Supportive Supervision

Supportive supervision refers to mentoring, coaching, and motivating subordinates to deliver better services and ensure their growth and development. An effective supportive supervision system for ICDS can aid in improving the quality of services provided by Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) leading to improved beneficiary experience, increase in uptake of services and strengthening of the overall system.

The supportive supervision App has been developed as a part of the intervention designed by Alive & Thrive (A&T) to support Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) under the aegis of the Directorate of Women & Child Development, Gujarat for improving the coverage and quality of nutrition services to all eligible beneficiaries.

What is the SS App?
The SS App is a simple, easy to use, mobile-based user-friendly App. This App has been designed to help the supervisory cadres (MS, CDPO and DPO) of ICDS perform various duties and make supportive supervision effective and easy.

Features of the App

1. Monthly Planner
Monthly planner has provisions for planning dates for joint visits with respective supervisees for joint home visits for beneficiaries, Mangal Diwas, AWCs, conducting review meetings, reminders, and notifications. 

2. Assigned Workers
This tab will show all the supervisees assigned to each supervisory cadre for ICDS covered under the intervention. The tab further helps to see the coverage data and quality data for each supervisee for their respective AWC/ Seja/ Ghatak.

3. Checklists
The App contains checklists to observe and rate quality of service provision for conducting field visits and supervising review meetings contextualised to each supervisory cadre. Checklists have multiple-choice questions to record appropriate answers. 

4. Debrief Sessions
The App has an in-built mechanism to aid in conducting Debrief Sessions. After the responses are recorded through the observation checklists, it helps to identify issues with the service quality and hold a structured debrief session with the concerned supervisee to resolve issues or escalate it.

5. Performance Dashboard
The App will have two types of performance tabs in the Performance Dashboard that can be accessed by the supervisors:

5.1 Supervisee performance tab (showing the performance of respective supervisees)

5.2 Your performance tab (showing the respective supervisor’s performance)

6. Review Meeting Dashboard
The App will have a Review Meeting Dashboard for each level where supervisors can conduct and supervise review meetings. Its features will include:

6.1 Prompts for pre-meeting actions
Steps to conduct the meeting and record proceedings

6.2 Prompts for following post-meeting follow-ups on action points

7. Job Aids
The App is equipped with Job Aids. These job aids contain summary points to help the supervisory cadres perform necessary actions for supportive supervision.

8. Feedback Mechanism
The app provides opportunity to the supervisees to provide feedback on supportive supervision visits of their supervisors.

Benefits of the App
The App will help supervisors plan their visits and avoid conflict of dates

The App ensures that Supervisors are doing supportive supervision of all their supervises in a set periodic time frame

The supervisors can access the list of all the supervisees under them through the app and schedule their interactions

They can use a simple digital checklist to observe, assess and record information about the quality of services instead of cumbersome paperwork

The checklists have provision for collecting information on satisfaction of beneficiaries with the services, hence, act as an in-built feedback mechanism

Supervisors can make data-driven decisions by identifying gaps in the quality of services  

The performance dashboard will help supervisors understand where their supervisees need help and support and provide them with mentoring accordingly.