Effective supervision and support
(Originally published on the OUBS Blog)
The benefits of supervision are the achievement of co-ordination and control. Individuals need someone to take an interest in their work, and to have access to the decision makers and resource allocators. Supervision is good communication.
Core functions:
\- supporting individuals and making sure they are adequately resourced and fairly treated
\- Enabling them to have some influence over their work
\- Seeing that they fulfil the organisation’s objectives as well as their own
\- Ensuring that what is agreed is done
Supervision is partly controlling and directive as well as supportive.
Task-related activities:
\- shaping
\- target setting
\- explaining
\- delegating
\- guiding
\- limiting
\- negotiating
\- resourcing
People-related activities:
\- coaching
\- encouraging
\- facilitating
\- counselling
\- rewarding
\- representing
\- evaluating
The following factors may affect supervision:
\- personal style
\- the nature of the task
\- the ability and experience of the individuals involved
\- the nature of the psychological contract
\- the degree of authority
\- physical distance or proximity
Remember that all individuals are entitled to be treated fairly and to receive the same standard of supervision. The most valuable skill is to be able to adapt to what is needed.
For a relationship to be successful it needs to be founded on trust and responsibility. Remember to pay attention both to the task and the person.
A supervision session can be formal or informal and the underlying aims are to:
\- build up trust
\- allow space for joint negotiation
\- enable feedback
\- make clear what are the joint responsibilities
\- enable the function of control and support
It is best to find a private place where you and the other person can speak freely and without interruptions.
When you begin, agree on a shared agenda. The main purpose should be to review what has happened since the last one. Achieve this understanding and then decide what needs to happen. You should also partrol the boundaries, provide information (changes, developments, …), protect and challenge/develop the individual.
Your ultimate aim should be to enable individuals to become relatively independent and self-supervising. This means encouraging:
\- self-reflection and analysis
\- awareness of problems or benefits
\- appreciation of the next set of priorities
At the end, tie up and loose ends and make notes of what has been agreed.
There are some common problems:
\- Jobs change
\- Work seems simple
\- Not informed
\- No relation to work
Here is a checklist for a supervision session:
\- arrange for a mutual convenient time
\- review the work
\- report on any developments
\- record the outcomes and agree new targets
Another approach is management by objectives (MBO) where managers provide staff with tasks and assignments which have targets of objectives to be reached. Employee’s accomplishments are measured by what they achieve, not by who they are or by their ability to carry out instructions.
MBA relies on objectives or targets being:
\- challenging
\- attainable
\- subject to measurement
\- relevant
Objectives should be discussed and agreed, and action plans formulated so that it is clear how they are to be carried out.
A potential problem is that objectives may be set too high or low, affecting the moral, employees may feel guilty if they fail to reach targets.
AT a simple level MBO can form a framework for supervision in the pursuit of agreed goals; carried further, it can be the basis of an organisation’s way of working.
Supervision is also about delegation. When you delegate a task you do not stop being responsible for what happens, but for delegation to be effective you must give authority for someone else to carry out the task. There are different ways to delegate.
\- Leave the person alone
\- Stand beside him , stopping his worst mistake
\- Give detailed instruction and then leave alone
The following factors should influence your decision:
\- The quality of the result
\- The ability of the individual
\- Your relationship
\- Time
You can regulate a little bit by:
\- definition of the task and outputs to be achieved
\- degree of discretion over how the task is done
\- form of control
The two underlying themes of delegation are trust and control.
There are some pitfalls and difficulties, among others if you are self-managed.
Excessive supervision happens when the supervisor still wants to be directly involved, is anxious about the individual’s abilities, fails to see the different between helping and expecting them to do it.
Infrequent supervision because of lack of time.
Inadequate supervision happens because the supervisor wants to avoid facing up to difficulties or complexity or because of major differences in the life experiences of the individual and the supervisor.
Progressive overloading happens when you delegate too much.
Inconsistent behaviour in supervision happens for example when the supervisor is a boss one minute and a colleague the next.