Giving and receiving feedback can be a challenging endeavor. It is often difficult to assess past results in the form of positives and negatives over a set period of time, such as a quarter or week. The Start, Stop, Continue framework offers an efficient way to reflect on the team's most recent sprint and experiences. This straightforward yet powerful tool helps individuals and teams make wise decisions when moving forward.
The Start, Stop, Continue Template neatly organizes activities and decisions into three distinct categories: things to start doing, things to stop doing, and those that should remain an integral part of ongoing workflows.
Why use the Start, Stop, Continue Template?
The Start, Stop, Continue Retrospective provides a platform for the team to evaluate their progress over the previous sprint. This allows them to identify which activities should be discontinued or continued further and what new activities they should start to bring about behavioural changes and tangible results.
When should you use the Start, Stop, Continue template?
The Start, Stop, Continue Retrospective Template is a fantastic way to get an overview of the successes and areas for improvement in projects. By running a retrospective session at the end of an agile sprint, product and development teams can discover actionable elements to make their processes more efficient.
Additionally, taking a step back at the end of a project, quarter or event can be incredibly beneficial for teams like design or marketing. The Start, Stop, Continue Template provides a great opportunity to review what works and where changes can be made.
The 3 elements of Start, Stop, Continue Template
The Start, Stop, Continue Template is designed with a user-friendly format. The template comprises three distinct blocks where you can easily input:
Start: What Should You Start Doing?
These are all of the behaviors and activities to reduce waste, improve your processes, and positively impact the way your team is able to function. Think about all of the behavioral and technical elements that could fall into this category.
Stop: What Should You Stop Doing?
These are all of the behaviors and activities that are wasteful, inefficient, or may have a negative impact on the way your team functions. It is important to consider both behavioral and technical elements.
Continue: What Should You Keep Doing?
These are the behaviors and activities that you have tried and liked that are yet to become a part of your core processes. Take note of all the methods and tools you have experimented with.
