Hi
I think supervisors need to choose the right approach to motivate individual students - some need a kick, and others need an arm round the shoulder. Having said that, the kick I got at one point worked, but it did make me pretty miserable and disheartened for a while, so maybe a happy medium is best.

The other thing I would say is that regular deadlines and meetings have been really important for me. I have a deadline every month, which means that I produce something concrete every month (regardless of how good it really is), and that's one step closer to completing. Without the deadline I would just drift along reading what I wanted and never get round to formal analysis or writing up.

One other thing - encouraging students early on to at least flick through a couple of vaguely related PhDs would be helpful, to give them an idea of what is expected.

All the best with being a supervisor!

Will.