MICHIGAN’S LONG-TERM CARE CONFERENCE Thursday, March 23rd 10:50 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

(c) Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute

MICHIGAN’S LONG-TERM CARE CONFERENCE

Thursday, March 23rd 10:50 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Coaching Supervision for Consumers and Others

Paraprofessional Healthcare InstituteMaureen Sheahan, Presenter


Consumers as Employers

People with disabilities and elders not are not primarily patients needing care, but persons requiring assistance to live full and independent lives.

The medical model of care is being replaced by a social model in which the experts are the consumers who are in charge of directing their own support services.

Although consumer-directed assistance is appealing to many people needing personal assistants, most have little or no experience as employers and supervisors.

Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute 3

Consumers as Supervisors

Being an employer is challenging in and of itself, but with consumer-directed services, a person with a disability is the consumer, employer, and supervisor.

The integration of these three roles in a single individual makes consumer-directed services particularly complex.

Success requires a high degree of self-awareness as well as excellent interpersonal and communication skills.


The Challenges of Supervisors in LTC

Workplaces Supervisor’s jobs are often demanding and stressful

Many work in situations where they are under-resourced, under-staffed, and unsupported

Supervisors must regularly deal with problems such as repeated lateness, no call/no shows

Negative or uncooperative attitudes among employees can be demoralizing

Often, supervisors have risen to their position based on merit, but have been given no training for the role of leading people.

What attitudes and outlooks do these conditions create?


Supervisors are Key to Workplace Success

Supervisors – whether consumers or employees in traditional workplaces – play a critical role in the retention of direct care workers (DCWs)!

Feeling valued and respected is one of the biggest factors affecting a worker’s decision to stay on the job or quit

Supervisors can build the problem solving skills critical to DCWs success; and many workers have not had the chance to develop them


Supervisors Make the Difference

Research shows:

Workers don’t leave

their jobs,

they leave their supervisors


Traditional Approach to Supervision

1. Identify issues to be addressed

2. Explain the rules clearly

3. Explain the consequences of breaking the rules

4. Offer possible solutions to the problem

5. Request or direct the worker to comply with work rules

Let’s look at this approach in a sample role play.


Traditional Approach to Supervision

What chance do you think this supervisory intervention

has of resolving the issue and retaining the worker?


Coaching Approach to Supervision

Relationships are at the heart of work with people who are elderly, chronically ill or living with disabilities

Studies have shown that relationships that workers establish with consumers is what draws them to home health and LTC - and the quality of relationships with coworkers and SUPERVISORS keeps them there


Supervisors Can Exemplify Quality Relationship Skills

Quality relationships underlie quality care

When agencies and consumers focus on developing workers’ problem solving and relationship skills, they benefit through increased efficiency, delivery of better quality care, and a more positive culture

Supervisors and consumer employers are the natural leaders to model and these skills


Coaching Supervision

Coaching supervision is an approach to working with DCWs that focuses on developing relationship and problem-solving skills

Coaching differs from the traditional supervisory role by its EMPHASIS on helping the worker develop skills and in the respectful way the coach supervisor behaves toward the worker


Let’s Try it Another Way!

Demonstration role play May I have two volunteers?


Debriefing the Role Play

What did the supervisor do?

How did the worker react?

What is the likely outcome of this interaction?

What chance do you think this intervention has of succeeding in resolving the problem and retaining the worker?


Your Experience with Supervising

How does this role play relate to your experience of supervising or being supervised?

Are there familiar aspects to the coaching approach?

Have you tried to take a similar approach with workers you supervise?

Have you ever had a supervisor take a similar approach?


Let’s Compare…

Yes, this took more time than the 1st situation, but…

How could the extra time spent initially with the coaching approach save time in the long run?


What a Coach Supervisor Does1. Create a relationship with the worker

2. Clearly state the problem

3. Gather information on the worker’s perspective

4. Engage in problem-solving with the worker

5. Help the worker commit to action steps

How do these 5 steps relate to the role play?


