Ethics, standards and evaluation     Click for Alison's curriculum vitae. In my field, there is no one school of consulting or coaching, nor a universal code of standards and ethics, such as provided by UKCP or BACP in the field of psychotherapy. The Institute of Management Consultants (IMC) and the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC) offer a Code of Ethics. As yet, it is not compulsory for supervisees or coaches to belong to either of these organisations before they start practising in their fields. Both associations offer guidelines in terms of competencies or performance criteria. I am committed to abide by the EMCC Code of Ethics for Executive Coaching. Their standards committee is still in the process of developing standards for supervision, but interim guidelines are informed by the work of Proctor in terms of the "normative, formative and restorative functions". Besides adhering to the code of ethics, there are several ways in which my supervisee/client and I evaluate the effectiveness of our work together. Within any session, we review at least two areas: Firstly, the learning and/or action points the supervisee/coach takes away from the session and my feedback to them. Secondly, I invite the supervisee/client to give me feedback on the usefulness of the session based on the contract. After a session, I personally may use Clarkson's Brief Evaluation Checklist (1988) to evaluate my own effectiveness. I may also write up my reflections on my own practice and the learning that I have gained. When looking at the ongoing relationship and evaluating the work, I like the approach outlined by Gilbert & Sills (1999). I invite my supervisee/coaches to give me feedback on what they found most useful, helpful and effective. Together we review the work we have done, my contribution in terms of the focus, process, tasks and interventions, what worked and didn't work, and how this impacted on the learning, support and development gained by the supervisee/coach in their practice.       © Alison Hodge 2009 Tel: 020 8995 5485