emerit Supervisor / TCS flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Span of control

The number of subordinates reporting directly to one supervisor. Wider spans demand greater delegation, clearer procedures, and more standardized work to remain effective.

Delegation and accountability

A supervisor may transfer authority to act but retains accountability for the result. The task, deadline, resources, and decision limits must be stated explicitly.

Tuckman team stages

Forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning. Conflict typically peaks at storming; supervisors who suppress it delay the move to norming and performing.

Constructive feedback formula

State the observed behaviour, describe its impact on the work or team, then specify the required change. Avoid labels about personality, which trigger defensiveness.

Takt time

Available production time divided by customer demand. A process cycle time exceeding takt time cannot meet demand and identifies the constraint to relieve.

Critical path

The longest sequence of dependent tasks in a plan. It determines minimum project duration, and any delay on it delays the whole completion date.

Schedule variance

Earned value minus planned value. A negative figure means less work is complete than planned at that date, signalling slippage against the baseline.

Contingency versus management reserve

Contingency reserve covers identified risks and sits within the project baseline. Management reserve covers unknown risks and sits outside the baseline.

KPI definition rule

A usable key performance indicator needs a target, a data source, a measurement frequency, and a named owner. Missing any of these makes it unmanageable.

Quality assurance versus control

Assurance is preventive and process-focused, building quality in. Control is detective and product-focused, checking outputs against specified requirements.

Control chart signal

A process is out of control when a point falls beyond a control limit, or seven consecutive points sit on one side of the mean.

Corrective versus preventive action

Corrective action removes the cause of a nonconformity already detected. Preventive action removes the cause of a potential nonconformity before it occurs.

Pareto principle

Roughly 80 percent of defects arise from about 20 percent of causes. Ranking causes by frequency directs improvement effort to the highest-yield problem.

Audit trail elements

Each audit record shows date, auditor, evidence sampled, finding, severity classification, corrective action, and verification date, so closure can be proven.

Hierarchy of controls

Risk controls ranked by effectiveness: eliminate, substitute, engineer, administrate, then personal protective equipment. PPE is the weakest and last resort.

Risk score

Likelihood multiplied by severity. The score ranks hazards for action, and any hazard with severe potential requires control regardless of low likelihood.

Leading safety indicators

Measures such as near-miss reports, hazard observations, and training completion that predict future incidents, unlike lagging injury statistics that record past harm.

Access control triad

Identify the person, authenticate their claimed identity, then authorize permitted actions. Shared credentials break attribution and make audit findings unreliable.

Incident investigation order

Secure the scene and preserve evidence, interview witnesses separately, establish root cause, then recommend controls with owners and deadlines.

Service recovery paradox

A customer whose complaint is resolved quickly and fairly can end more satisfied than before the failure. Slow or dismissive handling deepens dissatisfaction.

First-contact resolution

Contacts resolved at the first point of contact divided by total contacts. Higher rates reduce cost per case and raise customer effort scores.

SERVQUAL dimensions

Reliability, assurance, tangibles, empathy, and responsiveness. Reliability, delivering the promised service dependably, carries the greatest weight in most assessments.

Mandatory escalation triggers

Safety risk, legal threat, repeated failure, and requests beyond the agent's authority. Escalation must be announced to the customer with a reason and timeline.

Training needs analysis levels

Organizational, task, and individual analysis. Task analysis identifies what the job requires; skipping it produces content unrelated to actual performance gaps.

Kirkpatrick evaluation levels

Reaction, learning, behaviour, and results. Most programmes measure only reaction, which shows satisfaction but not whether capability or performance changed.

Learning objective verbs

Objectives use observable verbs such as identify, demonstrate, or calculate. Internal states like understand cannot be assessed and produce untestable objectives.

Assessment validity and reliability

Validity means the assessment measures the skill actually trained. Reliability means repeated assessments yield consistent scores under the same conditions.

Contemporaneous record

A record made at the time of the event or as soon as practicable. Late entries are marked as late and show the actual date of writing.

Record correction method

Draw a single line through the error so it stays legible, write the correct entry, then initial and date. Never overwrite or use correction fluid.

Weighted average rule

Averaging percentages across groups of unequal size without weighting by group size produces a distorted total. Always weight by the underlying counts.

Conflict of interest test

Disclose the personal interest and withdraw from the decision. The ethical issue is the risk of bias, not whether bias actually occurred.

Confidentiality exceptions

Disclosure is permitted or required where there is imminent risk to life, a legal compulsion such as a court order, or a statutory reporting duty.