The Method of Peer Group Supervision

Peer Group Supervision is a systematic counselling interview approach, in which company colleagues discuss professional issues and key topics with one another. The conversation is structured into six phases and should result in solutions that are helpful to the person who presented his or her problem.

Peer Group Supervision groups are composed of six to nine participants who come together at regular intervals. Participants present their cases, problems and practical questions and during these sessions they work without external support.

Three examples of questions and problematic cases:

  • "One of my employee’s work rates has deteriorated. How should I start to talk to him/her about it?"
  • "I have become a Project Leader of a new project. How can I keep the project upbeat, so that everyone will be motivated?"
  • "I have a new employee. She finds it hard to integrate into the team and in-stead tends to be distant and uninvolved. What can I do to make her more accepted by the team?"

During the fixed process of the six phases, one of the participants takes the role as the Moderator. He or she conducts the session and at the same time activates the experiences and ideas of the others. Under the guidance of the Moderator, all of the participants discuss the case and look for suggestions and solutions that could be of help to the Case Presenter.

Within Peer Group Supervision, participants change their roles with each new case, so that the roles do not get fixed to particular members. There are no external counsellors who guide the group. This is the essence of Peer Group Supervision.

One case discussion takes about a half to three-quarters of an hour, so that during a three-hour-session three cases can be worked on. For some fields of application, it is more suitable to offer intensive days e.g. every three months. In order to understand the concept behind Peer Group Supervision, an introductory seminar is recommended.

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