Employee supervision and mentoring can unfortunately come with undefined challenges, and sometimes it can be difficult to know which is harder:  being on the receiving end of bad news, or giving the message.  As uncomfortable as these situations may be for both the supervisor and employee, effective feedback is crucial towards professional growth and sets the stage for a productive workplace.  That is why rapport, reflection, and review are critical skills for you to learn as an up-and-coming manager. 

Professional intention versus perception

Depending upon the communication structure of your agency, mentorship and supervision can be vastly different from one another, and ironically, they can also be very similar as well.  Again, this depends upon the structure that has been established.  

Nonetheless, whatever structure has been implemented, team rapport is a necessary component for helping you create roles and boundaries with your staff, and also for giving timely feedback.   When establishing rapport, it is advisable that managers understand how their staff interact within their own ecosystem so that the manager can relate better to the employee.  This may encompass understanding personality, coping techniques, and communication style.   Managers take the time to get to know their staff on a deeper level so that when it is time to have these conversations, then the message has the ability to be conveyed more clearly and isn’t misunderstood by lack of rapport.  As a result, structural changes have a better chance of being implemented from your staff at a quicker rate.

The rapport that we build with staff matters immensely, and it is important to assess how our interaction style not only affects the staff as individuals, but also how they interact with each other.  Additionally, it is also important to know how we as managers interact with the entire group as well.  This is a dynamic perspective that managers must adapt because this foresight can give us the ability to correct interpersonal problems prior to them exacerbating.  It is always best to catch these types of problems early on and address them through  team discussions.  

Difference between supervision and coaching

Everyone wants to be heard and respected, and it is through the continuum of respect that we engage our employees in ongoing,  reflective feedback sessions. 

In the beginning of establishing a new team, reflective feedback can be an  awkward experience, and it is easy to avoid giving feedback..  But,  this style of  feedback gives employees the opportunities they deserve to  advance within the agency.  The employees cannot begin to grow if they don’t have a goal to work on.  

When giving feedback, it is best to guide the conversation from a factual and objective perspective.  That is why the earlier that these conversations are established, the expectation of quality communication will be more embedded into your culture..  Additionally, when these conversations are done in a small group, specifically no more than five people, it gives employees the chance to learn from each other while keeping the stakes low.   Employees begin to build their culture based upon identifying key metric indicators for the agency, pathways on how to achieve this, and a shared sense of values.  Therefore, if more intense feedback is required, the manager now has the opportunity to speak to the individual employee on how to better succeed. 

People Planning is one of the many techniques that helps managers organize their communications with employees. If you are ready to begin your journey, we can help you begin to build  a values based culture, give you updates that affect your business, and leadership opportunities to help you grow as a professional.