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Student Employment Foundations: Supervisor Session

The Supervisor foundations session will discuss how the Work+ framework can be integrated into your student employment experiences and share best practices that can be customized to fit the needs of your working learners.  Join us for this quick and easy session to become a Work+ early adopter.  

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Competencies

Teamwork

Remember to encourage the working learner to provide specific examples from their experiences and to discuss both successes and areas where they may want to improve. The supervisor should offer constructive feedback and support the student in their continued growth and development as a strong team player.

  • Describe a recent team project or collaboration where you actively demonstrated your ability to listen carefully to others and understand their perspectives. How did your active listening contribute to the success of the project, and were there any challenges you encountered in practicing this skill?
  • Conflict is a natural part of teamwork. Can you share an example of a situation where you effectively managed conflict within your team? How did you approach the resolution process, and what strategies did you use to interact respectfully with diverse personalities during this time?
  • Being knowledgeable about the entire organization to be able to help anyone at any time.
  • Bounce ideas off of each other constantly on how to solve the daily problems a team may face.
  • Understanding of roles and shared goals and actively engaging in collaboration to achieve those (all for one, one for all).
  • Peer to Peer training.
  • Take the Career EDGE course Working with Difficult PeopleDiscussion questions:
    • How can you identify and understand difficult people? 
    • What techniques do you see yourself using most frequently to improve communication and teamwork within the workplace?
  • View the Ted Talk, How To Turn a Group of Strangers Into a TeamDiscussion questions:
    • Why are hospitals and animation groups good examples of stranger teaming? 
    • What work requires an “unstable” team? 
    • What is “professional culture clash” in teaming? 
    • What caused the teaming in Chile to be a success?
  • As a team, decide what free service you would want for the next 5 years: cook/nutritionist, chauffeur, housekeeper, masseuse, personal trainer, or personal secretary. Discuss pros and cons to each. 
  • Create a slideshow presentation on an agreed upon topic (favorite movie genre, place to vacation etc). Present as a team.

Leadership

Remember to encourage open and honest communication during the discussion, allowing the working learner to share their experiences and growth while also providing constructive feedback and guidance as a supervisor.

  • As a role model to others in your position, how do you approach tasks with confidence and a positive attitude? Can you think of a situation where your positive approach had a noticeable impact on team morale or productivity? How do you ensure that you consistently maintain this positive outlook?
  • Reflect on a recent project or task where you demonstrated leadership skills. How did you inspire and motivate yourself and others under a shared vision? What strategies did you use to build mutual trust and encourage your team members throughout the project?
  • Working learners alternate leading team meetings.
  • Working learners are tasked with creating events and opportunities that they think would be helpful for ASU students.
  • Working learners lead projects and oversees the work of their peers.
  • Working learners take ownership of their projects by continually applying recommendations and making improvements.
  • Take the Leadership Foundations Career EDGE course. Discussion questions: 
    • What insights did you gain about styles, and practical approaches? 
    • How will this help you be a better leader?
  • Take the leadership style quiz. What surprised you about the results? What didn’t? How can you make the best use of this knowledge? Discussion questions:
    • What qualities do you appreciate and respond to in a leader? 
    • Create your ideal leader and discuss the traits that make them so.
  • Review the types of leaders in the Forbes article. Then have everyone take the leadership style quiz and guess what type of leader each person in the group is. Discussion Questions:
    • - Were there any correct guesses? 
    • - How can different leadership styles work together effectively?
  • Work with others in a digital Hogwarts escape room. Did anyone emerge as a leader of the group or were there several? How did this impact the overall result?

Communication

Encourage the working learner to reflect on their communication experiences, both successes and areas for improvement. The supervisor can offer feedback and suggestions on enhancing their communication skills to become even more effective in their role.

  • Clarity and organization are key aspects of communication. Describe a situation where you communicated a complex idea or task in a clear and organized manner, making it easy for others to understand. How do you approach tailoring your communication to accommodate diverse learning styles, individual communication abilities, and cultural differences?
  • Prompt communication is crucial for smooth workflow and avoiding delays. Reflect on a situation where you promptly informed relevant parties when you needed guidance or support with your assigned tasks. How do you balance seeking assistance while also attempting to troubleshoot and solve problems independently when appropriate?
  • Working learners answer phone calls, as well as in-person questions, while providing great customer service.
  • Interface and support faculty, staff, and students with their questions and needs.
  • Asking appropriate questions to clarify tasks and goals, engaging in Slack channels, responding to email requests in a timely manner.
  • Sending emails on behalf of our organization to outside community members or potential guest speakers.
  • Read "What Type of Communicator are You?" and discuss the different types of communicators. Discussion Questions: 
    • - Which one are you? 
    • - How can you enable effective communication between different styles?
  • Take the written communication quiz/activity Discuss how difficult it can be to follow written instructions.
  • Take the Communication Styles Quiz and discuss the results. Do you agree? Disagree?
  • Create a short (5 minutes or less) lecture on anything you feel passionate about and present to your co-workers.

Technology

Encourage working learners to share their experiences with technology and how they have leveraged it to achieve strategic goals. The supervisor can offer feedback, recommend additional training if needed, and discuss ways to further enhance their technology skills in their role.

