Provider Power with Sara Sherman

You might think you’re avoiding conflict—but your team thinks you’re avoiding leadership. It’s time to facilitate hard conversations with clarity, confidence, and facts, instead of fear, anxiety, and dread.

When staff don’t take ownership, it’s not an attitude problem—it’s a design problem. Learn how organizational structure shapes behavior and why accountability depends on clarity.    

Promotions are great! Leading your former coworkers can get a little tricky. Learn what's wrong, how to fix it, and what happens if you don't. 

A team doesn’t become “respectable” because of authority—it happens when leadership earns it in everyday moments. Let's breakdown what supervisors actually do (and don’t do) that makes staff want to follow…or quietly check out.

Transcription It’s a very well-meaning philosophy. I totally understand where supervisors are coming from. Unfortunately, this philosophy is sabotaging your success as a supervisor and diminishing your impact as a team leader. Welcome to the Provider Power Moves Podcast. I’m your host, Sara Sherman. Here, I leverage my 35 years of experience in the field to give you practical steps that create big results in your agency and in your workday. It usually happens at the end of a frontline supervisor training. Someone pops into the chat or proudly strolls up to me and says, I don’t ask my staff to do anything I don’t do myself. As gently as I can, I have to say — mmm… that might not be the best approach. This is where I say, I’m sorry. If I didn’t say something here, I wouldn’t really be serving you. Here’s where this idea of not asking anyone to do anything you wouldn’t do yourself comes from. And there are many sources. See if any of these resonate with you. We’ve been abandoned. The people in our lives who were supposed to help us and support us simply didn’t. We were left alone to struggle and figure things out — at home, at work, or both. And we know what that feels like. It feels bad. Our response to this trauma is to make sure no one else feels that pain — at least not within our circle of control. And that is noble, kind, and loving. Not very effective — but noble, kind, and loving. We view being a good boss as pitching in, leading by being willing to get our hands dirty. We did that job. We earned internal promotion because we were good at it. The work is familiar. It feels comfortable. And sometimes we think it’s just faster or easier if we take care of things ourselves. This is our first management role. And we don’t want to be seen as above getting our hands dirty. The team we are managing — they were our coworkers. We know what they said about the boss. And we don’t want them saying those things about us. We’ve had crappy, hands-off bosses. And quite frankly, they sucked. We saw and felt the burden of having ineffective bosses — and we don’t want to behave like that. We’re disgusted by the idea that we could become like them. We don’t know what else to do. We want to be productive. We want to be a team player. But we didn’t get very good supervisor training. We want to be busy — or at least not look unbusy — so we default to what we know and what we see needs to be done. Hopefully, we’ll figure out what else we’re supposed to be doing. Our team demands that we help them do their jobs. They smile and complain that they have too much to do. They accuse us of being lazy — thinking we’re so fancy now. We feel pulled in to help because we feel bad for them, or we’re concerned they won’t follow our instructions. And that will hurt the individuals we support. And that will reflect badly on us. And we might even lose our position — along with the increased income. And we really need the money. We don’t know what else to do. The staff aren’t doing the work. There’s no support from above. And the work has to be done. So we jump in. We want to be a team player, and we don’t know any other way to show it. Staff are grateful for the help — and that feels great. Or maybe they’re just less mean — and that feels great too. I get all of this. I really do. I once held this philosophy myself — for all of these reasons. Then I hit a snag. I wasn’t getting my work done. Staff came to expect that I would pick up at least a portion of their tasks regularly. They began to treat me poorly — demanding I do more, following directions less, talking about me behind my back, rolling their eyes when I gave instruction. I was exhausted. Confused. And not really seen as a leader. Think about it. If something goes wrong on the computer soldering line, would you expect Bill Gates to run down to the line, put on a welding cap, and start melting parts together? If the Amazon website crashed, would you expect Jeff Bezos to log in and start coding? No. Of course not. Because it’s not their job to do these tasks. It’s their job to make sure the tasks are done. If these leaders leave their post and slide into a frontline role, our first thought is, Who’s manning the ship? And our second thought is, These are not good managers. Even if they could do the work well, they can only fill one role at a time. That’s great risk for small benefit. We don’t even expect frontline supervisors to jump in and do all the work. We expect them to coordinate the team so the work gets done. Why? Because if a supervisor drops down the table of organization into a frontline role, they can no longer see what the team is doing. They aren’t available to support others, prevent mistakes, or confirm