Quality Control & Process Improvement Flashcards

Which ICF Core Competency most directly supports continuous process improvement in coaching?

Answer: Embodies a Coaching Mindset

Embodies a Coaching Mindset includes ongoing reflective practice, openness to learning, and commitment to professional development — the foundation of continuous improvement.

A coach's supervision session reveals a recurring blind spot in how they handle client resistance. What is the quality-focused next step?

Answer: Develop a targeted practice plan to address the blind spot with supervisor guidance

Creating a targeted development plan based on supervision feedback is the professional quality-improvement standard in coaching.

What distinguishes formative evaluation from summative evaluation in a coaching context?

Answer: Formative evaluation happens during the engagement to guide improvement; summative assesses overall outcomes at the end

Formative evaluation provides real-time data to improve the process, while summative evaluation measures final outcomes — both are important in quality coaching.

A coaching organization wants to reduce client dropout rates. Which process improvement strategy is most aligned with ICF principles?

Answer: Survey exited clients to understand their reasons and redesign the onboarding process

Gathering exit feedback and improving onboarding addresses root causes of dropout and reflects a client-centered, data-driven improvement approach.

Which of the following is an example of a leading indicator of coaching quality, as opposed to a lagging indicator?

Answer: Client engagement and energy during mid-session check-ins

Leading indicators like in-session engagement predict future quality outcomes, while lagging indicators like goal achievement reflect past results.

An ICF coach documents each session with notes on themes, progress, and next steps. How does this practice support quality control?

Answer: It creates a longitudinal record that enables tracking of patterns and client progress over time

Session documentation supports reflective practice and provides evidence of progress, enabling data-informed adjustments to the coaching process.

A coach wants to implement a PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycle in their practice. What does the 'Check' phase involve in a coaching context?

Answer: Reviewing client feedback and session data to evaluate whether improvements are working

The 'Check' phase in PDCA involves measuring and analyzing results to determine whether the planned changes produced the desired improvement.