If you are in the process of starting to shift your thinking towards how you can pivot or change things in your business, whether this be for an interim period, or a permanent change, here’s a great little process model to use.
It’s called Start, Stop or Continue.
In it’s simplest form, the model allows you to ask yourself and/or your team what activities, systems or processes the business should start (new opportunities), should stop (as they aren’t effective or no longer able to be completed) and those that should continue (as they are working well).
It does not require any special equipment or knowledge.
It’s a great way to continue communication and to build trust with your team in these difficult times.
You can get your team members to do this individually, however it’s a really good opportunity to do this together as a team. Doing it as a team, also allows you to ask any clarification questions so you clearly understand what is being suggested. It’s also a good check in opportunity to see how people may be coping with the current situation and how they might be thinking/feeling about things.
Let people know in advance what you are looking to do, that you really value their time and input and that you will set up a meeting to run this activity.
However, it’s also wise to let your team know up front that all ideas will be considered, however that it may not be possible to take on board or action every single one.
Ask them to come to the meeting prepared with some ideas and feedback. This could be 1 idea for each area, Start, Stop or Continue. You can also take this a step further and ask them to present their reasons why this idea should be started, stopped or continued.
Once the activity is complete, thank people for their time and input and advise them that you will let them know what will happen next, ie, a project team to look at all the ideas, weekly updates on what has been decided upon to Start, Stop or Continue, etc. This part is super critical as if you are asking people to participate, they will be keen to know and understand what decisions have been made, so it’s important that you communicate the outcomes.
What will you look to Start, Stop or Continue?