Skills a Supervisor Needs to Carry Out the Steps

1. Pulling Back – Managing Your Responses

2. Actively Listening

3. Understanding Your Own Personal Style – and those of Others

4. Presenting the Problem without Blame or Judgment to Hold the Worker Accountable


Managing Our Responses

Our emotional responses to what others communicate – verbally and nonverbally – often get in the way of our ability to listen with full attention

We are rarely able to control the behavior of others, but we can control our own internal responses

Shifting our internal responses makes it possible to listen more attentively

The result is more effective and positive communication

The first step in shifting our internal responses to someone’s words or tone of voice

is to become consciously aware of those responses


Pulling back is the ability to gain emotional control in stressful settings. It generally leads to more effective communication and more positive supervisory outcomes

Practical pull-back strategies can help us both in the moment and longer term

Pulling back does not mean being soft or condoning poor behavior. It makes it LESS LIKELY that a supervisor will be manipulated.

What do you do in emotionally stressful situations to keep yourself focused on your values, goals

and long-term hopes and not your immediate reaction?


Truly Listening

Once we’ve gained awareness and control of our emotions, we can listen attentively, and make a conscious choice to:

Keep pulling back from negative judgments and stereotypes

Remain CURIOUS about the other person, and

Stay OPEN to possible changing our opinion

We listen well when we bring our FULL attention to the conversation

Traditionally, supervisors often focus on the worker as the problem. A Supervisor Coach focuses on the problem as something the worker is experiencing along with you and can help you solve.


Listening as a Supervisor

Coaching Supervisors assume that a more complete story always lies behind the fragments they initially learn

Finding out more of a worker’s story does NOT require counseling skills

Coach Supervisors’ 1st task is to LISTEN ACTIVELY TO THE WORKER’S PERSPECTIVE! The worker feels respected and valued. The Supervisor learns the root causes of the concern being discussed

Coach Supervisors in workplaces need to be clear about professional boundaries when speaking with workers about their lives


Presenting the Problem

An important part of respecting, caring for and believing in workers is holding them accountable

A Coach Supervisor communicates to the DCW:

“I believe in you and I believe you can do this job well. Therefore, I’m going to hold you to it.”

Accountability begins with letting workers know what you expect of them in their jobs and how they are expected to do it

The next step is to promptly present the problems to the worker when they arise and involve the worker in problem solving


Presenting the Problem

Three rules for presenting the problem

Be clear and direct about what the problem is

Use objective language that is free from blame or judgment

Indicate belief in the worker’s ability to resolve the problem


Objective Language

Expresses neither blame nor judgment

Statement of fact, not opinion

Describes specific behavior rather than characterizing or generalizing about the person

Opposite of subjective language, which carries blame, judgment or opinion

Most people use subjective language unconsciously


What is Objective Language?

Subjective: You are always getting here late; you must not be committed to this job”

Objective: I’ve noticed that you’ve been between 10-20 minutes late several times this week. Is there something that is making it difficult for you to arrive on time?

* Remember-Using objective language takes practice!


Belief in the Worker’s Ability

Supervisors convey to workers that they believe in them through voice, tone, and body language – as well as what is said

Coach Supervisors are clear about the problem, without blaming, while showing care for the person and indicating that the problem is not all the supervisor sees

For example:

“You’ve been on time every day for 3 weeks and then this past Friday you were more than 20 minutes late on Tuesday and Friday. You have been extremely reliable up till now, and that makes me wonder if something unusual is happening for you to cause this problem.”


What Does it Take to Be a Coaching Supervisor?

What skills do you need to enhance to be an effective Coaching Supervisor?

Why is it important to you to develop these skills and take the Coaching approach to Supervision?


Resources for Coaching Supervision

Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute Coaching Supervision Curriculum Employing, Supporting, and Retaining Your

Personal Assistant: A Curriculum for People with Disabilities

www.directcareclearinghouse.org

www.paraprofessional.org

Maureen Sheahan, PHI Michigan Practice Specialist (248) 376-5701 - [email protected]

MICHIGAN’S LONG-TERM CARE CONFERENCE Thursday, March 23rd 10:50 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

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Transcript of MICHIGAN’S LONG-TERM CARE CONFERENCE Thursday, March 23rd 10:50 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.