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Supervisor leader standard work template

Leader standard work for a supervisor is the written routine that keeps an area's daily management running: the tier 2 meeting, a walk of the area, a check of one team leader's board and routine, a layered audit and time for coaching. A supervisor has fewer fixed tasks than a team leader and spends more of them checking that the team leaders' routines work. This template is filled in for a supervisor or area leader with 15 common tasks: seven daily ones with a box for each weekday, five weekly and three monthly. Page 2 has a follow-up and escalation log and a short weekly review to go through with your manager. Change the tasks to fit your area.

Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.

The supervisor leader standard work template: fields for leader, role, area and week, seven daily tasks with a box for each weekday, weekly and monthly tasks with a planned day or date, a chart of how much of the day is standard work at each level, and a box for notes.
15 daily, weekly and monthly tasksA box per weekdayWhen each task happensWhy missedFollow-up and escalation logWeekly reviewShare of the day by level

When to use it

When to use a supervisor leader standard work template

  • When the team leaders in an area have their own routines and nobody checks that those routines happen.
  • For a newly promoted supervisor, to show which parts of the day are fixed and which are left for problems and people.
  • When the tier 2 meeting runs every day but problems stall between the meeting and the floor.
  • Next to the team leader template, so the supervisor checks what the team leaders do rather than doing it for them.

How to fill it in

  1. 1

    Fill in the header

    Leader, role, area and the week. Use one sheet per supervisor per week.

  2. 2

    Cut the list to fit your area

    Start from the 15 tasks, cross out what is not yours and add your own in the blank rows. If the list does not fit into a normal day, it is too long.

  3. 3

    Put a time on each task

    Write when each daily task happens, such as straight after the team huddles, the day for each weekly task and the date for each monthly one.

  4. 4

    Mark each task when it happens

    A tick when it is done and a cross when it is missed, with a word on why. Do it during the day, not on Friday afternoon.

  5. 5

    Log follow-ups and escalations

    Anything the routine turns up goes on page 2 with an owner and a due date. If the area cannot fix it, write who it went to.

  6. 6

    Review the week with your manager

    Count what was done and missed, write what got in the way and what you will change, and ask for the one thing you need help with.

What's on the sheet

The 15 routine tasks on the supervisor leader standard work template

Written for a supervisor or area leader over several teams. On the sheet each task has space for when it happens and a box to mark done or missed; cross out what is not your job and add your own in the blank rows.

Every day

A box for each weekday

  1. 1Check staffing and cover across your teams before the shift starts
  2. 2Stand in on one team huddle and check that team's board is up to date
  3. 3Lead the area's tier 2 meeting and give each escalated problem an owner
  4. 4Walk the area and ask about every missed hour on the production boards
  5. 5Check one team leader's leader standard work sheet and talk through any misses
  6. 6Do one layered process audit at a station
  7. 7Follow up the open actions on the area board

Every week

Write the day it is planned

  1. 8Walk the whole area for safety with one team leader
  2. 9Coach one team leader on a problem they are working on
  3. 10Take what the area cannot solve to the next tier meeting
  4. 11Review the skills matrix and the cover plan for next week
  5. 12Go through the area's 5S and audit results with the team leaders

Every month

Write the date

  1. 13Review the area's KPI trends and open problems with your manager
  2. 14Check one standard work sheet against how the job is really done
  3. 15Review this leader standard work with your manager and adjust it

A filled-in example

Illustrative, not a benchmark

One week of leader standard work for a day-shift supervisor over three assembly teams.

  • Daily: the tier 2 meeting and the area walk done all five days; the check of a team leader's sheet missed on Wednesday because of a customer audit.
  • Layered audit: four of five done, with one finding: the work instruction at station 6 was an old revision.
  • Weekly: one team leader coached on a repeat scrap problem; the cover plan for next week showed one job with only one trained person.
  • Escalations: the old work instruction went to quality engineering, and a repeat conveyor fault went to the maintenance manager, each with a date.
  • What got in the way: the customer audit took most of Wednesday.

In the weekly review the supervisor and the area manager moved the team leader checks to before 10:00, when the area is quieter, and put the single-trained job on the cross-training plan.

Common mistakes

  • Doing the team leaders' routine for them

    A supervisor who runs every team huddle and updates the boards is doing the team leaders' job. Check that those things happen, and coach when they do not.

  • Checking sheets without talking

    Looking at a team leader's sheet only helps if you ask about the misses and help remove whatever causes them.

  • No time left for problems

    Leave a large part of the day free. David Mann's commonly cited guide is about half of a supervisor's time on standard work.

  • Escalating without an owner

    An escalation with no named person and no date is a note, not an escalation. Write both on page 2.

  • Skipping the weekly review

    Without it, the misses pile up and nobody asks why. Keep it short and keep it every week.

Download the template

Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.

Run this template in LeanSuite

In LeanSuite you build a checklist or audit in Lean Creator and schedule it in Daily Standard Work to a person, a role or a machine with a repeat rule; each person sees their checks on a calendar or Kanban board, gets a reminder before one is due, and missed ones show in red.

FAQ

Supervisor leader standard work template: common questions

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