work is being done correctly and on time. They’re locked into that position. I teach frontline supervisors to stay in their metaphorical fire tower — that big tower over the forest where rangers sit, scanning for danger. When the ranger comes down from the tower to deal with something on the ground, the entire forest is at risk. The ranger needs to spot trouble, come down briefly to deal with it, and then scramble back up the tower. Frontline supervision is exactly the same. A supervisor needs that 30,000-foot view. And when they come down from the tower unnecessarily — or for too long — the entire team and the individuals served are at risk. While a supervisor is absolutely part of the team, their role is different. They are the coach. And the coach does not run the ball. The coach prepares, observes, instructs, and encourages. And we all recognize that if the coach is on the field, nobody is coaching — even though coaching is critically important. There are two real-life exceptions. First, in an emergency, the supervisor jumps in. Absolutely. In true emergencies, it’s all hands on deck. Second, if a supervisor is filling a scheduled shift, then for that time, they are a frontline worker — and that’s appropriate. But if you supervise supervisors and your supervisor has dropped into a frontline role, they are no longer in the fire tower. Someone else must fill that oversight role — either you or another assigned leader. Expecting someone to be a tree and in the fire tower at the same time is a recipe for disaster. No one will be successful. Everyone will be frustrated. And no one is watching the forest during a period of great risk. Not asking people to do things you wouldn’t do yourself sounds noble. In reality, it undermines leadership and puts your entire team at risk. Instead, support your team so they can do the work. Advocate for their needs. Be clear and concrete about what you see and what needs to change. Dropping down to do the work is a band-aid at best. It is not a sustainable long-term solution. What do you think? Leave me a comment, or shoot me an email at Sara — (S-A-R-A) — [email protected] . That’s in the show notes. Or ask me a question. I’d love to hear what’s on your mind and turn it into a podcast to give you the answers you’re seeking. Until next time — power on.

Transcription Do you have lazy staff? I know it’s pretty common to think that you do. I hear about “lazy” staff every time I do a frontline supervisor training. Lazy. Here for the wrong reasons. Don’t care. Basically broken humans beyond repair. But they just keep showing up to the job. Supervisors and managers feel frustrated, angry, and stuck. In the meantime, work is not getting done. Compliance isn’t happening. And most importantly, the precious minutes of the lives of the individuals you serve are slipping by. Those individuals are not getting the services they’re supposed to be getting, and they aren’t living the lives they want to be living. Welcome to the Provider Power Moves Podcast. I am your host, Sara Sherman. Here, I leverage my 35 years of experience in the field to give you practical steps that create big results in your agency and in your workday. This episode is brought to you by TrueLink. TrueLink partners with hundreds of IDD organizations nationwide to streamline how clients receive and use their funds. Many programs still rely on paper checks, cash, and manual receipts — which creates risk and makes audits difficult. The TrueLink platform replaces that entire process with reloadable Visa debit cards, built-in spend controls, and audit-ready reporting. TrueLink keeps clients safer, gives staff back valuable time, and provides clear visibility into every transaction. If your organization is interested in learning more, check the show notes for contact information. What if I told you that you wouldn’t recognize lazy if you were looking at it — and that it didn’t matter anyway? Would you believe me? Let me ask you this. How do you un-lazy someone? You can’t, can you? And that’s the beauty of judging someone’s character and giving them a negative assessment. There’s nothing more to do. The verdict is in. The staff are lazy, and you’re stuck with them. It’s kind of like saying, I just washed my hair and I can’t do a thing with it. You’ve judged them, and now you’re absolved of any further obligation to address the situation. I mean, what could you possibly do about someone who has decided to be lazy? Sure — these are people who have managed to find housing, drive and maintain a car, shower, have clothing, feed themselves, and often raise children, maintain relationships, and even attend college or have another job. But once they get to work, it all falls apart. It’s very frustrating when staff are not completing their work — or aren’t completing their work without a lot of nagging, reminding, and accommodating. Because supervisors tend to be diligent employees, they don’t understand this behavior. They can’t figure it out. So they’ve decided the problem must be a character flaw — and that character flaw is being lazy. The truth is, we don’t know if they’re lazy or not. What we do know is that they aren’t doing their work. When I hear staff say people are lazy, I ask this question: What is it that you see that is leading you to conclude that the staff are lazy? Let me ask it again. What is it that you see that is leading you to conclude that the staff are lazy? Here’s what I hear when I ask that question. They don’t take people on