2. Definitions
• Active Listening—A communication technique that requires the listener to
focus on understanding, interpreting and reflecting upon what the other
person is saying.
• Social Intelligence—The capacity to understand social and interpersonal
relationships and situations. Having high social intelligence helps you work
with groups of people to develop and pursue a common goal, such as
building a workforce committed to activities that support an organizational
mission.
3. • Supervision—The process of fostering and reviewing staff performance
according to the defined standards of the organization.
• Supportive Supervision—A process that uses dialogue and constructive
feedback to help staff, volunteers or entire organizations improve their
performance in pursuit of the organization’s mission, while also setting goals
for growth and development.
* Set clear expectations from the beginning: Supportive supervision can
begin as soon as a person is recruited to work for your organization. The first
step is providing your new employee with a clear job description. This
ensures that both the manager and the employee have a common
understanding of the expectations and responsibilities of the position.
4. SMARTER Goals are:
• Specific and clear about what needs to happen and who needs to be involved
• Measurable, with clear targets against which progress can be measured
• Aligned with the organization’s mission and vision
• Realistic and can be accomplished
• Timed so that there is an appropriate sense of urgency
• Evaluated periodically and, if necessary, adjusted
• Rewarded when accomplished
5. Active Listening Skills
• Eliminate distractions (such as phone calls) and avoid having Physical barriers (sit
in comfortable chairs rather than having a desk between the two of you).
• Listen carefully to the main ideas, and let the speaker finish his or her thoughts
without interruption.
• Ask open-ended questions that show that you are interested in the speaker’s ideas
and interpretations (for example, “What are your suggestions about how we should
address this problem?”
• Do not judge, critique or get defensive while the speaker is talking; instead, focus
on understanding his or her experience and perspective. Verify your understanding
by repeating key points back (for example, “If I understand you correctly, you are
saying…”).
• Remember: You have two ears and two eyes… but only one mouth. So let your ears
and eyes do twice as much work!
6. Supportive supervision
• Supportive supervision is a process of helping staff to improve their own
work performance continuously. It is carried out in a respectful and non-
authoritarian way with a focus on using supervisory visits as an opportunity
to improve knowledge and skills of health staff.
……… WHO
• Managers can play a key role in making their employees feel supported and
motivated and, as a result, more productive.
• It has more importance in challenging environments where resources are
scarce and the needs of the community are vast and different, making
employees feel valued and supported is essential.
7. Supportive supervision is a key way to achieve these results. By employing
supportive supervision, managers can create:
1). A healthy work environment
2). Improve and sustain the performance and satisfaction of their most
valuable asset: the people in their organization.
It can be done by: Using a few key skills and tools, with a little practice
• It encourages: Open, two-way communication, creating a dynamic
relationship with staff and building team approaches that facilitate problem-solving
with their growth.
• It focuses on: Monitoring performance towards goals
Using data for decision-making
Regular follow-up with staff
9. Controlling supervision supportive supervision
• Focus on finding faults with
individuals.
• Supervisor is like a policeman.
• Episodic problem-solving.
• Little or no follow-up.
• Punitive actions intended.
• Focus on improving performance
and building relationships.
• More like a teacher, coach, mentor.
• Use local data to monitor performance and
solve problems.
• Follow up regularly.
• Only support provided.
10. Activities :
• Setting up a supportive supervision system
• Planning regular supportive supervision visits
• Conducting a supervisory visit
• Follow-up activities
11. Setting up a supportive supervision
system
• The three main ’ Rs’ for an effective supportive supervision system are :
1) Right supervisors — A core set of supervisors, well trained on supportive
supervision techniques and with updated information and skills on immunization
issues.
2) Right tools — Availability of training materials and job aids to update skills of health
workers during supervision visits, and checklists for recording recommendations and
following up.
3) Right resources — Sufficient vehicles, time allocated for supervision and follow-up.
12. Planning regular supportive supervision visits
• Planning for supportive supervision visits should be an integral part of the
annual/quarterly work-planning exercise. It is important to look at the data
when we plan for supervision visits.
• The plan should indicate :
• where to conduct visits
• when to conduct visits
• what are the objectives to cover during the visit.
13. Conducting a supervisory visit
• During a supervisory visit to the health facility, the supervisor should
conduct the following main steps:
1) Collecting information.
2) Problem-solving and feedback.
3) On-the-job training.
4) Recording the results of supervision.
14. Problem-solving and feedback.
• Describe the problem and its impact
• Discuss the causes of the problem with health staff
• Implement solutions and monitor regularly
15. Job aid
• A job aid is a learning product available for on-the-job training which is
designed to facilitate correct performance of the task by extending the
worker’s capability to retain and utilize information. It is also called quick or
easy reference.
• Often these are paper-based and posted on the wall in plain sight or in a
small reference notebook.
• They can also take the form of posters, cards, manuals, etc.
16. Follow-up activities:
Supportive supervision does not end with the conducted visit. Back in the office the
supervisor should plan for follow-up, which may include the following :
• Acting on issues you agreed to work on
• Involving health workers in the planning process and working with them to develop
checklists, job aids, monitoring tools, etc. ;
• Discussing equipment supply and delivery problems with higher levels ;
• Reviewing monthly reports and establishing regular communication with supervised
staff to see if recommendations are being implemented ;
• Identifying career growth or leadership opportunities for the personal development of
supervised health staff.
