Supervision:
An Important
Responsibility
Supervision
Components:
Administrative
Developmental
Administrative
Identification
Prospectus
Journal
Evaluation(s)
Reflection
Developmental
Emotional
Intellectual
Spiritual
Social
Behavioral
Physical
The development of the student affairs professional
begins with the person.
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)
b)
c)
enhancing the professional functioning of the junior
members,
monitoring the quality of professional services offered
to the clients he/she/they see(s) and,
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
CHALLENGE
and
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
What’s the Difference?
Feedback
Coaching
Performance Evaluation
Purpose
To reinforce or change
behavior
To improve skills
To evaluate past work
Participants
Typically supervisor to
Any two (or more) people direct report, but can be
multidirectional
Place
Private and quiet space
Depends on the skill to be
Usually in the supervisor's office
learned
Tone
Typically causal although
can be more formal
Somewhat formal, but
potentially relaxed
Very formal, often stressful
Timing
Impromtu as needed
during formal sessions
Regular meetings
Scheduled every six months or
once a year
Follow-up
Continual
Continual
Based on action plan
Supervisor to direct report
Tip:
If you want to improve
continuously as professional, then
you have to have feedback—and
you have to know how to give it as
well as receive it.
Helping People Change: Easy to Difficult
Job skills
Time and work
management
Knowledge
Attitude
Habits
Focus on job performance, skills, behavior—things that
can be changed most easily.
Personality
Characteristics
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
Exercise
Think 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
Tip:
During feedback session, make the
person comfortable.
Don’t meet on opposite side of a
desk, and never answer the phone!
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 receiver
has 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
Nonverbal
Eye contact
Gestures (smiling, leaning forward, nodding)
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
Reaction
Receiver
Communication Skills
Techniques 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 Communication
Other 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
Feedback
What:
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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