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Contents

1. The Supervisory Relationship
2. Reflections on Supervision for the Supervisee
3. Supervisee Competences and Suggested Performance Indicators
4. Supervision Participation and Development Skills

1. The Supervisory Relationship

The supervisory relationship is key in achieving effective and beneficial supervision. Supervisees need to feel supported and encouraged by their supervisors and to use supervision as a forum to bring their dilemmas, fears and worries about the work. Supervisees should use supervision to address their learning and development needs and to participate in the management of their performance and problem solving on their workload. Supervisors, in turn, need to use their authority and managerial skills to become effective leaders in steering the supervisory relationship to ensure the organisational targets are achieved, alongside supporting staff and developing them to achieve high standards of practice.

It is important that supervisors understand the dynamics of power and powerlessness and the way that power affects the supervisory relationship. Supervisors should aim to be leaders who seek to get the best from their staff and respect their supervisees by relating to them in a manner that generates trust and confidence. Equality of opportunity, valuing diversity, respect for difference and anti-discriminatory practice are important in the supervisory relationship. The supervisor and worker should formally identify their differences e.g. gender, ethnicity, experience, age, style, area of interests and consider how they anticipate this may affect their working relationship i.e. both positive and negative consequences.

It is the supervisor’s responsibility to discuss the detail of what authority and decision making power (including financial decisions) they have within the organisation and what authority and decision making lies higher up in the organisation. The supervisor should clarify the circumstances in which they may need to be directly involved with the worker’s clients and should be careful to ensure that such involvement is supportive rather than undermining. In all situations the supervisor should elicit the worker’s views and be clear with the worker that they have permission to have their own perspective.. The best type of supervisory relationship is where differences can be highlighted, discussed and resolved in a constructive way.

There should be a clear understanding between the worker and the supervisor of how conflicts or disagreement within the relationship will be resolved. Issues such as poor performance, sickness etc. are covered by Council wide procedures and all staff members should have copies of these procedures. Where there is an irresolvable conflict or disagreement the matter should be referred to the supervisor’s manager. In considering the issue the supervisor’s manager should ensure that s/he has a full understanding of the position of both parties.

2. Reflections on Supervision for the Supervisee

What do I know about myself?

You may not know the answers to all the questions below off the top of your head. Some are quite searching and you may need time to think about them. However, they are all relevant in helping you reflect and deepen your understanding of what you do at work, why you do it and where you are most effective. Exploring these questions can help you make the most of your supervision. It may be that the questions you find hard to answer would be useful to take as agenda items to supervision. Here are some self-reflective questions:

Adapted from:

Making the Most of Supervision in Health and Social Care (Knapman & Morrison, 1998).

1. How do I learn best? In other words, what is my learning style? Do I learn best from reading/doing/discussing/observing/ thinking? How could my supervisor most help my learning?
2. To what extent am I clear about my job role, and are there any areas of confusion or overlap?
3. How might my previous experience of supervision influence my approach to this supervisor?
4. What values are most important in guiding my practice?
5. How would I describe my approach to practice? What professional or personal experiences have most influenced my practice and my approach?
6. What elements of theory or research have influenced my practice?
7. How does my gender, race, ethnicity or class background influence my practice?
8. In the light of the above, what do I expect and need from my supervisor? For example: Professional advice or a sounding board? Someone who will challenge me or agree with me?

When supervisees are empowered and prepared for supervision:

• Supervisees are equipped to act as informed partners in a collaborate process
• Supervisees are clear on their roles and responsibilities in supervision
• Supervisees can actively prepare for their role in the supervision process
• Supervisees can develop confidence and skills in getting the best out of supervision
• Supervisees can see the benefits of effective supervision in their practice and for their service users
• Supervisees are more proactive in problem solving when the process gets stuck or difficult
• Supervisees can reflect on how they can best manage their own responses to avoid repeating unhelpful patterns when under emotional pressure
• Supervisees become more committed to supervision
• Supervisees will translate these experiences into positive, committed and informed models when they themselves become supervisors

