In a supervisory position, responsibilities range from simple scheduling and department

organization to improving quality of work output and also motivating employees. Recently I sat down

with Ryan Birdseye in Carlsbad, CA. Ryan is the owner and supervisor of a realty firm where he employs

six people; five agents and one secretary. Ryan and I discussed how he runs his business and what he

believes it takes to be a good supervisor.

Goal-setting for employees is one of the objectives Ryan thinks is important. Employees need to

have direction and purpose to better serve the company. These goals can range from personal goals

such as being to work on time and meeting deadlines, to more profit orientated goals that help improve

the overall business of the company.

One way to help them meet these goals is to conduct regular team meetings. Ryan holds weekly

meetings with all his employees. One thing Ryan likes to do in the meetings is recognize the hard work

of his team. A new listing, a signed contract, or a closed sale are something to be acknowledged. He

stressed that in real estate, there can be periods of time when business is slow so he likes to set aside

time in the meetings for employees to share their strategies and success stories to keep the team

motivated.

Being supervisor keeps Ryan very busy. He is often away on conferences or traveling to meet

potential clients. He has to have a staff that he can trust to keep the business running when he’s not

available. Meeting with employees individually, and reviewing their work, he can see who has the skills

and is capable and willing to be in charge. He has a couple different employees right now that he has

attend Realtor classes and conferences where they can gain more knowledge to help them. He is then

able to delegate his responsibilities to a couple of his agents and they then take on the task of making

sure everyone else is doing their job. So far, almost every employee is showing they have the skills to

keep everything running smoothly for him.

One of the hardest things he stated he has had to do as a supervisor was to fire an employee.

His business is fairly new and is built mainly on cold calls to would-be clients and referrals from past

clients. Recently he had an employee who hadn’t made a sale in months and was also coming in late to

work and not participating in the weekly meetings. After many talk with the employee he finally

decided he had to let her go. Because she was a single mother with kids at home, he said it was one of

the hardest things as a supervisor that he had to do. But he knew it was best for his company.

Ryan believes being able to delegate responsibilities, dealing with stressful situations and most

importantly communicating with your employees and keeping them motivated are the keys to being a

successful supervisor.