Techniques for supervisors

Supervision plays a key role in coaching and mentoring, and so we are delighted to offer some these resources specifically about supervision techniques. Each post below showcases four techniques from Michelle Lucas’s book, 101 Coaching Supervision Techniques, Approaches, Enquiries and Experiments. This resource is practical and bite-sized, for supervisors looking to expand their range. Our thanks to Michelle Lucas for sharing this resource. None of this content is to be reproduced without the express permission of Michelle Lucas and Routledge.com.

19. Using the steps model

The four techniques explored here are: Using the steps model during and after supervision sessions; Focus on feelings as a counterbalance to fact-based discussion; Exploring the supervisee’s client with clean networks; and using AI in supervision. Download here Image: Ambrose Chua/Unsplash

17. Developing courage

The four techniques explored here are: Strength cards to help identify strengths; Contracting using Four Ps to help structure a group coaching contract; Using the outdoors, when movement might bring a different outlook; and Developing courage via a series of questions. Download here Image: Sammie Chaffin/Unsplash

15. Deepening reflection

The four techniques explored here are: Deepening reflection to gain a diversity of insights; Good news, for prioritising affirmation; Developing behavioural flexibility; and Using time structure to understand intimacy in relationships. Download here Image: Oliver Hihn/Unsplash

13. Building Confidence

The four techniques explored here are: Building Confidence – Authority, Presence, Impact; Self-preparation for Supervisors; Working with Our Sub-personalities; The API model. Download here

11. Enabling reflection

The four techniques explored here are: exploring congruence, to prompt normative discussion; reflective writing, capturing tangible reflections; self supervision checklist, a mnemonic for after the session; and solution focused scaling questions, for when work is stalled. Download here

9. Building and mapping

The four techniques explored here are: supervision with LEGO, for supervisees who prefer to express non-verbally; mapping what is, to access hidden or unconscious information; give yourself an ‘A’, setting intentions for success; and FeedForward, drawing on positive past experiences. Download here

7. Boundaries and personal strengths

The four techniques explored here are: centring, for gaining a fresh perspective; personal strengths review, for boosting confidence and building rapport in group work; exploring boundaries, for reframing situations and relationships; and use of attachment theory, for deepening our understanding of ourselves and our clients. Download here

5. Tomorrow questions and dialogue

The four techniques explored here are: dialogue, where two people support each other to develop independent thinking; the tomorrow question, which helps leapforg an existing dynamic into a new way forward; supervisee-led supervision, which maximises on the supervisee’s learning; and the three Cs of contract, confidence and the client’s best interest. Download here

3. Free movement and vision boards

The four techniques explored here are: mentor coaching, which can be used to resharpen your coaching edge; using metaphor to explore ‘at my best’, for building confidence; free movement, where clients are stuck in unhelpful patterns; and vision boards, for gaining motivation to achieve a goal, exploring boundaries or developing a better work-life balance. Download here

1. From picture cards to sensing

The four techniques explored here are: picture cards, which can be used as an arrival (or an ending) exercise; thinking pairs, where two people offer each other sustained listening; intentions and interventions, using the six categories of intervention; and supervision and sensing, a meditative self-enquiry to get beyond thinking to explore the senses. Download here

18. Two dimensions of growth

The four techniques explored here are: Dilemma Cards to discuss complex situations; exploring relationships using clean language; working with supervision issues using the seven-eyed model; and using a model to plot two dimensions of growth. Download here Image: Jonas Kaiser/Unsplash

16. Feeling stuck

The four techniques explored here are: Feeling stuck and identifying where this is happening; Resourcing people, concepts, concretes or abstracts; Inner noticing and paying attention to our ‘felt sense’; and 3-2-1 reflective writing to uncover thoughts and feelings. Download here Image: Kelly Sikkema/Unsplash

14. Transferring Competence

The four techniques explored here are: Transferring competence between different areas of your life; Developing coach maturity within the supervision relationship; One step towards better to release stuckness; and Healthy self-feedback as a way of tapping into intuition. Download here

12. Walking the labyrinth

The four techniques explored here are: metaphor magic box, accessing what lies outside current awareness; systemically oriented questions, diagnosing parts that are out of balance; writing the labyrinth, for supervision dilemmas; and working with shame, discovering self-acceptance. Download here

10. Getting out of stuckness

The four techniques explored here are: giving an object a voice, when there is some ‘stuckness’ to be explored; harnessing self-doubt, for those seeking reassurance; sparkling moments, for liberating the supervisee to generate their own useful ideas; and rush writing, as a reflection exercise. Download here

8. The value of noticing

The four techniques explored here are: the value of noticing, which builds self-awareness at a cognitive, emotional and felt level; exploring the potential for collusion with clients and stakeholders; tapping into the client perspective through personally crafted impact statements; and working with blocks to address interruptions to progress. Download here

6. Footprints and shadows

The four techniques explored here are: what’s my environmental footprint? and how can I shrink it; deliberately self-centred supervision, where we focus on the self as an instrument of our work; rounds, enabling all group members to contribute and be heard; and working with the shadow, where we reflect on what we tend not to bring to supervision. Download here

4. Exploring objects and capturing journeys

The four techniques explored here are: transformative explorations through objects and metaphor; ‘rehearse, review, repeat’, which is useful for experiential learners; using eMotive cards, which enable discussion around emotional states; and capturing journeys on a big scale, which uses creativity and physicality to embed learning. Download here

2. Trees, triangles and chairs

The four techniques explored here are: tree perspectives, with images of trees to stimulate right-brain thinking; guided visualisation, to help supervisees connect with the wisest dimension of themselves; drama triangle, to explore ‘hot buttons’ around the supervisee-client relationship; and three chairs, to explore issues from the perspectives of past, present and future. Download here