Course Dates: Aug 2, 2023-June 30, 2024

Program Term: Completion of the Fundamentals of Supervision course requires participants to finish three modules of coursework.

Facilitator: Missouri Training Institute
Email: mti@missouri.edu
Phone: (573) 882-2860
Office Location: 506 Hitt St. I 109 Whitten Hall I Columbia, MO 65211
Virtual Office Hours: By appointment and request

Download the course syllabus

  Course Description

Transitioning to a supervisory role can be difficult; it can be challenging to be the boss of those who used to be your peers. As an individual contributor, you developed specific technical expertise that made you proficient in completing organizational processes and tasks efficiently and effectively. Becoming a supervisor requires a whole new set of skills. Now, your leadership, interpersonal, and management skills are required to keep your team motivated and productive. Additionally, you are no longer held accountable solely for your own work, you are responsible for the work outputs and behaviors of those who report to you. 

This course aims to give you the fundamental skills required to become a supervisor. It is designed to prepare the first-time supervisor with thoughtful approaches to gain the respect of those you supervise, techniques to interpersonally connect with your team members, and strategies to foster a cooperative team that is productive and accountable for the work they produce.   

  Course Goals

After you finish this course, you should be able to:

• Build Your Credibility as a Supervisor

Becoming an effective supervisor starts by gaining the respect of those who report to you. The objectives in this section of the course help you to establish your credibility as the leader of your team. You will learn about what it takes to establish a purposeful working relationship with those who report to you, pitfalls to avoid by being too much of a boss or a buddy to those you lead, and strategies to earn your team’s trust and build your credibility.

• Develop Techniques to Connect with Others

The job of the supervisor is to get work done through other people. As such, your ability to connect and communicate with others effectively is an essential skill for your success. The objectives in this section of the course offer you the opportunity to sharpen your communication skills, demonstrate empathy with others, and have candid and sometimes difficult conversations with those you lead.

• Foster a Cooperative and Productive Team

Supervisors manage the performance of their teams. This requires them to set expectations, monitor progress and offer feedback to employees to ensure they are held accountable for meeting their objectives. The objectives in this section of the course help you to ensure your team is meeting your company’s goals. 

  Course Organization

This course is organized into modules. Each module should take about *two hours to complete, for a total of *six hours for course completion. Participants should complete the modules in sequential order and can work at their own pace.

Expectations

This course is completely asynchronous, meaning you will complete the coursework at your own pace. It will take about *6 hours total to complete the course. The activities include: reading assignments, videos, and quizzes. 

^{*Time may be slightly more or less than indicated depending on how slowly or quickly you read, watch videos, and complete quizzes.}

What to Expect from the Facilitator

As your course facilitators, we will respond to private questions sent via the messages in Canvas (see "Inbox" in the navigation to the left) or email within 2 business days.

  Course Outcomes

After you finish this course, you should be able to:

• Identify concepts that create positive perceptions of you by those you supervise.
• Describe behaviors that establish rapport with those you supervise.
• Implement behaviors that create successful interpersonal relationships.
• Describe the context for having a candid conversation.
• Identify traits of successful teams.
• Describe the importance of setting expectations for the team.
• Identify aspects of managing the growth and development of those you supervise.

  Grades and Course Completion

Completion of this course will require completion of every required module and respective activities. 

If you complete and receive 80% or higher on modules 1, 2 and 3 quizzes, then you will have successfully met the requirements. You will have access to view and download your certificate of completion. You can reprint your certificate or print a PDF transcript of your MU Extension Canvas courses at any time by selecting Help from the Canvas global navigation menu.

Course Schedule:

• Module 1: Build Your Credibility as a Supervisor
• Module 2: Develop Techniques to Connect With Others
• Module 3: Foster a Cooperative and Productive Team

  Online Course Access

To access your course after initial enrollment, visit the Canvas login page. 

To completely log out of Canvas, you must QUIT your browser. If you only use the Log Out link in Canvas and do not quit your browser, you will still be logged in.