outings. They’re on their phones. They don’t interact with individuals. They’re visiting with each other. They don’t document. They don’t clean. They don’t cook. Wonderful. Why wonderful? Because we can work with this list. You’re not going to un-lazy someone, but you can address the fact that they’re on their cell phone. You can help someone figure out how to interact more with the individuals they serve. And because this list is specific, you can coach and correct on these topics. You can track performance expectations. You can move through corrective action procedures if staff decide they’re not going to be receptive to coaching. All of a sudden, lazy doesn’t matter. The truth is, these staff could be the most ambitious people on the planet. Unfortunately, they are not executing their tasks. Once you define the behaviors that need to change, you can have a specific conversation about expectations. You can complete skills-based training. You can create performance measures. You can track to those measures and have performance-based feedback conversations. You can identify barriers to success and seek to eliminate those barriers. And you can evaluate progression toward working independently — or toward working somewhere else. Now everything has shifted to the supervisor. It’s all about the supervisor’s actions and the staff person’s response to those actions. Instead of feeling helpless, the supervisor is now actively driving performance correction — and is completely responsible for doing so. That’s right. Monitoring performance and taking the necessary steps to move performance in the correct direction is the supervisor’s responsibility. No more feeling stuck and powerless. The key here is to define and address behavior, with the goal that staff do their work correctly, on time, and independently. So, what do you think? Did I convince you that lazy doesn’t matter? And do you now understand that in order to resolve performance issues, we have to focus on the concrete behavior patterns of our staff? What do you think? Leave me a comment, or shoot me an email at Sara — (S-A-R-A) — [email protected] . That’s in the show notes. Or ask me a question. I’d love to hear what’s on your mind and turn it into a podcast to give you the answers you’re seeking. Until next time — power on.

Transcription Let’s talk customer service. I hear this all the time from provider agency leaders and managers. New hires come in, and they don’t know anything about customer service. And honestly, sometimes even long-time staff still haven’t quite gotten it. So I ask a simple question: are you teaching your expectations around customer service? Almost every time, the answer is no. Here’s the hard truth. If we don’t teach it, we can’t expect people to know it. I mean, it would be great if people already knew — but that’s not our situation. So instead of complaining about what people should know, we need to get clear about what we expect, and then how to teach what we expect so that staff can deliver. That’s why I strongly recommend covering customer service expectations in new-hire orientation, creating a review of those expectations in your ongoing training plan, and formally revisiting customer service at least once every year as part of your annual training. Welcome to the Provider Power Moves podcast. I’m your host, Sara Sherman. Here, I use my 35 years of experience in the field to give you practical steps that create big results in your agency and in your workday. So who are your customers? Before we go any further, we need to answer that important question. Who exactly are your customers? And this list is longer than most people think. Your customers include individuals receiving services, families and guardians, case managers, other service providers, regulators and auditors, community partners, and additional professionals. And don’t forget your internal customers — your departments, coworkers and colleagues, supervisors, managers, and direct support staff. Customer service is not just an outward-facing skill. It’s how work actually gets done. I like to think of good customer service as falling into six Ps. Let’s walk through them. P number one: polite and pleasant. Yes, this sounds basic — but basics are where things fall apart. Polite and pleasant means please and thank you. Yes ma’am, yes sir. Smiling, making eye contact, being attentive, and giving the customer your full attention. It means being kind and considerate. Customers — both internal and external — can immediately tell whether they are an interruption or a priority. P number two: patient. We want staff to be patient enough to really work with the person in front of them. That means taking the time needed, allowing space for someone to explain, creating safety and comfort, and making people feel heard and understood. If customers don’t feel comfortable asking questions or explaining a problem, we can’t provide good service — no matter how efficient we think we’re being. And patience includes something critical: clearly expressing what we understand the concern to be. That matters because if staff don’t understand correctly, time is wasted, problems aren’t solved, and customers aren’t happy — even though staff put in the effort. P number three: precise. Precision is where customer service often breaks down. We want staff to take notes, not rely on memory, gather all relevant details, and — this part is key — repeat the information back to the customer. This does two things. It confirms