Supervision:

An Important

Responsibility

Supervision

Components:

�Administrative

�Developmental

Administrative�Identification�Prospectus�Journal�Evaluation(s)�Reflection

Developmental

� The development of the student affairs professional begins with the person.

Emotional Intellectual

Behavioral

Physical

SocialSpiritual

� Learning to supervise others is a developmental process.

� It involves being educated and trained to understand

� Professional issues

� The context of helping

� The development of personal qualities that facilitate helping

� The development of skills

� The integration of skills into practice

Consider the Image of a Rope

�Each experience represents a strand; multiple strands make up to the whole that represents the development of the student affairs professional.

�The supervision process is:

�Developmental

�Interactive

�Encouraging

Supervision Defined

A distinct intervention that is provided by a senior member of a profession to a junior member or members of that same profession. This relationship is evaluative, extends over time, and has the simultaneous purposes:

a) enhancing the professional functioning of the junior members,

b) monitoring the quality of professional services offered to the clients he/she/they see(s) and,

c) serving as a gatekeeper for those who are to enter the particular profession

� An often cited model of student affairs interns’ development includes the following stages:

� Orientation (clarifying of expectations, gathering information)

� Working (enhancing existing skills)

� Transmitting (assuming responsibility and taking initiative)

� Integrating (integrating experiences and developing professional identity)

�Providing quality supervision is both a

CHALLENGEand

RESPONSIBILITY

Planning for Supervision

�Context

�Process

�Structure

�Evaluation

Questions for Discussion� Content – What topics do you discuss in

supervision?

� Process – What skills do you model in your interaction with your supervisee?

� Structure – How do you format your session?

� Evaluation – How do you document the effectiveness of your supervisee’s progress?

�Student affairs trainees entering practicum or internship want to make a difference not only with students but also in the department.

�How can supervisors provide interns with realistic expectations of and strategies for entering an already established community?

�A positive, trusting relationship between supervisor and trainee allows the intern to explore issues of concern.

�How can site supervisors engage interns in ways that strengthen their working alliance?

�What will help site supervisors increase their confidence in their effectiveness?

Issues Related to Supervision

� Parallel Process

� Dual Relationship

� Informed Consent

� Vicarious Liability

� Isolation & Training

Why is Giving Feedback Important?

• It underlies everything we do

• It is difficult and often unwanted

• It’s an opportunity to learn and grow

Giving Feedback is not always fun!

Why?

• Feedback = judgment

• Feedback = objective message

• Feedback = opportunity to learn

What

Feedback

is not!� Necessarily negative

� A one-way monologue

� Need to be a wrestling match

� An opportunity for personal attack

� Represent the only point of view

What

Feedback is

� Critical to managing effectively

� Fosters positive change

� Positive- reinforce preferred behavior

� Corrective- introduce more productive work patterns

� Multidirectional

Feedback Coaching Performance Evaluation

PurposeTo reinforce or change

behaviorTo improve skills To evaluate past work

Participants Any two (or more) people

Typically supervisor to

direct report, but can be

multidirectional

Supervisor to direct report

Place Private and quiet spaceDepends on the skill to be

learnedUsually in the supervisor's office

ToneTypically causal although

can be more formal

Somewhat formal, but

potentially relaxedVery formal, often stressful

TimingImpromtu as needed

during formal sessionsRegular meetings

Scheduled every six months or

once a year

Follow-up Continual Continual Based on action plan

What’s the Difference?

If you want to improve continuously as professional, then you have to have feedback—andyou have to know how to give it as well as receive it.

Tip:

Focus on job performance, skills, behavior—things that can be changed most easily.

Helping People Change: Easy to Difficult

Job skills Time and workmanagement

Knowledge Attitude Habits PersonalityCharacteristics

Describe the Behavior -

�You were rude during the meeting.

�You seemed bored at the team’s presentation.

�During the meeting you spoke at the same time others were speaking.

�You yawned, rolled your eyes, and looked out the window.

Don’t forget the non-verbal’s! 93% of all communication

Points of Delivery

“May I share an observation with you?”

Acknowledge the uneasiness or discomfort you may feel,

“As I’m telling you this, I’m aware of how uncomfortable I”

Deliver the Impact

What Impact it had on you.

“When you told me in the meeting that my concerns about the deadlines were overblown, I felt belittled.”

“When you did (behavior), I felt (impact) or “When you said (behavior), I was (impact).”

Establish a Receptive Work

Environment

� Be the role model

� Clear work expectations

� Establish mutual commitment

� Acknowledge positive performance

� Frame it as an ongoing process

Do Your Homework

� Gather the facts

� Consider their point of view

� Anticipate the response

� Adapt your style

� Be sensitive

Planning the Feedback

� Name the issue or behavior

� Impact – Team, Department or Project

� Detail to describe the behavior. (Who, What, When)

� Purpose of the feedback

� Possible barriers

� Results, Short term and Long term

ExerciseThink of a situation in your department with one of your

subordinates that you have to give feedback.

�Capture the situation

�Describe the behavior

�Deliver the impact

During feedback session, make the person comfortable.Don’t meet on opposite side of a desk, and never answer the phone!

Tip:

Corrective Feedback

� Identify a specific behavior

� Stop talking and start listening

� Agree on what the issue is

� Agree on an action plan

Tip: For feedback to be accepted, the receiverhas to view the giver as reliable and as having good intentions.

