5. First principles of supervision.—One authority wrote concerning an army, "Every one must remain within the boundaries of his duties, otherwise every thing will be confusion." This implies first, the plac ing of responsibility, and secondly, the clear definition of the boundaries of each authority. Like principles should guide supervision in business affairs. Each superior officer, foreman, department chief, gen eral chief should have a definite authority, superior so far as it goes, but clearly limited in its relations to that of other officers. When a business is so organ ized, when we find no overlapping of functions and no contentions among officers as to their duties, it can be so guided as to carry out effectively the general policies which emanate from the chief executive.
It is the part of the general manager to supply the unifying element. Allowing subordinates a rea sonable opportunity to exercise initiative does not dispense with the need for general control. The su pervision of the general manager aims to stimulate activity and to coordinate the effortg of all so as to se cure the desired results. The head of each unit of supervision must take part in the execution of orders, if he would give to the men in his charge the impetus necessary to fruitful effort.
Such an impetus comes from constant and friendly watching of the men, inspiring them thru the offer of rewards, encouraging the diligent, by repressing the idle and the careless thru appropriate penalties.
6. The master's eye.—System may provide an ex cellent plan of control, but it is of little avail without the "eye of the master." Orders are useless unless carried out ; reports mean nothing unless acted upon It is well for the "master's eye" to be diligent in watching the business, but if the manager attempts to supervise every possible detail, he is apt to find that he has little time for weightier matters. Proper plan ning will not overburden the manager, but will enable the "master's eye" to see all events that possess any significance.
It is not to be denied that some managers appear to succeed thru the sheer force of personal activity. They want to see things for themselves, they follow orders closely, and inspect repeatedly until the de sired result is accomplished. Some old-time execu tives may have carried this method too far, but their practice may still serve as a lesson for managers who reduce their physical activities to sitting in a hand some office and pushing a button, and for department heads who confuse seclusion from their men with ex clusion of details. Heads and heels both play a part in proper supervision and neither can be neglected with impunity.
7. Expectation of surprises.—We often compare man's life to a book. The comparison is good. The events of life are the stuff that books are made of. If the author would interest his reader, however, he must arrange his story so as to surprise him con tinually. It is the unexpected that keys all men to the sticking point. Surprise is as necessary, too, in keeping men interested in their work as in holding the interest of the reader in his book. Supervision which neglects the element of surprise fails in its purpose. / Important as this element of administrative pro cedure is, it is a mistake to attain it at the expense of other and perhaps equally important principles. Foremen sometimes seek this element of surprise by looking thru keyholes or slipping unnoticed into rooms in order to "get the goods on the men." They may get what they want, but in so doing they sacrifice something which is priceless—the good-will and confi dence of the men.
It is not necessary to resort to underhand methods to introduce into inspection the element of surprise which saves it from becoming a deadening and ineffec tive routine. Napoleon was always doing the unex pected. In his inspection he came and went before men were aware. He was thoro, but added the unex pected. Finding a sentry asleep at his post, he took his gun and stood guard until the weary soldier awoke. Reviewing his troops, he asked unexpected questions of his officers. The routine method would have de manded that the commander-in-chief gallop more or less brilliantly in front of the men, but not so with Napoleon. Stopping in front of a colonel, he asked, "What is your effective force? How many men have you in hospital? At the depot? And how many sick in camp or how many absent from any other cause?" One can easily understand how such methods kept men and officers continually on the alert. Each one felt that the Emperor had his eye on him, and each stood in constant expectation of a surprise.
8. Supervision, by inspection.—A supervisory unit should not be extended in its operations beyond the point where it can do well the work intrusted to it. If the proper quality of output cannot be had, or if the men cannot be keyed up to their full work ing capacity, the unit is too large. It should be of a size to permit fruitful personal inspection, which can bring all matters to the attention of the manager. No business, however, can afford a system of super vision which calls for the master's personal inspection at every turn, and reliance must be had upon subordi nates.