Stop-Start-Continue: A model for maintaining evolution

In my last post, we talked about change and the power of evolution.

Today I’d love to share a technique I use which will help your business evolution go smoothly.

While many of us recognise the value of change, the problem we have is deciding where to start. One of the most frequent questions I am asked is, “How will I know what needs to be changed?

I use this model to answer that question.

Using Stop-Start-Continue to evaluate and improve performance

The power of this model is that it’s action-based and it involves teams in the process. Through using teams as part of the process straight away you’ve increased their commitment to the change and they know exactly what’s they must do next. It has a very positive focus so you can use it to plan the development of a person, a team or a business,

Here’s a summary of the stages.

Stop – what we need to stop doing.

Start – what we need to start doing.

Continue – what we need to continue doing.

It’s so simple that it’s brilliant.

Let’s look at each stage.

1. Stop

• What are we doing that doesn’t contribute positively to the bottom line?
• What isn’t working in our organisation, or on our team, to help us grow and advance?
• What is holding us back?
• What practices create more problems than solutions?

The answers to these questions will become your list of actions your team will stop doing.

2. Start

• What are some things that we could begin doing to make things better?
• What are some new measures that we could put into place to improve our results?

The answers to these questions will become the list of actions you want your team to begin taking.

3. Continue

• What things are already working well in our organisation and on our team which make it easier to accomplish our goals?
• What procedures already work well and should be continued?

The answers to these questions become the list of things your organisation is already doing right and your team wants to continue!

As a HR leader, team leader or learning and development specialist, you may be working with lots of ideas people. Harnessing those ideas can be random, sometimes, can’t it? The Stop, Start, Continue model is a great way to capture the great ideas and keep team thoughts on track.

This approach works helps to make certain that you are changing the right things, while holding on to what defines you and sets you apart.

It works really well when you’re designing development plans or conducting performance reviews with your team members. It’s a positive, constructive way to look to the future.

Try it with your teams and if you find it useful, leave me a comment and let me know. I’d love to hear how you used the model.