Health Outreach Coordinators wear many hats; they are often responsible for program planning and evaluation, conducting outreach, and supervising outreach staff. Supervision does not come naturally to everyone nor is it easy. Here are some helpful hints to keep in mind for effective supervision.
1. Remember your responsibilities
Supporting your staff should not take precedence over your responsibilities. If payroll is not done on time, deadlines are not met, and reports are not completed, the outreach program will suffer. While supporting your staff requires your attention, your responsibility is to meet the goal of the outreach program to provide effective outreach services to the target population.
2. Set an example
You can set the tone for the pace of work as well as dedication to and respect for the communities you serve. Conversely, if your actions do not correspond to the rules you have set, you will have little legitimacy with staff.
3. Deal with personality problems quickly
Encourage staff to come to you about any issue that affects their work or their ability to work with one another. Encourage staff, as much as possible, to resolve interpersonal problems directly with each other in a professional manner. You should also be prepared to deal with these issues in a mature and confidential manner. During busy periods, a minor misunderstanding can disrupt your staff’s rhythm and lower morale. In this vein, you should make every effort to avoid or stop gossip and rumors among staff.
4. Seek help with staff issues
Chances are that someone in your organization has experience in personnel and human resource issues. Some issues could have legal ramifications and mistakes can be very damaging. For example, do not take lightly an outreach worker’s comment that a coworker has been behaving inappropriately. Sexual harassment, substance abuse, discrimination, workplace accidents, and others are heavy issues that can have serious consequences if not handled properly.
5. Involve staff in decision-making
Staff should be encouraged to seek solutions to problems within your organization so that they will have ownership of eventual policy changes. When staff has not been involved in policies or policy changes, try to communicate the reasoning behind the changes as clearly as possible. Policies that come down from upper management, which you may not agree with, should still be objectively communicated to staff.
6. Know your staff’s limits.
Remember to allow time for your staff to recover from extremely busy periods. Dedicated outreach workers, especially those who are new, could quickly tire if they experience a heavy workload for prolonged periods of time. As a supervisor, you may need to give staff time off even when they do not think they need it.
Supervision can be difficult but it can also empower and motivate outreach staff to be happier and more efficient. Effective and thoughtful supervisors can help create a supportive environment that will raise staff morale, help staff build their skills, increase their knowledge, and encourage them to contribute more to the outreach program and organization.