The previous paper in this series (Ellis, 2024), examined one-to-one supervision and the practicalities of providing it. It identified how supervision is a form of guided reflection that is used not only to enable a staff member’s personal and professional development, but also to prepare them to undertake reflection in and on practice for themselves. 

The paper identified some of the practical issues that need to be considered when planning and undertaking a supervision. It outlined how it is important that the supervisor and supervisee enter into an ongoing dialogue to get the most out of the supervision sessions. Some of the active listening skills a supervisor needs were identified.

In this paper, I will consider the nature of group supervision, what it aims to achieve and some of the practicalities of providing it. 

Group supervision

Group supervision usually involves a group of individuals who meet as part of a formal process with a designated facilitator – the supervisor. A group may have various features in common; for example, they work together, are recently qualified or have been involved in an incident or issue together. The members will be working towards a common goal (Valentino et al, 2016). For example, they may be reflecting on and coming to grips with being a newly qualified nurse. 

Group supervision should not be used as a replacement for one-to-one supervision which is more focussed on individual development. Group supervision is not about the individual, although doubtless individuals will gain benefit from it, rather it is about exploring group goals. It is also useful for people to develop public speaking and debating skills as well as learning to speak in a group setting. 

Group supervision can be useful for debriefing after a stressful event, during a period of change or transition, or when a team has hit a rough patch. Such supervision can help people reflect on ways of coping and adapting to a situation or a change together and can be used to develop team cohesion. Sometimes, these sessions are best facilitated by someone from outside the management structure of the team. Sometimes such sessions are best considered as a short-term tool for team support.

What group supervision achieves

Group supervision for staff who know each other can be quite a natural setting for learning and development. Group supervision also has a role to play in problem solving (Lavery et al, 2016). In these scenarios, the group members explore an issue or problem together and use the narrative as a way of understanding the issue from a range of viewpoints. The group then uses its own internal expertise as a way of finding understandings about the issue and solutions to problems. In this way, the group works in a reflective manner by asking core questions that resemble reflective models, such as Rolfe at al’s “What, so what and now what?” (Rolfe et al, 2002). 

Not all issues addressed in the group need be shared to the group because group supervision is also a good way to address problems and issues faced by individual group members. In this way, the other group members get to help their colleagues work through issues in a way which is meaningful to them as they all share some common features, such as place of work. Groups can provide mutual support and, as a result, the members all experience personal growth and insights (Lavery et al, 2016). 

Therefore, one key benefit over one-to-one supervision is that group supervision enables the supervisees to explore an issue from the point of view of other group members. This also allows the group members to gain feedback from others and to listen to the solutions others have applied to similar situations in the past. According to Dilworth et al (2013), these benefits are multiplied when group supervision takes places with different members of the multidisciplinary team as members. 

The key to good group supervision

As with all supervision, the terms of reference are important for all members of the group to sign up to. The group needs an agenda and everyone must agree and observe the agreed behaviours for the group – for example, unconditional positive regard for all group members. 

Properly facilitated and with agreed rules in place, group supervision should be a safe place for people to explore clinical and professional issues without feeling judged. Perhaps counter-intuitively, the one-to-one environment is not as easy to open up in for some individuals as a group situation; therefore, when dealing with some issues, the group setting may be better for many individuals. 

Clearly, many people develop a shared sense of belonging in a group and feel less isolated as individuals and professionals (McCarthy et al, 2021) because by listening to others they develop the sense that they are not alone in their experiences or in the way in which they respond to these. 

In common with any meeting, formal or informal, it is important to get some things right to ensure that attendees get the maximum benefit from the meeting. This includes being clear about factors such as why the group is meeting, what can be talked about and what cannot, and being open from the start about which things need to be treated confidentially.

It is important that group supervision does not become a moaning shop where nothing is ever resolved. Instead, attendees need to agree that it is a forum for exploring issues and ideas and coming to some conclusions. This aids attendees in developing practice knowledge, skills and confidence (Golia and McGivern, 2015), rather than leaving them depressed and anxious. 

Facilitators should enable the group to come to a consensus about who gets to speak and for how long and how the group ensures everyone who wants to participate is able to do so (Proctor, 2008). 

When the session is ending, the facilitator should also wrap up by exploring with the group what the take-home messages are and what worked in the session and what did not. The wrap-up serves to create an agenda for future sessions and gives the participants things to consider and reflect on between sessions. 

Role of the supervisor

As in one-to-one supervision, the role of the supervisor/facilitator is not to teach or tutor the group members, but more to act as a critical friend (Murphy-Hagan and Milton, 2020). This means the facilitator needs to challenge the group members with questions which are probing. This means asking questions to get to the heart of issues so that the group explore the details of a situation and any solutions rather than being superficial. It is also about challenging misconceptions or behaviours that exclude other group members, so that all of the group members have the opportunity to speak if they wish. 

Facilitation is also sometimes about being comfortable with silence. Some issues will require group members to think and reflect on either a situation or something which someone in the group has said. Pushing the group on too quickly is not always helpful because the purpose of the group supervision is to tap into the collective intelligence and understanding of the members.

The benefits of group supervision

Shared supervision done well is a great way for a team to get to know and respect each other. In turn, this leads to improvements in communication within the group – both within the supervision process and outside. In part, this comes as people realise the other members of the group are human too and start to develop empathy for each other (Valentino et al, 2016). Group supervision can also lead to increased satisfaction at work and a reduction in stress as team members realise they are not facing challenges alone. 

Teams that undergo supervision together grow as a team, and individual resilience and the ability to manage stressful situations increases as a result. Individual team members will also grow in confidence and this may have positive benefits for people in the receipt of care. 

Some negatives of group supervision 

For some people, group supervision can be provoke anxiety because they do not work well in a group setting, while others see it as a waste of time, which might be used better elsewhere (Buus et al, 2018). There is no doubt that there are issues with groups always being able to reassemble for supervision, so the dynamic might change between sessions, which may lead to less group cohesion and impact on the experience. 

Conclusion

This paper has explored a little of what is meant by group supervision. Group supervision requires that some boundaries be agreed and that the group all agree to treat each other with respect. It is a means to achieve professional, and arguably personal, development, but the benefits might also be manifested at team level.

While some group supervision occurs on a ongoing basis, it can also be undertaken in response to a situation or incident. The role of the facilitator is to probe the group members so that their discussion explore issues in detail, rather than being superficial. The facilitator must also ensure that everyone who wants to get the opportunity to speak 

In the next paper in this series, I will consider some of the practical issues which need to be addressed when undertaking group supervision.