avoid the human tendency to do the same old things with new technology.

When television was introduced in the US in the early 1950s, most of the programs were not like the television shows we know today. They were more like radio programs with pictures added.  Or remember the first web sites which were more like brochures than like what we think of as web sites today.

Technology can help us do our jobs better and meet the challenges of change more effectively. There's more computing and communications power in most smartphones that there was on the early space missions. Social media let us connect with people around the world in new ways.

But we'll only the most from those technologies if we look forward. We need to find new ways to do our work and care for the people who do it more effectively. Here are some don'ts and some dos.

Don't use technology to re-create the world of line-of-sight supervision. Do use technology as a tool for marshalling resources.

Don't use technology to deliver the same training you give in a classroom Do use technology to help knowledge workers create their own learning solutions on the fly.

Don't use technology to broadcast unilateral decisions. Do use technology to tap into the wisdom of crowds.

We are moving to an exciting new world. We'll get to a better world faster if we use technology to develop new ways to organize work while we care for and support the people who do the work.

Boss's Bottom Line

You'll get the most from your investment in technology if you find new and better ways to work.

Wally's Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training. Click here to check it out.