Publications from ODSW Social Work Supervsion | Page 64

Workshop 5: Harnessing Supervisees’ Feedback to Enhance Supervision Practice: Sharing on AWWA’s FSC’s Supervision Review Journey

Workshop 5: Harnessing Supervisees’ Feedback
to Enhance Supervision Practice: Sharing on
AWWA’s FSC’s Supervision Review Journey
Workshop Presenter:
Ms Charlotte Chen
Head - Casework and Counselling
AWWA Family Service Centre

Rationale & Objectives of the Supervision Review
The desire for a supervision review came about in 2011 when young supervisors in the
agency wanted to find out how supervision was for their supervisees. They were also aware
of the inherent power-difference in the supervisor-supervisee relationship and hence felt
that it was important to have an avenue to hear from the supervisees. This was especially
crucial as the organisational culture in AWWA Family Service Centre (FSC) at that time was
rather top-down. Hence, it was not only counter cultural, but it was also an effort to
gradually shift the agency culture to one that was more open, and to provide supervisees
with a platform to provide feedback.
Objectives
The agency had the following objectives:
o To elicit feedback from supervisees regarding supervision practice such that
supervisors could improve.
o To learn, educate and align supervision practice within the agency.
o To monitor the supervision process, which might sometimes be a closed system.
These objectives were set in place to help improve the overall standards of supervision,
which the key note speaker Dr Tsui mentioned, would help to improve the quality of
service and eventually, client outcomes. The agency also sends an important message that
it values supervision.
Methods used in Supervision Review
In order to carry out their supervision review, the agency used a mixture of methods such
as supervision satisfaction questionnaires and focus group discussions. The choice of forms
and focus group questions depended on the objective of the supervision review and hence
were adapted accordingly. In AWWA FSC, the main questionnaire used is the Short Form
Supervision Satisfaction Questionnaire developed by Munson (2002). It has been
administered annually since 2011, and is useful, feasible and relatively easy to administer. It
includes both qualitative and quantitative measures and takes into account the
development of self-awareness, respect as a professional, and improvement in
effectiveness. Another is the Supervision Analysis Questionnaire also developed by
Munson (2002) which is far more detailed and takes into account a total of 14 different
dimensions such as general supervisory satisfaction, supervisor’s knowledge, evaluation of
practice, supervisors’ sharing of practice, anger confrontation, supervision external
limitations, workload activity, and overall ranking of supervision experience. Though greatly
in-depth, AWWA found it to be difficult to administer due to its lengthy nature and the
difficulty in analysing and processing the data. Both questionnaires can be found in the
Handbook of Clinical Supervision.
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