Questions to Ask During Supervision
Questions to bring to a regular supervision session as the supervisee, whether that is line management supervision at work or practice supervision in social work, counselling, teaching or healthcare. Focused on your judgement calls, your workload and the standard you are held to.
The questions
Open any question for the note
What do you want to cover today, and what should I bring next time?
Why ask it
Agreeing the agenda in the first two minutes stops the session drifting into whatever is most recent. Asking about next time also means you arrive prepared rather than reconstructing events on the spot.
Which piece of my work should we look at closely rather than in passing?
Why ask it
Supervision that skims everything examines nothing. Naming one case, project or decision to go deep on is the difference between a status meeting and actual supervision.
Where would you have handled this differently from me?
Why ask it
Asking for the alternative rather than a verdict gets you a method instead of a grade. If the answer is that they would have done the same thing, ask what would have changed their mind.
Which of my recent judgement calls would you want to talk through?
Why ask it
This lets them raise something they were unsure about but had not planned to mention. It is also a way to surface a concern early, while it is still a conversation rather than a formal matter.
What have you noticed that you have not said to me yet?
Why ask it
Most supervisors are holding one observation they have been waiting for a good moment to raise. Asking directly gives them the moment, and the answer is usually more useful than any prepared feedback.
What am I bringing to you that I should be deciding myself?
Why ask it
Over-checking is as much a problem as under-checking, and it is rarely raised unprompted. The reply maps the boundary of your authority in practical terms rather than by policy.
Where is the line on what I can decide without checking first?
Why ask it
Written delegation limits and actual expectations often differ. Get an example on each side of the line, because abstract answers do not help at four on a Friday afternoon.
What is the standard I am being measured against, in concrete terms?
Why ask it
Ask for what good work looks like as an artefact or a behaviour, not an adjective. Vague standards are the reason people are surprised by their own appraisals.
Which parts of my workload are heavier than they look on paper?
Why ask it
Case counts and project lists hide the ones that take disproportionate time or carry the most risk. A supervisor with experience of similar work can usually point at the item you are underestimating.
What should I stop doing?
Why ask it
Nobody volunteers this, because adding is easier to say than removing. The answer is often a report, a meeting or a habit of double-checking that stopped being necessary a while ago.
Where do I get in my own way?
Why ask it
It gives permission for a harder observation than a feedback form would produce. Expect something about pace, delegation or how you handle disagreement rather than technical skill.
When something goes wrong, how do you want to hear about it, and how quickly?
Why ask it
Settle this before it happens rather than during. Some supervisors want the early uncertain signal, others want it once you know the facts, and guessing wrong is what turns an incident into a problem about you.
What support exists if a case or a project goes badly?
Why ask it
Worth knowing the specifics: who covers your work, what gets recorded, whether there is a debrief. People find out at the worst possible time otherwise.
What is the hardest version of my job that you have seen someone handle badly, and what did it look like early?
Why ask it
You are asking for early warning signs, which is knowledge that only comes from having watched it happen. The answer is usually about small avoidances rather than one dramatic failure.
How would you describe my work to someone above you?
Why ask it
It reveals how you are represented in rooms you are not in. A hesitant or generic answer is not necessarily bad news, but it does mean your work is not being described in a way that sticks.
What have I improved on since the last time we discussed it?
Why ask it
Supervision tends to be a list of open problems, so progress goes unrecorded. Asking closes the loop and tells you whether an earlier piece of feedback has actually been retired.
What would you need to see before I take on more responsibility?
Why ask it
Phrased as evidence, this produces something you can work towards. If the answer is only time served, that is worth knowing plainly rather than assuming a skill gap you do not have.
Are there any risks in my current work that you are more worried about than I am?
Why ask it
Directly invites the concern they have not escalated. In practice-based fields this is where safeguarding, capacity or documentation issues tend to surface first.
What is the one thing I should work on before our next session?
Why ask it
Insisting on one item forces prioritisation and gives you something checkable in a few weeks. Sessions that end with six action points end with none.
Is there anything about how these sessions run that you would change?
Why ask it
Supervision is a working arrangement and it can be adjusted: frequency, length, whether you send notes in advance. Asking is also the easiest way to say that you would like it to be more useful.
Using supervision properly
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Preparing for the session
Bring an agenda, even a short one
Three items written down: one thing going well, one decision you are unsure about, one thing you need from your supervisor. Sending it in advance gives them a chance to prepare too.
Bring the case you would rather not bring
The work you are avoiding discussing is almost always the work supervision exists for. Raising it yourself is different, in every practical way, from it reaching your supervisor another route.
Write it down during, not after
Record decisions, agreed actions and anything you were told you may proceed with. In regulated fields this record protects both of you if a decision is questioned later.
The three jobs supervision is doing
Accountability
Checking that the work meets the standard and that risks are being managed. This is the part that ends up in records and appraisals, so accuracy matters more than impression.
Development
Building your judgement over time through discussion of real decisions. This is the part most often squeezed out by urgent business, and the part you have to protect by asking for it.
Support
Acknowledging that the work is demanding and that it affects you. Naming that is legitimate, though a supervisor is not a therapist and the boundary is worth respecting on both sides.
When supervision is not working
Sessions are cancelled or keep shrinking
Ask for a shorter but protected slot rather than a long one that never happens. If sessions are a contractual or regulatory requirement, say so in writing once, without accusation.
It has become a status update
If the whole session is a list of what you did, propose bringing one case for discussion next time and send it beforehand. The change usually has to come from the supervisee.
Feedback only arrives at appraisal
Anything raised for the first time in a formal review should have been raised in supervision. Asking what they have noticed each session makes that much less likely.
You cannot be honest in the room
Where supervision and line management sit with the same person, some things are hard to say. Most fields have an alternative route, a professional supervisor, a mentor, or a peer group, and using one is normal.