•Backing out• Pull on your experiences• Emphasize your vulnerability•Cushion the feedback•Label the feedback•Give advice•Label Behavior•Being imprecise•Judge the person•Delay

Mentor/Mentee Communication� People like to learn from mentors who are sincere,

approachable, and non-judgmental.

� These qualities are communicated primarily by facial expressions, followed by tone, and, to a limited extent, by words.

� People often remember more about how a subject is communicated than the speaker’s knowledge of the subject.

Types of Communication

Communication can be either:

� Verbal: Spoken words

� Nonverbal:

� The way we stand and sit

� Facial expressions

� Silence

� Eye contact

� Gestures (smiling, leaning forward, nodding)

Nonverbal

Activity: Nonverbal Communication

What do these mean?

Communication Process

� A message sender creates a message for the message receiver.

� The receiver and the sender react, asking for more information and getting answers, to find out whether the message has been understood.

Sender Message Receiver

Reaction

Communication SkillsTechniques for effective communication include:

� Active listening

� Reflecting

� Summarizing

Active Listening � Is an essential component of good communication.

� Often, instead of truly listening to what the other person is saying, we’re thinking about what our response will be to what they’re saying, or what we want to say next, or something else entirely.

Reflective Listening

Process of verbally “reflecting” back what someone has said:

� Helps the mentor check whether s/he understands the mentee

� Helps the mentee feel understood and respected as a health care worker

Reflective Listening

Confirm that you have understood the mentee by using statements such as:

� “So you feel like there’s not enough time to do a complete assessment.”

� “It sounds like you’re concerned about this student’s ability to adhere to the policy.”

� “You’re wondering if this student should be referred for counseling.”

Summarizing

� Process of synthesizing and stating what a mentee has said in order to capture key concerns and issues

� Helps to make sure the message that is sent is the message that is received

Summarizing Use summarizing:

� To check that you have understood the mentee’s story or issue

� When changing topics, closing discussion, or clarifying something

� To collect your thoughts

� To show the mentee that you have heard and respect his/her point of view

Barriers to CommunicationOther barriers include:

� Talking too much, not giving mentee time to express him or herself

� Being critical and/or judgmental

� Laughing at or humiliating mentee

� Contradicting or arguing with mentee

� Being disrespectful of mentee’s beliefs, way of life, method of providing patient care

� Lack of trust or rapport

FeedbackWhat:� Comments in the form of opinions about or reactions to

something

Why:� To initiate and improve communication

� To evaluate or modify a process or product

� To enable improvements to be made

� To provide useful information for future decisions and development

Feedback and Clinical Mentoring

� Feedback is a vital aspect of the mentor-mentee relationship.

� If the mentor is unable to give feedback effectively, and/or the mentee is unable to receive constructive feedback…

…not much will be accomplished!

Feedback: Basic Principles � Ask permission or identify that you are giving

feedback.

� Examples:

� “Can I give you some feedback on that follow-up visit?”

� “I’d like to provide some feedback on what I observed during my visit today.”

Give feedback in a “feedback sandwich”

1) Start with a positive

observation

2) Provide a suggestion for improvement

3) Finish with a second positive

observation

Feedback: Basic Principles

� Use the first person: “I think,” “I saw,” “I noticed.”

� Describe what you observed and be specific. State facts, not opinions, interpretations, or judgments.

� Address what a person did...� “You skipped several sections of the counseling script.”

� …not your interpretation of his or her motivation or reason for it. � “I know you want to finish quickly because it’s almost lunchtime,

but you skipped several sections…”

Feedback: Basic Principles

� Don’t be judgmental or use labels:

� Avoid words like “lazy,” “careless,” or “forgetful”

� Don’t exaggerate or generalize:

� Avoid terms such as, “you always,” or “you never”

� When making suggestions for improvement, use statements like:

� “You may want to consider…”

� “Another option is to…”

When to Give Feedback � You can provide feedback any time:

� During a student encounter

� Immediately after a student encounter

� During a review meeting at the end of the day

� BUT don’t wait too long to give feedback. The closer the feedback is to the actual event, the more likely the health care worker will remember the teaching point

When to Give Feedback � Certain feedback requires more immediate timing:

� Example: If you see that the student is doing something in error or omitting a very important step during the visit.

� If you provide feedback during a student encounter:� Do not alarm the student or the intern. Put them both at ease.

� Be very calm and patient as you explain your recommendation.

Key Points

� Good communication—both verbal and nonverbal—is essential for an effective mentoring relationship.

� Communication techniques such as appropriate body language, active/ reflective listening, and summarizing can aid communication.

� Feedback is integral to adult learning, and is a vital component of the clinical mentoring relationship.

Key Points

� Feedback should include both positive and “how to improve” commentary; be descriptive, objective, and nonjudgmental; and focus on the individual’s actions.

� While knowledge about a subject is a prerequisite for effective teaching, learning is more often a result of how knowledge is communicated.

Sources:

“A Developmental Model for Supervising School Counseling Interns: Conversation and Demonstration”Nancy Taylor, John Carroll University

Michelle Jackson, Cleveland Hts. – University Hts. Schools

Timeka Paylor, Warrensville Hts. Schools

Kim S. Zannetti, West Geauga School Districts

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