• On Mac: You must click on the browser name in the Menu Bar and select Quit at the bottom of the menu.
• On Windows: Click the red X in the browser’s upper right-hand corner.

Mobile Access

Canvas has apps for phones and tablets on both iOS and Android. See the Canvas Mobile Guide  to learn more.

Please note that some features (e.g., discussions, grades) tend to perform well in Canvas's apps, while some other features (e.g., certain types of embedded videos, quizzes) do not always function as intended. If you attempt to do your work on an app version of Canvas and experience difficulties, you may need to switch to a laptop or desktop computer, or use your mobile device's Web browser to access the Web version of Canvas.

Technical Support

If you have difficulty logging into Canvas, do not see Fundamentals of Supervision in your course list, or have any other technical difficulties, please contact Mizzou Tech Support at (573) 882-5000, email (techsupport@missouri.edu), or live chat (https://doit.missouri.edu/tech-support/ ).

Required Technology

To complete this course, you will at least need to have all of the following:

• A keyboard/text input (external or built-in)
• Headphones or speakers (external or built-in)
• A computer, laptop, and/or mobile device
• A stable Internet connection
• A modern web browser
• Microsoft Office or OpenOffice, installed, for opening and manipulating downloaded Word documents
• A PDF viewer, installed (Adobe Reader or similar)
• Access to Canvas

Minimum hardware requirements

This is a list of basic computer system requirements  to use Canvas. It is always recommended to use the most up-to-date versions and best connections available. Canvas will still run with the minimum specifications, but you may experience slower loading times.  

Canvas and its hosting infrastructure are designed for maximum compatibility and minimal requirements.

Operating Systems:

• Windows 7 and newer
• Max OSX 10.6 and newer
• Linux - chromeOS

Computer speed and Processor

• Use a computer 5 years old or newer when possible
• 16MB of RAM
• 2GHz processor

Mobile Operating System Native App Support

As of January 5, 2019, Android apps require version 5.0 or later and iOS apps require version 11 or later. All Android and iOS both support the two most recent versions of their respective operating systems.

Internet Speed

Along with compatibility and web standards, Canvas has been carefully crafted to accommodate low bandwidth environments.

Please note that our video management system, Panopto, is responsive and large video files will be automatically adjusted to meet broadband requirements. 

For the best user experience, we recommend using Google Chrome (release 71 and 72) as your browser.

Already using Google Chrome but not sure what version? Simply select the three vertical dots in your browser menu, select Help, and then About Google Chrome. That's it! If there is a newer version available, Chrome will automatically update.

Canvas will work on Firefox release 64 and 65 and Safari 11 and 12 (Macintosh only), however there have been reported performance issues with viewing what the browser considers insecure content, especially with Safari. 

To make sure your browser is configured to work relatively seamlessly with Canvas, select the following link. “Which browsers does Canvas support?” at https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-10720-67952720329  .   

  Policies

Please visit the MU Policies & Expectations page to learn more about the University’s policies, such as Academic Integrity, Intellectual Pluralism, Executive Order No. 38, Statement of Nondiscrimination, Copyright and Acceptable Use.

 Diversity Statement

We value the voice of every student in this course. Our diversity as a group—in race, gender, sex, religion, language, ability, veteran status, place of origin—is an asset to our learning experience. As a result, we design inclusive lessons and assignments that provide you with the opportunity to speak and be heard, explore your own understanding, and encounter each other.

(Adapted  with permission from MU Teaching for Learning Center’s Teaching and Learning in the Diverse Classroom)

  Accommodations

We all learn differently, and we want every student to succeed. If you have a learning need or disability, please contact us as soon as possible so we can provide you with appropriate accommodations.  

  Resources

Please be sure to access and review our Getting Started with Canvas and Support and Policies from the course navigation menu.  Getting Started with Canvas provides a nice overview and information about the Canvas environment.