Facilitating Group Supervision

Do you provide group supervision? Have you been asked to facilitate reflective practice groups or case reviews for your team?

Group supervision has the potential to develop a cohesive, team approach to service delivery. It can provide strong collegial support and foster the development of collective knowledge about specific practice challenges. Group supervision also has particular potential to generate fresh ideas about complex situations and to extend people’s perspectives. However, some people describe their group supervision as very cursory or very habitual: “the same people say the same things every time”. How can we make group supervision more productive?

This workshop will introduce some key ideas from the literature and focus on a range of practical strategies and resources. You will have the opportunity to practice various approaches to facilitation and trial some of the resources.

We will use two theories to reviewing group dynamics; shifting our leadership style at different stages of group development and using Belbin’s team contribution roles to review when dynamics have become too habitual or problematic.

Topics:

• Models of group supervision
• Facilitation skills for effective group supervision
• Establishing a learning focused style of communication
• Strategies to promote collaborative, integrated decision making
• Strategies and tools to explore complex issues
• Reviewing group dynamics: identifying and strengthening the mix of contributions

Learning Outcomes:

• Understand the facilitator’s role within the group supervision process
• Engage practitioners in the group supervision process
• Use a range of tools and resources to facilitate discussion and decision making
• Manage the group supervision process and the diversity within the group

Who should attend?

Managers, team leaders, professional leaders, group supervisors