Collaborative conversations. Collective learning. Curious inquiry. These are just some of the learning experiences that Nick Bolton, Founder & CEO of the International Centre for Coaching Supervision (ICCS), believes help supervision professionals “keep their saw sharp”.

To enable this to happen regularly, the ICCS will be launching three Communities of Practice (CoP) for coaching supervisors on July 1, 2021.

The CoPs are virtual spaces where coaching supervisors can discuss topical questions, shared interests, and professional challenges.

The ICCS will create three distinct spaces to allow supervisors to dive into specific discussions focused on professional practice, group supervision, and the business of supervision.

Here’s a quick look at each of them:

Community of Inquiry

The first is a fresh take on the CoP, which ICCS call a Community of Inquiry. Participants will be able to present personal inquiries into areas they are curious about and explore the group’s take on it.

“Think of it more as crowdsourcing ideas rather than the more typical presentation of predefined conclusion. It’s the true socratic method!” says, Bolton.

Alongside these inquiry conversations, participants will also engage in action-learning sessions to explore challenges and questions within their practice.

Group Supervision CoP

The second CoP will focus purely on group supervision and the unique set of challenges this brings.

Group supervision is increasingly common within the coaching field and Bolton observed that many of his school’s alumni were delivering and participating in group supervision.

It made sense then to create an exclusive space for supervisors to explore this group supervision and the specific challenges it brings around group dynamics, logistics and the supervisors own role.

The Business of Supervision

The third Community of Practice will offer a space for coaching supervisors to share ideas and strategies for growing their supervision practice as a business.

Whilst most supervisors have a foundation in business creation from developing their coaching practices, Bolton sees a need to create a space for them to learn from each other on how to apply these same skills within the supervision field.

This will be a great place for members to support each other in growing their businesses and learning from best practices!

Creating the Conditions

About the Communities of Practice in general, Bolton says,

“This is really about creating the conditions for supervisors to stay connected, stay fresh, and stay part of the profession. It is all too easy to feel lost when trying to figure this stuff out by yourself. But the answers almost always exist somewhere in the community”.

Finally, it was important to Bolton that these were not ICCS led but rather that they were driven and led by the participants themselves. So whilst ICCS will provide the administrative support, the spaces themselves will be peer-led. As Bolton says,

“ICCS creates the space, the supervisors create the magic!”

If you’re interested in participating in the Communities of Practice, drop an email to ICCS at info@iccs.co