Managing performanceOne day workshop on using supervision to

manage and support blocked staff

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Jo Fox April 2011

The agenda• 1. The supervision climate• How does the agency context impact? On you, on the workers, on the clients? How do you

manage change? How are you managing your team through change? • 2. How are we actually supervising? What does a worker experience when they come to you

for supervision? What are your areas of strength? What do you need to build on? • Blanchard 4 management styles – where do you spend most of your time? • Reflectiveness scale for adults• 3. What happens if a worker gets stuck? Do we recognise the blocked cycle? Narration

exercise• 4. How can we get workers unstuck? Common issues checklist, unblocking strategies, bridging

interviews• 5. The emotional cost – look at transference and Professional accommodation syndrome

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Understanding the blocked cycle within the context of your

organisationand yourself

The most important tool

Positive expectation approach• Staff want to do a good job. No-one wants to be ineffective.• People work best when they have clear targets in view.• People can and will try to change if it makes sense to them.• Performance can be improved if weaknesses are identified and worked on

together.• It is the behaviour and not the personality that needs to change.• Paying attention to worker self esteem and self efficacy are crucial in

helping them deal with criticism.• Health dissonance creates the conditions for change.• Agreed action on improving performance enhances commitment and

trust.

J fox April 2011

Complex interactions

Individual Organisation

purpose

Culture

team

values

professional

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J Fox April 2011

Source and nature of authorityRole Authority• People resources finance• Given by senior management

Professional Authority• Demonstrated competence, knowledge, skills • Gains credibility

Personal Authority• Attitude to authority and response to authority of others• Gains leadership

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J Fox April 2011

Types of power base• Reward power = the ability of the

supervisor to take & give away• Coercive power = the ability to

punish & reprimand• Legitimate power = the right of

one’s position & office• Expert power = the use of

superior knowledge & skills

• Referent power = where others seek the leaders approval

• Information power = to give, withhold, or filter information

• Connection power = perceived to be close contact with influential people

• Ascribed power = accurate or distorted attributions of power ascribed to the supervisor

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J Fox April 2011

Supervisory authority• Power must be exercised in a legitimate, clear

and consistent manner so that the authority is both trusted and experienced as enabling of the task the worker is trying to achieve.

• It involves emotional containment, setting of boundaries, establishing limits and confronting blockage and boundary breaches

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J Fox April 2011

6 elements of legitimacy

1. Representation2. Consistency3. Impartiality4. Accuracy5. Correctability6. Ethicality

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Fantasised ‘bad supervisor’

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Fantasised ‘good supervisor’

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Authoritative supervision• Promotes critical thinking• Is delivered by supervisors with a strong professional

knowledge and practice base• Is based on the supervisor’s awareness of their own

impact on the supervisory process, and willingness to reflect on this

• Facilitates a culture of opportunity in which the social worker can develop specialist knowledge, and/or be involved in innovative work/roles

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The Tannenbaum and Schmidt Continuum

Blanchard Management Matrix

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J Fox 2011

Exercise one

Blanchard’s Management Matrix • Identify your supervisory style using the 4 box

matrix.

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J Fox 2011

Exercise Two

Reflectiveness scale for adults• Attachment literature and practice suggests that one of the

strongest predictors of a securely functioning individual is their ability to reflect.

• This tool has been developed to help you think about the degree to which you know yourself. It can also be used to get feedback from supervisees on how you are perceived in the

workplace.

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Blocked cycles

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BLOCKEDCYCLE

Stuck in EXPERIENCE

Stuck in REFLECTION

Stuck in ANALYSING

Stuck in ACTIVE EXPERIMENTING

Exercise three– The blocked cycle• Each group to consider one blocked area.• How would the worker feel if they were stuck

in this stage?• How would they present in supervision, with

the service user, in team meetings, with other agencies?

