What Every Supervisor Should Know (ISBN 0070055890)

Thorough and Comprehensive:
The most surprising part of this text and workbook was not only its thoroughness, but the author who was kind enough to send me these books, free, when I was desperate to get training materials for a supervisory training course. These books have twenty-one trigger cases, which is Mr. Bittel's name for case studies. They cover a vast array of topics which can be incorporated in a training program, but probably not as a stand-alone training program. It is set-up more for the undergraduate who plans to take a semester-long course in supervisory skills. But, just when you assume that managers and supervisors "should know" several topics in this book, you get the unfortunate surprise of your life, and learn that there are things here you can still use. This is a great sourcebook rather than a stand-alone training program. I recommend it on that basis. Thank you again for your kindness, Mr. Bittel.

Just my opinion:
Started using this book in a Supervision class I took at Purdue Unversity in 1987, and used it as a reference til I bought the 1990 printing in 1995 on sale at a local bookstore. I will be using the latest printing as a textbook to train foreman in my job. Very good information for a new front-line supervisor or as a reference for old pro.

Review:
Dry and difficult to read straight through. Set up more like a textbook, which wasn't really what I was looking for.

A textbook for Supervisor Training:
Bittel's "What every supervisor should know" was probably written as a textbook, and I think it can be used as part of a supervisory training program. The book is a collection of topics derived from fundamentals of management, organizational behavior and human resources management textbooks routinely used in business classes. It is nice that all this information is presented and interpreted with supervisors in mind. I don't think the book is for the casual reader, but as part of a course incorporating discussions with a facilitator, it should do the job. It is not the most user friendly book I have seen, with little use of color or pictures. However, it has short cases at the end of the book which could be useful as part of classroom discussions.