accuracy, and it shows the customer they’re being taken seriously. Precision also means making sure staff truly understand what the customer wants as the outcome — not just the complaint. The clearer we are about the desired resolution, the closer the agency can get to solving the problem. And if the desired resolution isn’t possible, good customer service means explaining why, offering alternatives, or connecting the customer to someone who can help. P number four: predictable. Customer service in your organization should be predictable. Predictability comes from dependability. Both internal and external customers very quickly decide what kind of service they can expect from your organization — not based on what you say, but on what they consistently experience. That is culture. Not mission statements. Not posters on the wall. Patterns. Will your organization be known as predictably good — or predictably frustrating? Predictable service includes setting clear timeframes, following up when you say you will, and doing what you promised. Trust is built through repeated, reliable behavior. P number five: pursue. We want staff to pursue answers. “I don’t know” is an acceptable response only if it’s followed by action. Good customer service sounds like, I don’t know, but I’ll find out. Or, I don’t have that answer, but I’ll connect you to the right person. What we don’t want is, Sorry, I don’t know — and then nothing. If there’s a delay in getting an answer, staff need to let the customer know, present realistic timeframes, and invite customers to reach out for updates. Pursuing answers keeps customers from feeling abandoned inside your system. P number six: pivot. Sometimes staff simply can’t resolve the issue themselves — and that’s okay. When that happens, staff need to pivot. They need to pass the issue along to ensure the customer gets what they need. Good customer service means telling the customer who the issue is being passed to, explaining how to reach that person, and encouraging the customer to check back if they don’t hear anything. And here’s the part most agencies miss: the staff person who receives the handoff should confirm back to the original staff person that the issue was resolved. That follow-through creates accountability, closes the loop, and builds trust. Let’s recap. The six Ps of customer service are: polite and pleasant, patient, precise, predictable, pursue, and pivot. These are all teachable, observable, and coachable. And when you see staff delivering great customer service — when you catch them doing it — offer praise. Praise matters. We know employees value appreciation and acknowledgement more than money. Be sure to offer your staff — or even yourself — some praise when all of the Ps are followed. There’s a concept called the Taguchi loss function. It reminds us that even small deviations from excellence create loss over time. Think about the uprights on a football field. Getting the ball between the goalposts is acceptable. But the closer you are to the middle, the higher the level of satisfaction. The further you drift, satisfaction decreases. Small deviations from excellence create loss — but the reverse is also true. Small moments of excellence, noticed and reinforced, create momentum and increased satisfaction. Once your customer service skills are strong, challenge yourself. How can you move beyond simply satisfying customers and start delighting them? If you’re in management, ask your team: What ideas do you have to delight our customers? Where can we add the cherry on top of the sundae? You may not be able to do it for everyone all at once — but where can you do it for someone? We tend to think of customer service as a soft skill. It isn’t soft. It’s structural. And when you teach it clearly, reinforce it consistently, and model it visibly, customer service becomes part of how your organization actually works. What do you think? Leave me a comment, or shoot me an email at Sara — (S-A-R-A) — [email protected] . That’s in the show notes. Or ask me a question. I’d love to hear what’s on your mind and turn it into a podcast to give you the answers you’re seeking. Until next time — power on.

Transcription Did you see the Relias report that said 50% of DSPs report leaving their jobs because of their supervisor? And if you spend any time at all on LinkedIn, you’ve likely seen post after post talking about how employees don’t leave jobs — they leave bosses. In fact, in the Gallup research report entitled The State of the American Manager, 50% of those polled said the number one reason they left their job was to get away from their boss. Fifty percent. That means half of Americans are reporting that the number one reason they leave their position is because of their manager. That really caught my attention, given that I work in a field with incredibly high turnover. Welcome to the Provider Power Moves podcast. I am your host, Sara Sherman. Here, I leverage my 35 years of experience in the field to give you practical steps that create big results in your agency and in your workday. This episode is brought to you by TrueLink. TrueLink partners with hundreds of IDD organizations nationwide to streamline how clients receive and use their funds. Many programs still rely on paper checks, cash, and manual receipts — which creates risk and makes audits difficult. The TrueLink platform replaces that entire process with reloadable Visa debit cards, built-in spending controls, and audit-ready reporting. TrueLink