49. Supervision5 - Supervisor as Teacher and Coach

This episode continues to present a model for how to structure a supervision meeting.  Last episode focused on how a Unit Supervisor sometimes functions primarily as a Counselor.  In that  sub-role, the Supervisor is most concerned with the emotional well-being of their Supervisees.  Although that can fill the entire supervision meeting, generally, after five to ten minutes the meeting agenda will usually move on to the Supervisor sub-role of functioning primarily as a Teacher. Being an effective Teacher means having an organized curriculuum that typically draws from your agency's policies and procedures manual.  The Supervisor is tasked with making sure that each staff person has the necessary knowledge to properly implement the program.  Some of that can be addressed in staff meetings, however, becuase new staff are hired throughout the year, the supervision meeting serves as a place to individually make sure that every staff has the necessary familiarity with the program's and the residential unit's policies, procedures, practices, and philosophy of care and treatment. However, the bulk of the supervision meeting time is typically best spent with the Supervisor in the sub-role of a Coach.  As a Coach, the Supervisor focuses on the skills that each staff person needs to excel at their job.  The fundamentals of residential care and treatment can be divided up into three categories:  Executive Skills, Engagement Skills, and Teamwork Skills.  Work on these skills, especially for newer staff is the foundation for their professional development as caregivers. These fundamental skills are different than specific counseling skills that will be the focus of a future podcast episode.  Those counselor skills, such as Verbal Redirection, Labeling, Change of Environment, Limit Setting, Forced Choice, Weighted Choice, and Centering Breaks are treatment skills that will also need coaching to learn and master.  However, the use of fundamental skills (Executive Skills, Engagement Skills, and Teamwork Skills) are a great place for a Unit Supervisor to start with coaching since their use will create a therapeutic environment on the residential unit.