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Exercise threeArea of block Impact on

observation/engagement

Impact on reflection

Impact on analysis

Impact on planning and action

Stuck in experienceStuck in reflectionStuck in analysingStuck in active experimenting

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Performance area Range of potential consequences

Role clarity Confusion/looseness selective/rigid avoidant/disengaged

Partnership Collusive/enmeshed Paternal/dependant disengaged/lip service

Response to authority Dependant Avoidant/ambivalent conflictual/controlling

Planning Lack of clear goals/ inconsistent/ inflexibleChaotic inappropriate

Observation Subjective/selective superficial/avoidant absent or irrelevant to task

interventions Inappropriate or unpredictable controlling/directiveLack of focus

Anti discriminatory practice

Unaware rigid, judgemental intellectual only

Task completion Chaotic, reactive selective, being carried avoidant, low outputUnfocused by others disorganised

Team/other relationships

Insensitive avoidant, distant intolerant, demanding, Poor boundaries unaware of others manipulativeinappropriate

Empathy and self awareness

Self pre-occupied low self-awareness superficialProject feelings avoidance of feelings inaccurate readings of othersOnto others feelings

Response to change Passive avoidant resists changeHelpless denial of need for rigid or conflictualNo responsibility change not open to reason

Generating responses• You need to be seen as

part of the solution not the problem

• Motivating your workers to address there issues requires the same set of skills you use when working with service users

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Narration exercise to explore blocked performance

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What is on your side?Organisationally• Performance management

framework• Written supervisory contracts• Observation auditing of performance

by supervisor• Supervisors knowledge of the worker• Supervisor time and energy• Managerial support• Emotional support for supervisors

Personally• Confident in role• Comfortable with organisation goals• Perceived as competent• Comfortable with power and

authority• Good reflective practice base• Other areas of life not impacting on

work role• Up to date knowledge and skills

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Common barriers• Lack of regular auditing or appraisal• Absence of standards or competences against which performance can be measured• Inadequate advice from the personnel function in the agency• Lack of managerial support for the supervisor or recognition of the emotional demands of

managing such situations• Fears around acting oppressively leading to certain groups of staff being under-managed• Over-accomodation to the personal difficulties a worker is having• Low level complaints being dismissed: ’she is always whingeing’• Workers being moved from one team to another or out to training• Recruitment and probationary processes fail to identify those who are clearly unsuitable for

working in a high pressure social care environment• No policy on management of under-performance• Disagreement as to what counts as evidence especially around team and colleague

behaviours.

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Effective problem solving occurs when:

• We share perceptions and build agreement about the nature of the problem

• Explore the fears and fantasies attached, either to the nature of the problem or its possible solutions

• Identify the beliefs, values and assumptions which each bring to the problem

• Generate achievable options for change

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Giving feedback• Planned• Clear and owned• Regular, consistent and soon• Balanced• Specific and behaviour focused

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Bridging interviews

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Three stages

1. Establishing the gap2. Exploring and understanding this gap3. Eliminating the gap

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Remember1. The interviewee may react negatively at first2. Listening is as important as talking3. Bridging interviews are not the same as counselling4. Expect to learn about the interviewee and the

agency5. The bridging interview requires follow up6. Preparation is the key

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The emotional cost• “Inquiry reports tend to underestimate the

impact of clients on professionals”• “anxiety about managing uncertainty has

supported the creation for a performance management culture…..ultimately distanced from learning and reflective practice”

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The professional accommodation syndrome explained

1. Secrecy2. Helplessness3. Entrapment and accommodation4. Delayed or unconvincing disclosure5. Retraction

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Ten steps for sustaining supervisors

Reflective Supervisory Cycle

Negative Supervision Cycle

Thank YouJo Fox

Child-Centred Practice Ltdjfox@childcentredpractice.co.ukwww.childcentredpractice.co.uk

Again our thanks to Tony Morrison for the use of materialsfrom his book Staff Supervision in social Care,

Pavilion Publishing, 2001