7Evaluating Supervision

Engaging some form of evaluation on a regular basis is crucial to understand how effective supervision is over time.

Undertaking regular review and evaluation of supervision is as important as the supervision meeting itself. The question is – as a new supervisor, how do you go about evaluating the effectiveness of the supervision you are providing? How would you know that supervision is achieving what it is intended to? Most supervisors evaluate supervision by asking the supervisee how supervision is going. Whilst this is useful as it gives you a guide of how things are going as you gain confidence, it is also important to have different methods of evaluation to ensure that supervision remains effective.

Much of the research on professional supervision suggests that supervision works well if there is a collaborative relationship. Having a productive, trusting and positive supervisory relationship is crucial, but there are many other things that are also important to consider for supervision to be effective (O’Donoghue, 2015; Proctor, 2000).

There are a number of ways that you can evaluate supervision. These may include the following:

  • Discussion with the supervisee on a regular basis about how they think that supervision is going. Think of the key questions you would like to ask the supervisee, and remember many supervisees will provide feedback that things are going well, but because of the power differential in the roles, the supervisee may often say that things are going well, so you may have to dig a little deeper.

  • Evaluating the focus of the discussion at the end of each meeting that aligns to any supervision model that you may be using.

  • Undertaking periodic formal evaluation, that is, every three to six months.

  • An annual evaluation in supervision – this can also align with the supervisee’s annual review process.

  • Having another professional observe a supervision meeting to review the supervisory process (with consent from both parties) and provide a written report about the process and framework of supervision that shows how effective it is.

Once you feel confident in the role, get the supervisee to facilitate a supervision meeting so you can see how things are going. Then when you feel as though things are going well, with consent from the supervisee, video record a supervision meeting and critique either on your own, with the supervisee or with your supervisor. This is a great way to explore the key components of supervision and evaluate how effective supervision is.

Over time, if you video record your supervision meetings to seek feedback, it is important that the evaluation process is positive and developmental to provide you with helpful feedback that supports you to develop and enhance your technical skills, knowledge and capabilities as a supervisor. The key thing is to feel confident in any evaluation process you undertake and through your own supervision explore what things are crucial to look for.

What to Evaluate?

Next, think about what you need to evaluate. This can be quite daunting as you begin in the role as a supervisor, particularly if you are the supervisee’s line manager. When you are a line manager and the supervisee is also your direct report, there are organisational and position description requirements that the supervisee has to fulfil. Usually the annual review is the place to evaluate how the supervisee is doing in their role, but not many organisations have an evaluation process that specifically looks at how effective supervision is. Given the importance of supervision, it is useful to know what impact and influence supervision is having on the supervisee and their role. It is also crucial to understand how effective you are in your role as a supervisor. It can feel a little unnerving discussing your role; however, when you undertake some form of evaluation, it provides you with great information that allows you to grow and change certain aspects of your role. The best way to develop as a supervisor is to ask the supervisee. When you develop a trusting and positive relationship, it gives the supervisee permission to be open and forthcoming with information to feed into any evaluation process (Davys et al., 2017).

There are many things you may like to consider in an evaluation framework, and the easiest way to go about this is to think about the components of the supervisory process. You could evaluate how the agenda is set each meeting, the quality of the supervision minutes, how the environment is set up with mobile phones off, little distraction, and the type of room or place where you have supervision. Other things to evaluate are your supervisory skills such as listening skills, how you reframe what the supervisee is saying, problem solving skills, how you explore ethical dilemmas, the use of language, how you provide strategies, etc.

You could evaluate how the supervisee participates in the conversation. Do they arrive for supervision discussions on time, are they prepared, do they bring their supervision folder if they have one? Does the supervisee seem committed and participate well? You could evaluate how things are followed up after the meeting, what the supervisee takes from the supervision meeting and uses in their role and what difference supervision makes in their role overall.

An evaluation framework could also be modelled around the intake questions so that the supervisee knows from the beginning what things were going to be discussed when any evaluation is undertaken.

  • What types of things do you think would be useful to evaluate?

  • ___________________________________________________________

  • ___________________________________________________________

  • ___________________________________________________________

  • When do you think it would be good to evaluate how effective supervision is? (i.e. every three, six or twelve months)

  • ___________________________________________________________

  • ___________________________________________________________

  • ___________________________________________________________

Now that we have explored the importance of evaluating how effective supervision is, the following evaluation will support you in your role to start thinking about what elements of supervision you are going to evaluate when you are ready. The following evaluation framework considers key elements of the supervisory framework, and you can evaluate all or some aspects of supervision every three or six months or even on an annual basis.

The first area of evaluation in this framework considers how effective the relationship has been maintained over time. It considers your communication style, the ability of both parties to manage issues as they arise and how the supervisee feels adequately supported and valued in the relationship. The second area to evaluate is the professional aspect of supervision, and the evaluation framework looks at the environment and attributes of both parties. It explores how professional identity is maintained, how confidentiality is maintained and how ethical dilemmas are explored in supervision. The third area in the evaluation is focused on knowledge and approaches in supervision. It explores how your knowledge and approach as a supervisor informs the discussion, how you use your own knowledge to contribute to the supervisee’s practice and role and how you engage a supportive mentoring and coaching role.