keeps clients safer, gives staff back valuable time, and provides clear visibility into every transaction. If your organization is interested in learning more, check the show notes for contact information. So I wanted to pursue this idea of people leaving their managers at this massive scale a bit further. And here’s what I found. Gallup goes on to say that employees who are engaged are much more likely to stay in their jobs. So where does engagement come from? It turns out that managers account for at least 70% of the variance employees experience in engagement. Seventy percent. We all understand that communication breeds engagement, so it’s no surprise that with all of this disengagement, there are a lot of complaints about communication. When I work with providers, staff tell me the same thing over and over again: communication is always the number one complaint. Communication — or lack of communication, however you choose to look at it. I work with DSPs, frontline supervisors, upper-level management, CEOs, and people in between, across many departments. And I hear the same complaint repeatedly. That leads me to believe Gallup is correct. And it’s not just that information isn’t getting where it’s supposed to go — it’s that managers are afraid to speak at all. They don’t know what to say. They don’t know what they can say. They don’t know how to say it. If you’re watching on YouTube, you can see the chart that describes when managers are uncomfortable giving feedback. And if you’re listening on the podcast, I’ll link you to it in the show notes. The chart shows that 70% of the time, staff are unhappy with communication in general — which lines right up with those Gallup numbers. Thirty-seven percent of the time, the discomfort is around giving direct feedback or criticism. Twenty percent of the time, it’s demonstrating vulnerability — identifying that you, the supervisor, made a mistake and learned from it. Another 20% reflects an inability to recognize employee achievements. We know the number one and number two things people want from their jobs are acknowledgment and appreciation. Pay is actually third. Yet here we see that one-fifth of managers aren’t even comfortable acknowledging and appreciating an employee’s work. Another 20% of managers don’t feel they can seriously communicate the company’s message. And almost 20% struggle to give clear directions. Sixteen percent have difficulty identifying when a good idea actually came from someone else. And 16% of supervisors report that they struggle to speak face to face and would prefer to communicate by email. I’ll talk about email communication in another podcast. And I don’t know about your organization, but I’d guess that number is probably much lower than reality. Clearly, effective communication is paramount to keeping people on the payroll. So we really have to put in the effort to train supervisors to communicate effectively. A failure to communicate is certainly a problem. But what do employees really want from their jobs? We know what they’re struggling with — but what do they want? Studies show they want the opportunity to grow. Here’s another chart: what do employees think makes an employer attractive? Fifty-two percent want opportunities for career progression. Thirty-five percent want excellent training and development programs. That’s 87% who value and expect training that enhances job skills and supports movement along a career ladder. When millennials specifically were asked what they value most at work, the number one answer was training and development. So where does most of this training and development come from in our field? It comes from frontline supervisors. Skilled frontline supervisors don’t just fall out of thin air — and they don’t tend to fall out of colleges either. Frontline supervisors are DSPs who were promoted because they did their DSP work well. One of the greatest perks of the developmental disabilities field is that we promote from within. So why are so many people leaving? The Gallup report tells us that the problem with growth and development today is that it rarely happens. In the world of developmental disabilities, we spend a lot of time and effort on DSPs to keep turnover down — and we should continue to do that. But we virtually ignore frontline supervisors in that same effort. And that’s a mistake. Supervisors need the knowledge to support DSPs. They need skills to manage work and workloads — including their own. And they need the skills, time, and ability to identify and cultivate the next generation of frontline supervisors. Frontline supervisors are responsible for compliance, morale, person-centered planning, implementation, documentation, coordination of people, activities, supplies, appointments, vehicles, transportation — the list goes on. Everything rests on their shoulders. And they need help learning how to be good bosses and skilled managers. Investing in supervisor training empowers supervisors to serve as mentors, leaders, and effective communicators — which has a huge positive impact on DSP turnover and service delivery. So when you’re looking to decrease DSP turnover, don’t forget to enhance the skills of your frontline supervisors. What do you think? Leave me a comment, or shoot me an email at Sara — (S-A-R-A) — [email protected] . That’s in the show notes. Or ask me a question. I’d love to hear what’s on your mind and turn it into a podcast to give you the answers you’re seeking. Until next time — power on.

