Meeting the Special Challenges of Supervisors

NACM presented the Association's first regional seminar for supervisors in Indianapolis, November 15-17, 2004.  This seminar, co-sponsored by the Behavioral Health Education Department of Drexel University, was designed by the NACM Board to meet the training and support needs requested by supervisors in response to several NACM surveys about the unique continuing education needs of those supervising case managers and service coordinators.

Eighty-two Supervisors attended the seminar. Fifty percent of those attending were from Indiana and surrounding states, but New York, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma and Virginia were also well represented and one supervisor traveled all the way from Anchorage for the seminar!

The seminar was held from Monday noon to Wednesday noon to minimize the time participants would be away from home, allowing them to drive or fly on Monday morning and make the return trip on Wednesday afternoon.  The two-day seminar provided 13 Continuing Education Units for each of the 82 participants completing the course.

The seminar was competency driven and based on adult learning methods involving a high degree of participation and sharing of ideas.  Subjects covered during the Seminar included:

v     Understanding motivations and potential limitations of case managers

v     Choosing and keeping competent case managers

v     "My poor attitude?" - Examining challenges in supervision

v     Providing responsive leadership

v     Ethical issues in supervision

v     Stress and time management for overscheduled supervisors

v     Managing for outcomes: Performance Based and Person-Centered

The final section of the seminar was devoted to addressing participant identified supervisory challenges.  At the beginning of the seminar, participants were asked to identify their biggest challenges in managing for outcomes.  These participant identified challenges were addressed by small groups who shared experience, ideas and methods to meet the management challenges. To receive a brief summary of the challenges and their solutions, email NACM at nacm@yournacm.com

The seminar concluded with a grand prize drawing for a free registration and hotel stay for the Twelfth National NACM conference held in Philadelphia, June 4-8, 2005.  Evaluations from the participants were extremely positive encouraging NACM to provide additional  seminars in other regions to reach as many supervisors as possible. 

If you are interested in having a Regional NACM Supervisor Seminar in your area, let us know by email with your phone
number and we will call you to help us get the ball rolling!  nacm@yournacm.com