The fourth component of the evaluation framework focuses on what supervision outcomes have been achieved. Elements to discuss include how the intake questions map to what outcomes have been achieved, if and how the supervision process links to the supervisee’s annual review process and how the agenda and minutes are linked to achieving particular outcomes. The final area in the evaluation framework explores the process of supervision and includes how supervision discussions are guided by an agenda and their alignment to the supervision policy and agreement. It considers how the supervisee articulates and describes what supervision is, how both parties engage in the follow-up process and any actions that arise from supervision discussions. Each section has a comments area where you can document key parts of the discussion. Each of the sections of the evaluation is graded 5–1 and where the element is not relevant there is a code of NA = Not Applicable. There is no wrong or right response; the evaluation framework provides the perfect platform for an exploratory discussion with the supervisee to see how supervision is progressing (Table 7.1).

Table 7.1Evaluation Framework

This evaluation can be undertaken on a quarterly, half year or annual basis.

The evaluation is focused on 5–1. 5 – Always, 4 – Frequently, 3 – Sometimes, 2 – Rarely, 1 – Never, NA – Not Applicable

Supervisee Name:

Date:

Previous Evaluation Date:

Supervisor Name:

Date:

The supervisory relationship

1

2

3

4

5

NA

1. An effective relationship has been established.

2. Rapport has been built and maintained.

3. There is a clear level of comfort with each other.

4. Both parties are aware of the supervisor’s style of supervision.

5. Supervision is flexible to meet the needs of the supervisee.

6. The supervisor’s communication style engages the supervisee.

7. Both parties have been able to manage and resolve any issues that arise.

8. The supervisee feels adequately supported and valued.

9. Challenges in the relationship have been easily resolved.

Comments:

Professionalism

1

2

3

4

5

NA

10. Clear ethics and boundaries have been established and maintained.

11. Ethical dilemmas have been raised in supervision and explored.

12. Both parties engage professionalism in their roles.

13. The environment is conducive to trust and positive engagement.

14. The supervisor positively engages and challenges the supervisee’s practice.

15. Both parties maintain their professional identity.

16. The supervisor engages insight and awareness to support the process.

17. The bounds of confidentiality and privacy are maintained.

18. Transparency and honestly is evident in discussions.

Comments:

Knowledge and Approaches

1

2

3

4

5

NA

19. The supervisor’s knowledge and approaches inform the discussion.

20. The supervisee positively contributes their knowledge in supervision.

21. Training and development needs of the supervisee are identified and acted on.

22. Any theories and interventions are used in supervision discussions.

23. The supervisee engages a supportive role of coaching and mentoring.

24. The supervision evaluation process incorporates both parties’ knowledge.

25. The supervisor engages in ongoing development.

26. The supervisor’s knowledge is relevant to the supervisee’s role.

27. There is evidence of the supervisee transferring knowledge from supervisory discussions back into the role.

Comments:

Supervision Outcomes

1

2

3

4

5

NA

28. The intake questions clearly map to supervision outcomes.

29. Barriers and outcomes are identified and resolved.

30. Supervision clearly links to the supervisee’s annual review process.

31. Both parties understand and adhere to their role and responsibilities.

32. Supervision outcomes are clearly identified and achieved.

33. Both parties’ expectations are well defined.

34. The supervision agenda links to the supervision model used.

35. Supervision documents are used to maintain professionalism.

36. The supervision environment is set up in free of distractions and interruptions.

Comments:

Supervision process

1

2

3

4

5

NA

37. Supervision discussions are set using an agenda.

38. Minutes are documented for each discussion.

39. Supervision is aligned to the organisation’s supervision policy.

40. The supervision agreement aligns to the supervision policy.

41. Both parties come well organised and prepared for supervision.

42. The supervisee understands the process, purpose and benefits of supervision.

43. The supervisee can clearly articulate what supervision is.

44. Both parties engage follow-up from supervision discussions.

45. The supervisor demonstrates a well-defined supervision process.

Comments

Questions to Consider

  • What should a supervision evaluation framework include?

  • _________________________________________________________

  • _________________________________________________________

  • _________________________________________________________

  • In reflecting about evaluating supervision, what things should be considered?

  • _________________________________________________________

  • _________________________________________________________

  • _________________________________________________________

Chapter 7 Summary

Where possible, evaluate regularly. It is important to have an evaluation framework that ensures that supervision continues to be effective and provides the desired outcomes. Evaluate the supervision discussion at the end of each meeting and on an annual basis. This refreshes the supervision framework and ensures the supervisee feels supported and validated. It also provides the opportunity to reflect on your supervisory practice with the supervisee on a regular basis. Finally, have fun in the evaluation discussion. It is meant to be positive, useful and purposeful.

Key things to consider in Chapter 7 about evaluating supervision.

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