Transcription Time management is the biggest lie in the book. You’ve been told your whole life that if you just managed your time better, everything would work. You’d hit your goals. You’d get everything done. Your staff would perform better. But here’s the truth: time cannot be managed. You can’t stop it. You can’t move it. You can’t stretch it. Calendars and apps don’t manage time. They only organize tasks. Welcome to the Provider Power Moves Podcast. I am your host, Sara Sherman. Here, I leverage my 35 years of experience in the field to give you practical steps that create big results in your agency and in your workday. Pause for a moment. How often do you blame yourself or your staff for poor time management? I hear it all the time. I continually hear about employees who simply need to manage their time better. Given that time management is simply not possible, these staff will never achieve success. They’re focused on the wrong thing — and so are you. Further, think about all the time and energy that is devoted to nagging, harassing, pestering, and writing up employees who fail to “manage their time.” Now you may be thinking, Okay, so Sara, if time management isn’t the issue, then what is — and how do we get staff back on track? Well, I am so very glad that you asked. Here’s what we know. We know that staff are not getting their tasks done. And right now, that’s all we know. So let’s start there. Because staff are not getting their work done in the time allotted, something must be getting in the way. Somewhere, there is a barrier that is impeding the completion of the tasks assigned within the allotted time. This means we have to investigate. If the work isn’t getting done, there are only two possible reasons. First, there may be too many tasks for the time available. So you need to think about whether the amount of work assigned to that period of time is actually completable in that amount of time. This is a process issue. We know that before we can identify a people problem, we have to rule out a process problem. This means you have to first confirm that the work can be done within the time allotted. You can complete a formal time study to figure that out. You can observe staff, or meet with them and discuss the workload. If the work cannot be done within the time available, you’re going to have to make changes in order for you or your staff to be successful. That means you have to move things. You have to figure out what work will be eliminated from the task list and where that work is going to go. If the work can be done within the allotted time, then you have a different problem. You probably have a people problem. While we do not control time, we do control attention. I remember when I was working in case management or service coordination. In social services, we tend to spend a lot of time talking, and not everything we talk about has to do with the tasks of the day. Sometimes we get a bit philosophical. I have to confess, there were days when I was talking to lots of people and felt really tired at the end of the day because I had expended a lot of energy. But when I got back to my office, I realized I hadn’t done anything on my list — and the day was gone. And I thought, Oh my gosh, how did I lose a full day? Was everything I was talking about necessary for the job and for the day? And I had to be honest. The answer was no. Not all of those conversations were necessary. I gave my attention to those conversations in error. It was a mistake. I did not have the available minutes to have some of the conversations that I had. This means I put my attention in the wrong place. Now the good news is that I have complete control over where I put my attention. And so do you. And so do your staff. So if the work can be done in the allotted time, then we know attention is drifting. And we have to ask: Where is our attention drifting? Think about it. Is there anywhere right now that members of your team are experiencing this drift of attention? If the answer is yes, then let’s do a deeper dive. We need to ask the question: What is being done instead of the required tasks? What is being done instead of the required tasks? Make a list. If you’re supervising someone, have them make the list. Then check that list to see if you agree. What kinds of things are taking a little too long? What are you lingering on? Write it all down. You already know the work can be done in the allotted time. Now you’re figuring out what’s getting in the way. Once you’ve reviewed the list and agreed with your staff person’s assessment, the next question is: Why does this barrier exist? Is it because someone is confused about the tasks or task execution? Is it because someone is getting distracted? Is it because the task isn’t enjoyable and gets pushed to the end — and oops, now we’ve run out of time? Is it because there’s a lot of coworker chatter? Or is something else getting in the way? You’ll do this same exercise whether you’re the one experiencing the challenge or you’re supervising someone who is. Once you identify the barriers, you’re going to make a plan to eliminate them. And through this process, it’s really important that you do not judge yourself and that you do not judge your staff. Shame serves no purpose. You’ve analyzed the situation. You’ve compiled the data. You’ve analyzed the data. And you’ve created a solution. Now it’s time to implement that solution and confirm that the problem of not getting the work done in the allotted time is resolved. There is one particular barrier I want to talk about, because it happens commonly. Staff will say something like, I didn’t have time to do the tasks because I was interacting with the people I serve. In our field, there’s sometimes a perception that hanging out with the individuals we serve forgives other job requirements. And this is not true. All tasks are required in order to effectively serve individuals. For example, not documenting in favor of hanging out with the individual served robs that individual of having their life — their activities, opinions, desires, dreams, problems, challenges, relationships — documented. The individuals we serve have a right to have their lives documented. They have the right for the people who need to know what’s happening in their lives to be able to know. And we do that through effective documentation. Through effective documentation, the people we serve have the ability to have their lives continue forward consistently, moving in the direction they want. Without documentation, no one knows what’s happening on the next shift. No one can identify when problems first began. No one can pick up what’s happening in a day program and help the person have a similar experience in the evening. Documentation serves many purposes. This is one of them. Good documentation supports continuity. It supports dignity. It supports the individual living their life the way they want to live it. So if you hear those words from your staff — or you struggle yourself with knowing when to step back in order to document — remember how important documentation is, and how much the people you serve are counting on you to have their back. Alright, let’s do a quick recap. Time management isn’t real. Don’t shoot for it — you’ll never get there. Attention management is real. Shoot for that. Make sure all tasks can be done within the time allotted. If not, move tasks. If yes, investigate where attention is going. What is creating the barrier when you or your team run out of time before tasks are completed? And remember: hanging out with the people you serve is fantastic. It is not a valid reason to skip other required tasks. I’d love to hear your thoughts. Give this a try and let me know how it goes. Contact me at Sara — (S-A-R-A) — [email protected]. Until next time — power on.

