Target Audience

Consultants at all levels working as supervisors..

Overview

The Postgraduate Medical Council of Victoria has recently introduced a new education program for consultants, the Strengthening Supervisory Skills (SSS) Program. The SSS program was developed in response to calls from consultants for a program to support their professional development needs, which is similar to components of the Clinical Leadership in Practice Program for registrars. The program consists of the following three modules:

Module 1: Being Self-aware

Being self-aware allows you to understand other people, how they perceive you, your attitude and your responses to them in the moment. Self-awareness is associated with higher levels of job satisfaction, being able to manage your emotions better, and being a more effective teacher and leader. The focus of the module is on gaining personal mastery of strengths and developmental needs and includes activities for:

Establishing and shaping identity
Understanding personal preferences and impact on behaviour – using the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) as a developmental tool.

Module 2: Performance Improvement versus Bullying

Supervisors have reported feeling under-prepared to provide negative feedback to assist performance improvement of junior doctors, especially in the current climate where there is a greater awareness of workplace bullying. This module will assist you to:

Understand the characteristics that differentiate performance management from bullying behaviour
Identify strategies to address difficult performance management situations
Identify common performance management traps and ways to avoid them
Formulate plans to improve performance
Manage documentation requirements associated with performance management

Module 3: Understanding and Developing Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence (EI) is a set of skills that help us better perceive, understand and manage emotions in ourselves and in others. Collectively they help us make intelligent responses to, and use of, emotions. Emotional Intelligence skills are important in determining success in work and in life. Everyone, no matter what job function, has interactions with other people. Your capacity to understand your emotions, to be aware of them and how they impact the way you behave and relate to others, will improve your ‘people‘ skills and help you ultimately be more satisfied and successful. The focus of the module is on the six EI skills:

Self-awareness
Awareness of others
Authenticity
Emotional reasoning
Self-management
Positive influence