by If you are looking for a leadership role in your organization, you might be wondering whether to pursue a team lead or a supervisor position. Both roles involve managing a group of employees and ensuring their productivity and quality of work. However, there are also some key differences between them that you should consider before making your decision.
In this article, we will explain what a team lead and a supervisor do, how they differ in terms of their primary goals, job duties, skills, experience, and salary, and how to decide which role is right for you.
What is a team lead?
A team leader is someone who guides and motivates a group of employees working toward a common objective. They usually have technical expertise in their field and collaborate with other team members to perform more detailed and hands-on work. A team lead may also work as an individual contributor like other members of the team but with additional responsibilities.
A team lead’s main focus is on developing a strategy to achieve the set goals, assigning work and giving instructions to team members, coordinating shifts and ensuring required resources for the team, setting deadlines and monitoring the team’s progress, reporting the status to the higher management, and providing feedback and mentoring to the team.
A team lead may also be involved in hiring and firing team members, depending on the organization. A team lead typically reports to a supervisor or a manager.
What is a supervisor?
A supervisor is a frontline manager responsible for overseeing the work of other employees to ensure productivity and quality work. They have more authority and responsibility than a team lead and usually make recommendations related to recruitment, promotion, and discipline of employees. A supervisor’s focus is more on execution, rather than developing a senior-level strategy.
A supervisor’s main duties include recommending new recruitment or advancement to the HR department, providing training to new employees, assigning work to employees, monitoring employee performance, checking the quality of work, addressing issues at the workplace to ensure productivity, reporting, and making recommendations to high-level management.
A supervisor also addresses employees’ grievances and resolves conflicts within the team. A supervisor typically reports to a manager or a director.
Team lead vs. supervisor: Key differences
Here are some of the major differences between a team lead and a supervisor:
Primary Goals
Supervisors’ primary focus is ensuring compliance with organizational policies and allocating company resources optimally. They help employees follow the set procedures for performing their tasks. Supervisors collaborate with higher management to develop performance goals, then communicate these goals to employees and align them with the organizational goals.
They ensure adherence to product production schedules and quality standards through regular monitoring, performance evaluation, timely feedback, and proper training.
Team leads’ primary focus is on creating a vision and a strategy for achieving the set goals. They use their technical knowledge and skills to guide and mentor their team members. Team leads foster a collaborative and innovative culture within their team by encouraging creativity, problem-solving, and learning.
They also communicate effectively with other departments or clients to discuss projects.
Job Duties
Supervisors have more responsibilities than team leads when it comes to managing employees. Supervisors oversee everything related to the work and performance of their direct reports, aligning stakeholder and organizational requirements with project tasks. Supervisors may perform the same job duties as the team or department they’re leading, such as answering phones or taking customer orders.
Team leads have more responsibilities than supervisors when it comes to managing projects. Team leads often create project plans, assign tasks and delegate work to their teams. They also monitor team members’ performance and provide feedback. Team leads are more hands-on and involved in the technical aspects of the work than supervisors.
Skills
Both supervisors and team leaders need strong leadership skills, such as communication, motivation, delegation, problem-solving, and decision-making. However, there are some skills that are more important for one role than the other.
Supervisors need more administrative skills than team leads, such as budgeting, scheduling, reporting, and record-keeping. They also need more interpersonal skills than team leads, such as conflict resolution, negotiation, and emotional intelligence.
Team leads need more technical skills than supervisors, such as coding, designing, or writing. They also need more creative skills than supervisors, such as brainstorming, innovation, and critical thinking.
Experience
Supervisors usually need more experience than team leads to qualify for their role. Supervisors often need at least a bachelor’s degree in business administration or another related field, as well as several years of experience working in their department before they can be promoted to a leadership role.
Additionally, supervisors often complete management training programs to learn more about how to effectively lead a team and handle conflict resolution.
Team leads usually need less experience than supervisors to qualify for their role. Team leads often need a bachelor’s degree or a diploma in their field of expertise, as well as some experience working in their team or on similar projects before they can be promoted to a leadership role.
Additionally, team leads often complete technical training programs to learn more about how to use the latest tools and technologies in their field.
Salary
Supervisors usually earn more than team leads, as they have more authority and responsibility than team leads. According to Indeed, the average salary for a supervisor in the United States is $51,000 per year, while the average salary for a team lead is $46,000 per year.
However, the salary for both roles may vary depending on the industry, location, company size, and level of experience. For example, a supervisor in the IT industry may earn more than a supervisor in the retail industry, and a team lead with 10 years of experience may earn more than a team lead with 2 years of experience.
How to decide which role is right for you
If you are interested in becoming a team lead or a supervisor, you should consider your career goals, skills, interests, and personality. Here are some questions you can ask yourself to help you decide which role is right for you:
- Do you prefer working on projects or managing people?
- Do you enjoy being hands-on and involved in the technical aspects of the work or overseeing the big picture and ensuring compliance?
- Do you have more technical skills or administrative skills?
- Do you like creating strategies and visions or executing plans and procedures?
- Do you want to have more authority and responsibility or more flexibility and autonomy?
Depending on your answers, you may find that one role suits you better than the other. However, you should also keep in mind that both roles have their advantages and disadvantages and that you can always switch roles or pursue higher-level positions in the future.
Conclusion
Team leads and supervisors are both important members of an organization who manage a group of employees and ensure their productivity and quality of work. However, there are also some key differences between them that you should consider before choosing your career path.
Supervisors have more authority and responsibility than team leads, and they focus more on ensuring compliance with organizational policies and allocating company resources optimally. Team leads have more flexibility and autonomy than supervisors, and they focus more on creating a vision and a strategy for achieving the set goals.
Both roles require strong leadership skills, such as communication, motivation, delegation, problem-solving, and decision-making. However, supervisors need more administrative skills than team leads, such as budgeting, scheduling, reporting, and record-keeping. Team leads need more technical skills than supervisors, such as coding, designing, or writing.
Supervisors usually need more experience than team leads to qualify for their role. Supervisors often need at least a bachelor’s degree in business administration or another related field, as well as several years of experience working in their department before they can be promoted to a leadership role. Team leads usually need less experience than supervisors to qualify for their role. Team leads often need a bachelor’s degree or a diploma in their field of expertise, as well as some experience working in their team or on similar projects before they can be promoted to a leadership role.
Supervisors usually earn more than team leads, as they have more authority and responsibility than team leads. However, the salary for both roles may vary depending on the industry, location, company size, and level of experience.
If you are interested in becoming a team lead or a supervisor, you should consider your career goals, skills, interests, and personality. You should also research the specific requirements and expectations for each role in your desired industry and organization.
We hope this article has helped you understand the differences between a team lead and a supervisor and how to decide which role is right for you.