Transcription Today, we’re talking about one deceptively simple goal that changes everything about supervision and staff independence. No, we’re not talking about they can do it if I remind them, or they’ll get it done if I follow up, or even if I nag, beg, plead, and do that for days, I’ll actually get the work done that’s supposed to be done. We’re not talking about any of that. True independence means doing the work correctly and on time without you, the supervisor. Expecting staff to do their work correctly and on time without requiring ongoing supervision is the standard. This is normal work. If you’ve been in my trainings, you know I often talk about the expectations of me as a 16-year-old worker at Wendy’s. I was expected to do my work correctly and on time, make appropriate decisions, and make sure that the food was done per regulation within the allotted timeframe. You should have the same expectations of your staff. Once they are trained, they should be able to do the job correctly, on time, and without you. Welcome to the Provider Power Moves podcast. I am your host, Sara Sherman. Here, I leverage my 35 years of experience in the field to give you practical steps that create big results in your agency and in your workday. This episode is brought to you by TrueLink. TrueLink partners with hundreds of IDD organizations nationwide to streamline how clients receive and use their funds. Many programs still rely on paper checks, cash, and manual receipts — and this creates risk and makes audits difficult. The TrueLink platform replaces that entire process with reloadable Visa debit cards, built-in spend controls, and audit-ready reporting. TrueLink keeps clients safer, gives staff back valuable time, and provides clear visibility into every transaction. If your organization is interested in learning more, check the show notes for contact information. Independent staff are happier staff. They aren’t being corrected all the time. They can confidently execute. They get to make that difference you promised they could make when they chose to work for your organization. Think of one staff person you regularly remind or rescue. Are you training them or supporting them for independence? Or are you training them for dependence? And if you don’t supervise anyone, think about your supervisor. When you need help, when you need correction, does the help that you get empower you to be more independent in your job — or more dependent? So today, we’re going to talk about three critical communication steps that support independent staff. And we’re going to start with the least talked about, but highly important, communication skill: listening. Active listening builds competence because you’re really hearing what your staff are telling you. When management trains, when management corrects, it’s all about telling — and not at all about listening. And let’s face it: if we were great about training and correcting, staff would not need to ask an endless array of questions, because they would have all the knowledge they need to execute independently. There are six steps to active listening. First, we want to ask open-ended questions. These are questions that cannot be answered with a yes or no response. So instead of saying, did you do the work that’s on the schedule? you can say, tell me about the work that you did on the schedule. Tell me how you did the work on the schedule. Describe your day to me. These are all open-ended questions. Ask what or how questions. If you’re stuck on how to ask a good open-ended question, simply start your question with what or how. What and how questions cannot be answered with a yes or no. Easy peasy. Be attentive. This means put your phone down. Look someone in the eye. Don’t be distracted. Don’t be talking to several people at the same time. Give the person who’s speaking to you your full attention. Listen effectively. Listening effectively means that you’re hearing what’s not being said. For example, if you ask someone how they’re doing and they say, fine, they’re probably not fine. So listen for the messages that aren’t being verbalized and confirm your understanding of those. Use reflective listening. If someone comes to you and they appear to be frustrated, confused, angry, or excited, simply reflect that back to them. It sounds like you’re really excited about this. That’s great. Tell me more. It sounds like you’re really frustrated. Tell me what’s going on. And finally, be aware of your body language. If your arms are crossed, if you’re scowling, if you’re tapping your foot, if you’re rolling your eyes, people don’t believe that you’re really listening. You could be — but you don’t look like it. Have an open stance. Be relaxed. Listen. Give someone your full attention and listen carefully. Number two: praise without confusion. When you praise someone’s performance, you need to be honest and specific. Sometimes supervisors think they can praise people into productive performance. It’s not true. You can praise people who are working correctly — and who maybe don’t feel confident — into feeling confident and delivering confident, productive performance. But you cannot praise someone who’s doing work incorrectly by telling them they’re doing a great job and then expect them to change their behavior. It just doesn’t work. Let me give you an example. When my son was in kindergarten, I volunteered in class once in a while. The teacher said, Hey everybody, let’s go to the big blue rug and we’re going to do all of our sight words. The kids were so excited, including my son. They ran over, sat cross-legged, and were excited to see the words the teacher was going to put up. She put up the first word. Many of the children read the word correctly. My child did not. The teacher said, Great job, everyone. She put up the next word. Many of the children read it correctly. My child did not. The teacher said, Great job, everyone. This continued throughout the exercise. When we got home, I said to my son, Hey, you didn’t know any of your