Preparing for Supervision

Martin Hill, Senior Tutor BSC

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” – Aristotle

“Self-observation brings man to the realization of the necessity of self-change. And in observing himself a man notices that self-observation itself brings about certain changes in his inner processes. He begins to understand that self-observation is an instrument of self-change, a means of awakening.” – George Grudjieff

The key factor in my view that distinguishes a professional and ethical coach from a “run of the mill” coach is the supervision regime of the coach. The Ridler Report and recent coaching tenders and literature all have one element in common – the importance of supervision for an ethical, professional and safe coaching practice.

Supervision can also be a key element in helping you attain your CPD requirements as a coach.
Supervision can be accessed in a variety of forms – peer supervision, group supervision and individual supervision. In relation to my own practice, I use a combination of all three elements- why? Peer supervision and group supervision have their advantages – drawing on, and sharing group knowledge and experience, but there may be time barriers, confidentiality concerns and/or confidence issues in sharing some topics in these environs. Individual supervision provides a bespoke, focused opportunity to have a detailed reflection on my coaching practice.

All well and good I hear you say, but what about the expense? I know it’s difficult to find two bankers to rub together but pause for a moment – if you are expecting clients to invest in your coaching services, what is stopping you from investing in a supervision programme that ensures that your coaching is the best it can be. It is an investment and the purpose of this blog is to provide some tips to ensure that you get value for money from that investment.

• Type of Supervision – choose the most cost effective package that fits your needs. This may involve a “pick and mix” approach- using peer supervision or group supervision may reduce the frequency required for individual supervision and thus reduce the cost.
• What does good supervision cover? The supervision should cover the following elements:

NORMATIVE – ensuring that you are working in a competent and ethical way as a coach- the quality assurance that you can provide for your marketing strategy for your practice.
FORMATIVE – helping to refresh and develop your skills, theoretical knowledge, personal attributes, self-awareness etc. so that you become increasingly competent as a coach.
SUPPORTIVE – There can be sessions that have an emotional impact on you as the coach – sometimes this presents as a conscious effect, sometimes as an unconscious impact. This is where the concept of transference comes into play. Supervision provides a health check and provides a check and challenge mechanism to ensure that the coach and coaching practice are kept healthy.

• Format for supervision – are you going to rely on a verbal summary of a session or focus on a specific session – some coaches use video/audio. Think of the impact this may have on your client’s engagement, also make sure you cover confidentiality and Data Protection Act issues re the retention and handling of any material by yourself and the supervisor. Remember to specifically contract with your client re this aspect as well.
• Make sure the “whole” of you turns up – you do not coach in isolation, to get the most from supervision be prepared to share and reflect on work, home, personal issues etc. as relevant.
• Preparation – don’t just turn up. Build on your own reflective practice skills by reviewing the sessions and identify the topics/issues/themes that you wish to focus upon.

In “On Being a Supervisee-Creating Learning Partnerships, 2^nd edition”- Michael Carroll & Maria C. Gilbert (2011) Vukani Publishing the authors suggest the following useful preparation l exercise – “let your mind drift back over your recent work. What surfaces for you immediately? Notice it and let it go (you might want to make a note of it…). Let your mind wander over the following questions:

1. What interactions/sessions/clients/interventions were you pleased with?
2. What was difficult for you?
3. What were you/are you, uncertain about?
4. What are you looking forward to in your next working session?
5. Are there any anxieties about the way you are working with a particular client/group/programme?
6. Are there any anxieties about your relationship with clients/other tutors/managers etc.?
7. Are there some doubts/anxieties/feelings just “out of view” which you would rather keep out of view? Identify the feelings as well as the items.
8. What interactions have you enjoyed most? What were the feelings?

