Managing your Supervisor

Managing your Supervisor A\Professor Mary-Louise McLaws School of Public Health & Community Medicine

Supervision or woman “An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made, in a very narrow field.” Niels Bohr

Forms of Supervision Absent mentally / physically • Polygamy • Absent spouse Present only just! In your dreams!! • Excusive partnership Present

Forms of Supervision Slave Equal partnership Mentor “Galileo and Leonardo get together for an experiment”

Now for the bad news

Mentor, Polygamist or Absent spouse have in common 6 students at any one time all at different stages all needing 1-to-1 help at some stage When do you get your fair share of their brain??

Making the Meeting Work for YOU Remember…. You’ve chosen your supervisor because they are an expert in their field BUT…. • Lectures • Research • Clinical appointment / NGO appointment etc • Scientific paper writing • Management type responsibilities • International/national conferences • Committees committees committees • Family After hours & weekend meetings – the exception not the norm

Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol or morphine or idealism Carl Jung Student Supervisor Dependency

There will be times you will NEED a meeting & times you will WANT a meeting • NEEDS meetings • early phases of the protocol • early phases of the methodology • debriefings during fieldwork Have realistic expectations – know the difference between NEEDS & WANTS meetings

Outside the negotiated times ask yourself “Is it a real NEED or a WANT” if it’s a NEED Negotiate to move a prearranged meeting forward

Negotiate WANTS meetings e.g. discussion about confusion Could this be done via email / phone? If yes - clearly state the problem & keep it brief Could it wait until the scheduled meeting? Sometimes YOU come up with the answer while you’re waiting for the meeting! in haste Whatever is produced in haste goes hastily to waste. Saadi Eureka! moments

Meeting schedules & making them work for YOU – Rule: don’t wait for the duck Early on in the ‘intellectual marriage’ negotiate frequency of meetings Needs change – so renegotiate with each stage of PhD “Man who waits for roast duck to fly into mouth must wait very very long time.” Confucius

Meeting schedules & making them work for YOU “To know the road ahead ask those coming back.” Confucius

Meeting schedules & making them work for YOU Rule: map the road Don’t rely on your memory or your supervisor’s Document EVERYTHING Document the Meeting: Aims of Meeting Outcome of the Meeting Expectations of those attending the meeting

Meeting Record

Meeting schedules & making them work for YOU Document the Plan: Timeline Who does what Who does what when Has it been achieved?

I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand. Confucius

Making the meetings work for YOU Document changes to Drafts Present old draft with red writing when you hand in your new draft with your changes

“The most useful thing about a principle is that it can always be sacrificed to expediency” Somerset Maugham “If something in your supervisor-student arrangement doesn’t work, ditch it ! ” Mary-Louise McLaws

Stress & the Supervisor Remember when checking out your supervisor’s past student’s thesis don’t stress! you may be comparing apples with oranges If you publish as you go and you receive an aggressive review don’t stress! your supervisor will tell you that what you learn from savage reviewer may save having to re do a section or part of thesis for an examiner Rarely does a thesis go exactly to plan don’t stress! your supervisor will have dealt this something like this before

Stress & the Supervisor Keep a diary of your journey to reflect on your amazing progress to deal with research problems it will impress you later! Don’t neglect your friends – you need them

Find a stress breaker!!!! jogging, meditation …find something that works for YOU & do it routinely!

“I never teach my pupils. I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.” Albert Einstein

Enjoy!

Managing your Supervisor