What is coaching supervision?

By Carl, on 28 January 2010

I’ve been digging into a very powerful concept that I thought I’d share with everyone: Coaching Supervision.

It may not be what you think.

First, I have to be honest that I have a bit of resistance to the name, because of some of the underlying connotations we have to the word “supervision” here in the US. But let me stick with the name for the moment, because it’s what is being used in the UK and the rest of the world. It is similar to “supervision” in the fields of counseling and psychotherapy.

When you’re putting together a program for an organization which involves a lot of clients and a number of coaches, you have a need to:

Align the coaches around the purpose, goals, and methods of the program
Address issues that coaches are noticing with their clients
Add value by raising and discussing the alignment of the individual clients’ actions with the goals of the program and the organization

Coaching Supervision is generally implemented as a set of regular facilitated discussions amongst coaches associated with a particular program. The goals of a discussion will be to:

Learn from each other how to address coaching issues which are being raised
Ensure that coaches and clients are focusing on action which is aligned with the program goals
Uncover systematic trends and issues which may add value to the organization and program

In my experience, these discussions are facilitated to ensure a combination of learning, discovery, and sharing. The skilled supervisor (facilitator) will hold the vision of the program and organization, ensure that issues are raised and discussed using an expert coach approach, and ensure that each coach is getting value from the discussion.

This group-based supervision model is being used increasingly, but there are others such as one-to-one supervision meetings which can combine supervision, coaching, and mentoring. It’s an emerging practice which is still being designed and refined, much of the most advanced work being in the UK.

If you’re thinking about putting a program in place which involves a number of coaches, this is a powerful concept that should become a part of your plans.

Some great resources:

Developing Coaching Supervision Practice: An Australian case study (August 2009)

Coaching Supervision: An article by Peter Bluckert

The Case for Coaching Supervision by Anne Pink

Coaching Supervision: Maximising the Potential of Coaching by CIPD