…Immediate preparation for the supervisory session:

1. Are there any crisis/emergency issues you need to talk about?
2. Are there any themes emerging for you in your overall work that you would like to review in supervision?
3. Are there any organisational/training areas you want to talk about in supervision?
4. What do you want from this session of supervision? For yourself, your clients, your learning?
5. Are there any areas of the supervisory contract you want to review/negotiate”

I hope that this blog has provided some useful tips for supervision. The hardest step is perhaps the first, finding what it means in practice. A useful introduction could be to attend the British School of Coaching’s UK coaching network event on 16 January 2015, when you can join a group supervision session – feel free to join us. Suitable for anyone who is interested in coaching and mentoring – regardless of level of experience.

• Learn about the key elements for supervision – formative, normative and supportive
• Discover the challenges coaches face in managing a coaching session – and discover tips to assist.
• Comes with a free gift- REFLECTIVE LEARNING

For more information go to http://www.britishschoolofcoaching.com/cdp-courses/bsc-coaching-network/ or email info@britishschoolofcoaching.com

Qualification Levels

Judith Barton

British School of Coaching offers training and development programmes leading to Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) accredited qualifications. These qualifications are available at a number of levels, which are defined by the regulatory body for qualifications in England, commonly known as Ofqual. We offer qualifications at Level 2, 3, 5 and 7 which include academic learning and a requirement for practical, ‘vocational’ skills – the ability to ‘do’ things as well as to ‘understand’ them.

So, what do these ‘Levels’ mean? The essential differences are, I suggest, based on the complexity of thinking skills required to achieve each level and the organisational context within which they are applied.

Levels 2 and 3 are about understanding – e.g., what the solutions-focussed approach in coaching is, what its key features are, how it works.
Level 5 is about analysing – why it works, what the theoretical model and assumptions are which underpin the approach.
Level 7 is about critiquing – what are the strengths and weaknesses, are there flaws in the underpinning model and assumptions which might limit its usefulness, are there other models which are more effective in particular circumstances?

In more detail, there are three ways of describing levels.

1. The occupational status of the learners for whom the qualifications at each level are designed (organisational context).

Level 2 qualifications are designed primarily for team leaders and aspiring first time managers.
Level 3 qualifications are designed primarily for those in their first management role – including team leaders and first-line managers.
Level 5 qualifications are designed primarily for practicing middle managers.
Level 7 qualifications are designed primarily for those operating at senior manager/executive director level or equivalent.
Level 5 and 7 qualifications are also appropriate for those wish to start or develop their own coaching practice or business.

2. Comparison with traditional academic qualifications (complexity of thinking). There is an agreed table of comparators, which is:

Level 2 is roughly equivalent to GCSE grades A* to C;
Level 3 is roughly equivalent to A Levels/International Baccalaureate;
Level 5 is roughly equivalent to the second year of an undergraduate degree;
Level 7 is roughly equivalent to postgraduate certificates, diplomas and Master’s degrees.

     3.  Looking at the learning outcomes and assessment criteria for each level of qualifications and how these can indicate the difference between these levels (complexity of thinking). Following on from the blog on writing your assignment, I noted that the key element in the learning outcomes and assessment criteria which helps to indicate level is the assessment verb. This verb tells you what you are expected to learn and then demonstrate through your assignment. Here are some examples taken from the ILM coaching and mentoring qualifications – with suggested explanations of what the verbs mean.

Level 2:   ‘Describe the benefits of mentoring’ – what does it look like? This may involve selecting the most important features;
‘Explain the importance of agreeing goals for mentoring’ – how does it work? This involves some description of the topic and providing reasons;
Level 3:   ‘Describe the purpose of workplace coaching’ – what does it look like? This may involve selecting the most important features of workplace coaching;
‘Explain the role of an effective workplace coach’ – how does it work? This involves some description of effective workplace coaching and providing reasons what makes coaching effective;
Level 5:   ‘Analyse why coaches require effective communication skills’ – what makes this work the way it does? This involves exploring a topic in detail, breaking the topic into essential features so that you can identify possible causation and/or draw conclusions;
‘Review the responsibilities of the coach to manage relationship’ – how well does this work and what may need to be done about it? This involves making a judgement about a topic which relies on evidence which is evaluated within a theoretical model;
Level 7:   ‘Compare and contrast the application of different models, modes and methods of supervision’ – how do topics relate to each other? and, how ‘good’ is one example compared to another? Comparison requires a description of the relative features or effectiveness of each example; contrast requires an assessment of the relative features or effectiveness of each example.
‘Critically review own ethical and moral values, beliefs, attitudes and personal integrity’ – how well does this work and what may need to be done about it? This will involve more detailed, in-depth review and requires an informed judgement with reference to concepts, theories and ideas.

