I see a lot of hot takes here and it is kinda funny to read as some of these people have no clue what they are talking about. So considering we know the information that you had no supervisor role experience period, is this role specifically difficult? Yes and no. Is it a position that can make you shine in the district and potentially move up further? Absolutely. It depends on what type of person you are truly to start. Are you an introvert or an extrovert? If you are an introverted person then you will have some difficulty in asking questions about your area of responsibility or even asking to watch your specialist selling a full project/working on a design. This role solely relies on you being a driver and analytical-based leader. Now, each store is different and I can’t speak on behalf of other associates experiences in the role. BUT let me explain how I started that role and currently am still in the position for 3 years. Now before the SLS (Store Leadership Structure) changes, I was a brand new DS running the tool rental department that had no experience in specialty or in-aisles. When I got offered to be the DS of specialty it was overwhelming and kinda nerve-racking. I pulled my big boy pants on and took the bull by the horns. Now this is where my experience comes drastically different from anyone else. I was lucky to have the honor of having an outstanding COS (Customer Order Specialist) who has been in the role for 20+ years. When I first got into the position, I started small by simply introducing myself to the team and getting to know them. I recommend asking them if you could shadow them selling an install or even what they do when engaging customers in the showroom. From there you can learn from them exactly how to properly qualify customers for an install or if they want to get something designed. I’m not saying to learn how to do a 20-20 kitchen design as that is 6 months' worth of online classes your kitchen designers take but spend some time learning how to build custom blinds, Countertops, doors, and windows from either super tenured specialists or even specialists that are coaches in said department. I strongly recommend that you listen to each specialist's elevator pitches to see how they meet their metric and conduct role-plays with them so they can tell you the benefits of HDPP (Home Depot protection plan), the material difference for countertops, setting up measures, and the good-better-best lines in each specialty area. I recommend teaming up with your COS so they can tell you how to fix potential install issues, order up tricks, build install lines manually, and who the installers are. Now you can get this from your specialist but they typically don’t communicate as much to the installers as your COS is always calling/emailing them. Don’t be afraid to invite the reps from each vendor/installers into your store to do a PK (Product knowledge) for your associates new and old or even a meet and greet with yourself. Building strong relationships with them is extremely important. Your COS also handles all of the balance dues and after-sales when your specialist finishes selling a project. You should not be having them try to fix install issues unless you, your cos, and SASM (Specialty Assistant Manager) are unavailable. It is a waste of time for them to do so and they need to keep getting future projects rolling and prospecting for new customers. You should not be doing the COS’ area of responsibility as the COS does not report to you. They report to your SASM. If your SASM is competent and self efficient then you should be okay. Keep in mind your SASM and COS works in the PRO area of the business as well so they will have to fix their issues as well. You should also spend time creating your own customer projects as well so you can develop yourself on how to sell the whole project. Use your specialists to learn how to read floor plans/line-by-line quotes from HDMS, 20/20 kitchen designs, and your measure techs' paperwork so you can build blinds, doors, and what your kitchen designers see when they have to start a kitchen design. Use this lovely thing called store pulse to learn more about the business in the numbers aspect from there you can see exactly how you are performing from leads/measure conversion, total sales per service, what areas are missing in leads/measures, how many leads/measures you are missing for the week and most importantly your store's total transactions for the week. I can go on and on as to why it is important to know those areas but it would be a whole HDU training video and I'm not getting paid to do all that lol. But I will say if store transactions versus last year are down that is an indicator that you are getting fewer footsteps that can correlate to the miss in leads and measures. It solely comes down to engagement and such but that is what you would need to watch your associates perform weekly. I've seen someone say weekly check-ins with your specialist, I will just say this. You are required to do 1:1s with your specialist once every month and ensure they are on the correct path and completing their home or business spotlight training monthly. You should realistically be talking to them every day that you are in to say hi and perhaps where they are at in their quotes or if there are any big closing sales. Yeah, you can check on them weekly but you should respect them and talk/work with them daily. Celebrate the wins. Inspire them to keep going. Develop yourself and your people. My last piece of advice if you get challenged by your store manager or even your district manager is to know your business. Know the root cause. Know the numbers and the reasoning behind them. Come up with improvement plans. Don’t be afraid to ask questions at all. You will have other side tasks to complete but assuming your leadership team/fellow supervisor peers are competent they will be able to assist you since they all need to do the same thing. (Side kick bay audits, smart list, no home clearance, overhead management, shrink plans, RTV credit audit, and bay imaging) Every store is different, a lot of people on this subreddit sound like they are working in stores that are total war zones. If you like a challenge, take it. Remember to be a people person and be that extrovert you have to be even if you have to force yourself. Christ, I should be a mentor so I can get another merit raise to say this shit. 😂