words. We need to work on that. And he said, No, it’s okay. She said we did a great job. This is what happens when we try to praise people who are doing the work incorrectly. You cannot praise people into productive performance, because they will believe what they are doing is acceptable. They also believe that if it were not acceptable, there would be some sort of negative consequence or correction. We’ve all heard the stories of teachers who spoke positively over students who no one thought would amount to anything. In that case, the teacher is offering encouragement and building confidence. The teacher is not failing to identify incorrect responses and letting those go through. You can and should offer encouragement and seek to build confidence. You cannot lie to someone about their errors and expect them to right those errors. Supervisors who are uncomfortable with confrontation, or who don’t know how to address poor performance, are inclined to try to praise someone toward changing their behavior. If this is you, seek the training you need so that you can support your team correctly. Number three: provide clear instructions that stick. If staff cannot repeat the steps you’ve given them, they cannot successfully execute the task. If staff cannot repeat the steps you have given them, they cannot successfully execute the task. Ask them to tell you what they understand. Ask them to tell you what they understand. Here’s what that looks like. You’re going to give someone instruction to take Steve to the barber. You say, He likes to have just a trim on his hair. He likes a tight shave with a beard trim, and he does not want his ears to show. Now, tell me what you understand. Did you catch that? Asking your staff to tell you what they understand is very different than saying, Hey, take Steve to the barber. He likes to have just a trim, likes a tight shave with a beard trim, and doesn’t want his ears to show, okay? What will your staff say? They will say yes. Do they say yes because they don’t care? No. Is it because they want to be disrespectful to Steve? No. Is it because it will be amusing to defy your instructions? No. It’s because they believe they do understand. And they did. They understood all the words that you said. Think about the number of times you’ve given instructions only to have staff fail to correctly implement them. Probably many times. And how many times do you feel frustration with those staff? Again, probably many times. So here’s my challenge to you. After you give instructions, ask the person what they understand. If you did your job well, they’ll say all of your instructions back to you. If they cannot repeat your instructions, they don’t have it yet. You will be amazed at the number of times people say yes, they understand, and they’re ready to go forward — and they cannot tell you all of the steps you just gave them. When they get it wrong and they don’t have all the information, that tells you that you need to say it again. It’s that simple. Just give the instructions again. Repeat this process until staff can repeat the instructions correctly. If they cannot repeat the instructions correctly, they cannot execute correctly. The number one way you know staff understand what you are teaching them to do — or asking them to do — is that they can say all of the words back to you correctly. Now, sometimes people get upset when you ask them what they understood after you’ve given instructions. They feel challenged, insulted, or questioned. If you encounter someone who reports that being asked to repeat their understanding is problematic, do this: tell the person you’re checking yourself. You’re checking to make sure that you have provided good instruction. If the person doesn’t like you, they’re going to listen very intently because they want to find your errors. If they do like you, or they want to do a good job, they’re going to listen intently because that’s their intended outcome. Either way — mission accomplished. And by the way, the haircut example is a real story. I was working with an agency, and a supervisor was in this training. He got the tip to make sure staff can say the information back to you. A few days later, he said, Oh my gosh, this really works. He remembered to do it twice. But on the third time, when he sent a DSP to help someone get a haircut, he failed to ask them to repeat the instructions. The person came back with a very different haircut than expected. And instead of being frustrated with the staff person, the supervisor said, You know what? This is on me. I didn’t check to make sure you were clear. It’s not your fault. Now imagine how that feels as a staff person. No decrease in morale. A clear example of why listening and saying it back are so important. Now the staff person helps the supervisor by saying, Let me make sure I’ve got this, and they say it back — because you’re both committed to serving the individual, and you both understand that communication can be challenging, even when we don’t realize it. So you’re both on the same page, you’re both implementing this technique, and not only will you have a better workday, but the person you’re serving will have a better life — because they won’t experience these mistakes moving forward. All right, quick recap. Communicate for independence. The intended goal is that people can do their work correctly without the supervisor standing there. Use active listening skills, and check the show notes for a link to a graphic that lists all six. Praise without confusion. Be honest and sincere. You can always encourage — just don’t praise when it’s not earned. It sends a confusing message. Confirm that people understand what you’re telling them. Ask them to say back their understanding so you both know you’re on the same page. Let me know which of these steps you’ve tried and how it went. And if you have a question, send me a note at Sara — S-A-R-A — at providerpowermooze.com, or drop it in the comments wherever you listen to this podcast. Until next time — power on.