Consequences of not empowering/preparing supervisees for their role

• Supervisees are left to discern the nature and value of supervision based on their own better and worse experiences of supervision;
• Negative early experiences of supervision can undermine both the worker’s commitment to future supervision as well as their general practice competence;
• The lack of training and tools for supervisees emphasises an implicitly paternalistic, ‘being done unto’, model of supervision which may create passivity and a reduced sense of responsibility in the supervisee;
• A paternalistic model of supervision will increase the worker’s dependence on the supervisor, and reduce awareness of their own rights, responsibilities, needs and strengths;
• A model of supervision which may undermine the capacity of the practitioner to work on a collaborative and partnership basis with their service users or other professionals/disciplines;
• Poorly prepared supervisees may be less committed, and confident in how to operate as active and adult supervision partners;
• Supervisees may take less responsibility for their professional development;
• There is an increased risk of supervisory breakdown where supervisees have an inadequate understanding of their role in making the process work;
• Passivity and a lack of commitment to supervision is often linked to team membership problems that undermine healthy team functioning;
• In the longer term the failure to engage and develop supervisees in a positive manner will undermine the next generation of supervisors and thus undermine the capacity of the agency.
  Ref: Making the Most of Supervision in Health and Social Care (Knapman & Morrison, 1998).

3. Supervisee Competences and Suggested Performance Indicators

1. Values relating to Supervision
   1. The worker is committed to the importance of supervision
   2. The worker believes that there is a link between supervision and the outcomes for his/her service users
   3. The worker considers that engaging in supervision is part of his/her commitment to his/her professional ethics and to ensuring accountability for practice
   4. The worker believes that s/he has shared responsibility for making supervision effective
   5. The worker is committed to the agency’s supervision policy/standards
2. Knowledge of Supervision
   1. The worker understands the main purposes and core tasks of supervision and their rights and responsibilities in achieving these
   2. The worker understands the links between supervision, emotional literacy, practice and outcomes
   3. The worker is familiar with the agency’s supervision policy/standards, and understands the role of supervision within the agency’s performance management framework
   4. The worker understands the boundary of supervision vis a vis consultation, appraisal and counselling
   5. The worker understands the main elements of a supervision agreement including what parts (if any) are non-negotiable
   6. The worker understands the Kolb Reflective Cycle and its relevance to both practice and supervision
   7. The worker understands the potential relevance of previous supervisory and developmental experiences on current supervisory practice
3. Supervisee Self Management
   1. The worker is aware of how his/her previous experiences of supervision and of being managed influence their approach, expectations and response to supervision;
   2. The worker is committed and organised to ensure attendance on time, and reasonable preparation for the supervision session;
   3. The worker has self awareness of her/his own preferred learning style and how his/her coping mechanisms under pressure
   4. The worker monitors how s/he is responding to supervision and when the process is challenging, reflects honestly about what is/is not her responsibility;
   5. The worker is respectful and anti-oppressive in the ways in which s/he discusses users, colleagues and agencies and conscious of use of their own power in the supervision process
   6. The worker is open to constructive feedback, which is evidence based, even it this may create temporary discomfort, and is open to the possibility that others (colleagues and users) may experience the worker differently from the worker’s own self perceptions;
   7. The worker contributes to recording the outcomes of supervision and accepting appropriate responsibilities for agreed follow-up actions;
   8. The worker maintains the confidentiality of the supervision process;
   9. The worker is active in the pursuit of her own development

4. Supervision Participation and Development Skills

1. The worker contributes to the creation of the supervision agreement and a shared understanding of the purposes and tasks of supervision
2. The worker contributes to the creation of the agenda and brings items for discussion;
3. The worker takes a pro-active role in decision making and problem solving processes;
4. The worker is willing to be open and honest in discussing and exploring her/his practice, attitudes, decisions and emotional responses to the work
5. The worker is clear and open about seeking help from the supervisor, can acknowledge and learn from mistakes and can identify the type of assistance s/he needs from the supervisor;
6. The worker can make use of other types of professional support and development and integrate this with supervision
7. The worker provides respectful and evidence-based feedback to the supervisor with the intent of improving the supervision process;
8. The worker contributes to the resolution of difficulties that occur in supervision, recognising how competing demands can create tensions
   
   Ref: Making the Most of Supervision in Health and Social Care (Knapman & Morrison, 1998).

End