menu
Different people will have different experiences with supervision, not all of them positive and supportive. In some organisation’s supervision can take a more managerial form, where employees actions are investigated and penalised. In others still, supervision is irregular or not well-established. Of course, there are good examples of supervision out there. These typically create a space for employees to reflect, grow and feel supported and are centred on the supervisee’s needs.
There are different forms of supervision, primarily, supervision can be individual or in a group setting. Both forms can be useful and sometimes a combination of both can be the most adaptive. For example, there can be individual supervision between frontline practitioners and their managers and then a group reflection session between peers.
The purpose of supervision or one-to-ones are support, reflection, and learning. For that to be achieved they need to not be judgemental or punitive. It also should be well established on not just happen when there a urgent matter. It can hard to prioritise one-to-ones when the workload is high, but it can further worsen the work environment when the employee support is not prioritised. Although counterintuitive, taking the time for supervision (individual or in group) can create more time elsewhere, as well-supported staff tend to work more efficiently. More importantly, well-supported staff means that a healthy environment is established, which young people in the service will perceive and overall contribute to a comfortable and safe atmosphere.
Reflective questions can guide you in identifying how to potentially improve supervision in your organisation. It might be useful to discuss these questions at a team meeting, as there likely will be agreement between team members.
Relationships are an important part of everyone’s life. For example, everything we learn as children depends on others teaching us. But did you know that good relationships also have an influence on our physical and mental health (Griffith, 2017)? Relationship-based practice combines what we know about childhood development, trauma, resilience, and relationships to promote the best for children and adolescents.
Early life experiences shape our mind and body in ways that we are understanding more and more, especially when these experiences are traumatic. Trauma-informed practice takes this knowledge and creates a holistic framework for practitioners and organisations to create healing and safe spaces and ways of working.
First introductions matter. It matters when, how and where they happen. Many young people speak about transitions are often the most difficult times. In this Guide we explore how transitions can be done from the lens of relational practice.
What do IT systems and relationships have in common? Both usually run in the background and are easily taken for granted. Perhaps surprisingly, IT systems can have a big influence on the quality of relationships and relational practice in general.
When you know your goal you do whatever you need to do to reach it. But what if you defined the goal in the wrong way? In this Guide we explore how the goal affects your actions and how you can make sure that you are measuring your success in the right way. Are you meeting an outcome or are you filling a need?
One of the first things you learn when you start your job is when you need to arrive and when you need to leave. Have you ever considered that the pattern of your work affects the relationships you are building?
Organisational values influence the working culture. They can inspire workers to follow the organisation's mission. However, for them to have an impact they need to be developed with staff and young people.
It is important to keep learning and growing. Recognise your staff’s value and expertise by developing internal training and discussion sessions. Enable staff to learn and train more. Training should not be a tick-box exercise but a place for growth and reflection.
Relationships do not just depend on one person, but rather on a network of people and the culture of an organisation. Sometimes one person who simple ‘doesn’t get it’ can put barriers in the way for an entire team to become less relational. So, it’s easy to see why recruiting the right people is so important to create and maintain a relational organisation.
All relationships take time and effort to build and develop relationships with young people with care experience is no exception, perhaps being even more difficult due to their backgrounds however with the right understanding and approach you could develop a strong and positive connection which will benefit both you and your young person.
Relationships are essential to all parts of life and encompass both our professional and personal lives. They are a vital part of the support networks for our young people and the stronger the relationship the better we can all do our jobs, perhaps making them feel less like a job and more like a vocation. And perhaps more importantly, the stronger the relationship the more important a young person might feel.
