Stop, Continue, Start.
Another simple, powerful and easy concept to put into practice is called Stop, Continue, Start.
Stop, Continue, Start has business relevance, significant organization development and growth potential.
The business relevance is obvious. Once you understand what’s working and what’s not working in your business, you then know what changes to make. You know to stop what’s not working, and to continue to improve what is working.
As a leader, you should always be experimenting — thinking about the next new idea, testing out a new business concept or product/service, trying out a new player to strengthen the team. You need to do whatever it takes to delight your customer, grow the value of your business and build sustainable competitive advantage.
Stop, Continue, Start is also one of the single most effective personal and professional development approaches I’ve ever used. No one likes to get (or give) a performance evaluation. Believe me, most leaders, managers and supervisors dread the annual performance review as much as the employee does.
That’s why so few are actually done and, when they are done, one party or the other is often left confused and/or disappointed. I’ve experienced this world of unproductive performance reviews, and have spent time searching for more constructive, actionable and motivating alternatives.
The Stop, Continue, Start conversation totally changes the interpersonal dynamic and focuses both parties on helping the employee realize their full potential. Everyone feels included, valued and aligned on the goal of enabling the employee to perform at peak potential.
In Stop, Continue, Start, the focus is on behavior. It allows for constructive, open and productive dialogue about which behaviors one should ‘continue’ to improve, which behaviors should ‘stop’, and which behaviors need to ‘start’ being developed — all to become a more decisive, constructive and effective leader.
Over the course of the conversation, the focus should be on the most effective behaviors and how those behaviors can be further strengthened. First, help the individual understand what her/his strengths are. Then, help the individual learn how to play to her/his strengths. The ultimate objective is to help every team member build and improve on their individual strengths — for the benefit of the individual, and for the company as a whole.
If performance reviews aren’t happening in your organization, or have become counterproductive and demotivating, try this powerful collaborative approach that focuses on bringing the best out of every team member by helping them identify and leverage their strengths.