As well as the assessment verb itself, the complexity or the topic and the context in which the verb is applied will affect the level of the qualification. Whilst the ‘lower level’ verbs may appear in higher level assignments, the ‘higher level’ verbs will rarely, if at all, be a low level activity.
Essentially, the higher the level of qualification, the more complex the cognitive skills required to complete it successfully and the more senior the learner is (in an organisation) who will be able to successfully complete the assignments.

If you would like to see more about the qualifications offered by the British School of Coaching click here

How to become an even better coach - Identifying the slither of difference

Judith Barton

In my last blog I discussed the ‘slither of difference’. For those who may not have read this blog; the ‘slither of difference’ is the little, often tiny elements that make the difference between good and great performance. The difficulty with this can be identifying what is the tiny element that will make the difference.

I mentioned how Sir David Brailsford, CBE, Team Principal at Team Sky, had concentrated on the tiny improvements of every element of the cyclists performance. This is a philosophy for Sir David, known as the “aggregation of marginal gains”, if we improve every element of what we do then this percentage gain will make a real difference to performance.

Unbeknown to me I follow a similar approach to improving my coaching practice, this I term the ‘slither of difference’.

Lionel Birnie interviewed David Brailsford (pre-knighthood) in May 2011 in his office at the Velodrome in Manchester, England. This cycling weekly piece noted how Brailsford reads coaching manuals and management books, he searches out the ‘how to’ from football managers, and speakers on performance. A book called Moneyball written by Michael Lewis, focused on the work of Billy Beane at Oakland Athletics basket ball team who drew his attention to the stats and measuring the right things rather than the stuff always measured.

I would liken this to asking clients to complete training or coaching evaluation forms. How much of the data gathered can be turned into information to help me improve? What Beane did at the Oakland Athletics club was to challenge the process of what was being measured and how it was used to improve ready for the next game.

Standing back, reflecting, understanding the data and challenging the whole coaching process is key to making real improvements in our practice. What is important here is ones definition of the whole process. For me the whole process (macro) means everything around the coaching session as well as the process or approach used within the session itself (micro). If we consider the whole coaching process to be the macro view this would include the organisational context, venue, contracting, relationships and so on.

Everything that goes into a coaching session should be included as part of the supervision. Edna Murdoch and Jackie Arnold describe how they see this Full Spectrum Model; “Full Spectrum Supervision; who you are, is how you supervise”.

To do this you need to work deeply and have trust with your supervisor. They note the quality of the relationship with your supervisor is key, and the supervisor must want the supervisee to become an even better coach. For me this relationship is about support and challenge, with a supervisor who really has my best interest at heart.

To improve your own coaching you need to truly understand your own performance. I do this by examining four key factors that impact on my performance; 1 health, 2 energy, 3 work and 4 home, against a zero baseline which equates to normal performance. Also shown is the number of coaching sessions per month. Each element has a plus and minus scale of 1 to 3. Then over the timeline, in this case 12 months, I track any changes from the zero baseline.

Health = Any episodes, e.g. influence, something that affects my performance;
Energy = Plus or minus my zero baseline;
Work   = Plus is work more challenging, stretching, feelings of success;
Home = Plus would be success, great experience within the family. Minus would be
when difficulties occur such as illness or bereavement.

I plot this throughout the year, and the illustration also shows the number of coaching sessions per month. Exact dates and times can be identified in the coaching log.

I then write up my learning in the format below:

 If you are struggling to see the images clearly click here