  • Using technology to improve efficiency is a valuable skill. Describe a task or process where you utilized technology to enhance productivity in your college student employment position. How did this technology help streamline the workflow, and what benefits did it bring to your work?
  • Quickly adapting to new technologies is a valuable skill in a rapidly evolving digital landscape. Describe a situation where you successfully adapted to a new or unfamiliar technology with minimal delay. What strategies do you employ to facilitate a smooth transition when faced with new technological challenges?
  • Weekly meetings held via Zoom to accommodate working learners that are located throughout all the ASU campuses and ASU Online.
  • Use Google Drive, Dropbox and Slack for communication, collaboration, and documentation for projects.
  • Working learners create multimedia and provide administrative assistance for technology platform while using tools such as Adobe and Trello for project management.

Equity & Inclusion

Encourage the working learner to share their experiences, challenges, and growth in promoting equity and inclusion in their role. The supervisor can provide support, offer feedback, and discuss strategies for further fostering a diverse and inclusive environment within the working learner employment setting.

  • Cross-cultural interactions can enhance understanding and personal growth. Share an experience where you sought global cross-cultural interactions and how it broadened your understanding of people from different demographic groups. How do you apply the lessons learned from these experiences to your work environment?
  • Advocacy is an important aspect of equity and inclusion. Reflect on an instance where you advocated for the needs and empowerment of historically marginalized communities. How did you approach this advocacy, and what outcomes did you achieve?
  • Working with  both domestic and international students and professionals so we must understand cultural variations with understanding and respect.
  • Applying  insights from current student perspective in designing solutions.
  • Giving tasks that will help working learners grow personally and professionally 
  • Having a set of questions working learners can ask themselves will help them address equity and inclusion; even  just asking "Whom might this exclude?" is a good practice.
  • Watch the Rosalind G. Brewer Ted Talk conversationDiscussion questions:
    • - What “AHA!” moments did you take away from it? 
    • - What steps can you personally make to continue the conversation and make our workplace a better place to be?
  • Watch 5 Ways to Listen Better. How can you incorporate these concepts into your work?
  • Take the Cultivating Cultural Competence and Inclusion Career EDGE course. Discussion questions:
    • - How does your behavior influence those around you? 
    • - How can you learn to adapt to and understand cultural differences?

Professionalism

Encourage the working learner to provide specific examples of their professionalism and how they demonstrate these skills in their daily work. The supervisor should offer feedback and support to help the student continue to excel in their professional development.

  • Maintaining a positive personal brand is crucial for professional growth. How do you ensure that your actions and behavior align with the organization's values and contribute to a positive personal brand? Can you share any steps you have taken to enhance your personal brand within the organization and beyond?
  • Prioritization and goal completion are signs of a dedicated professional. Describe a time when you successfully prioritized tasks to achieve organizational goals. How do you handle competing demands to ensure that you consistently meet or exceed expectations?
  • Being able to positively handle difficult issues and maintain a professional atmosphere
  • Maintain a positive attitude while working in sometimes less than ideal circumstances
  • Connect with other departments to support unit initiatives
  • Learning project management skills and learning to meet deadlines via programming events
  • Discuss what your personal brand is with your supervisor. How would you explain yours? How does your personal brand fit into the culture of your workplace? How is this important?
  • Write an elevator pitch or powerful introduction, present to your supervisor and coworkers and critique. What elements make for a good introduction?

Career and Self-development

Encourage your working learner to provide specific examples of their career and self-development initiatives. The supervisor can offer feedback and support their growth by discussing additional resources or opportunities to enhance their career development in the working learner employment position.

  • Setting goals and plans for the future is an important aspect of career development. Describe the steps you have taken to develop plans and goals for your future career. How do you ensure that these plans align with your aspirations and values?
  • Taking on new duties and seeking development opportunities can lead to professional progress. Share an example of a time when you assumed additional responsibilities or positions to further your professional growth. How do you proactively seek out opportunities to expand your skills and knowledge?
  • Inviting staff from Career Services and Student Cultural Engagment to come speak with the working learners.
  • Discuss different career development topics during staff meetings.
  • Working learners run orientations at the beginning of the semester.
  • Participate in Linkedin Learning.
  • Update your resume with this role and have your supervisor and/or a teammate review it. Utilize Career Services to fine-tune it.
  • Watch The Secret To Giving Great Feedback. Discussion questions: 
    • - What are the two “camps” of giving feedback and why are they generally ineffective? 
    • - What is the four part formula of giving good feedback? Do you agree with this concept?
    • - Invite a guest speaker from Career Services to come and speak about their career development.

Critical thinking

Encourage the working learner to provide specific examples and share their approach to applying critical thinking skills in different situations. The supervisor should provide constructive feedback and guidance to help the student further enhance their critical thinking abilities in their role.

  • Decision-making is an essential aspect of critical thinking. Can you share an example of a recent decision you made in your college student employment position using sound reasoning and judgment? How did you ensure that your decision was inclusive and considered different perspectives and stakeholders?
  • Gathering and analyzing information from diverse sources is crucial for understanding complex problems. Describe a situation where you effectively gathered information from various sources and individuals to gain a comprehensive understanding of a challenge. How did this information influence the problem-solving process?
  • Include working learners in brainstorming and developing solutions to issues that arise to have them think critically about and through challenges.
  • Dealing with difficult questions and student escalations.
  • Must listen to understand customer service issues and critically think through the best solution.
  • Responding to multiplex situations, from non-emergencies to crises.
  • Ernest Hemingway famously created his shortest work of fiction using just six words. For sale: baby shoes, never worn. Write a six word memoir to describe who you are. Six words. No more, no less.
  • Play 2 truths and a lie. Critically think about how to determine the lie. How can you use non verbal communication?