Stop Start Continue Performance Review Template

Feedback is an integral part of creating a high performance culture. Research shows that 60% of employees reported wanting feedback on a daily or weekly basis. However, in addition to the frequency of the feedback, the content of the same is also very important.

That's where a Start Stop Continue feedback becomes important. Instead of simply stating how the performance has been, start stop continue feedback enables managers to highlight the desirable actions and behaviors for employees and simultaneously shed light on what needs to be changed. In this article, we will discuss:

The meaning and importance of start stop and continue feedback
When to use this form of feedback
Start stop continue feedback best practices
15 examples of start stop and continue feedback

What is start stop continue feedback?

Start stop continue feedback is a highly intuitive and easy to implement feedback framework for growing organizations. It can be used for and by anyone including teams and individuals for feedback by managers and peers as well as for self reflection. Essentially, the start stop and continue feedback has three aspects or components, including:

Start: Focuses on actions or behaviors that an employee should commence for high levels of performance, generally around the areas of improvement
Stop: Focuses on actions or behaviors that should be eliminated or significantly reduced because of their negative impact on the performance, mostly the weaknesses
Continue: Focuses on actions or behaviors that must keep going based on their positive impact on the performance, often referring to the strengths

Thus, the start stop continue feedback enables employees to receive feedback on all aspects which is constructive, appreciative and sets a ground for improvement.

Importance of start stop continue feedback

Now that you understand what this framework means, let's quickly look at why you should use it for your organization:

1. Easy to implement

The start stop continue feedback is very easy to implement and does not require any specific training or upskilling. You can get started with a simple session introducing the framework. Furthermore, it can be implemented across the organization irrespective of the functional diversity, making it an all encompassing framework.

2. Easy to interpret

When you receive the start stop and continue feedback results, they are quite easy to interpret and put to action. Chances are seldom that you will have to read between the lines or require high level analysis, making it ideal for growing organizations with limited resources to easily improve employee performance.

3. Action focused

The start stop continue feedback delivers clear actions that an employee needs to take to facilitate high levels of performance, preventing it from being yet another form of feedback which is generic.

4. Encourages improvement and new ideas

Finally, the framework enables everyone to put on an analytical hat while providing feedback and come up with new and fresh ideas for better performance.

When to use start stop continue feedback?

While the start stop and continue feedback framework has widespread relevance and adaptability, its impact increases in some specific situations, including:

When you have a clear understanding of the opportunities and challenges
When you want to cover all aspects of feedback (appreciation, areas of improvement and constructive criticism) together
When you want to deliver action oriented feedback, especially during OKR or goal progress review or while writing a performance improvement plan
When you want to build a personal development plan

How to ask for start stop continue feedback from your manager?

As opposed to many other feedback frameworks, the start stop continue feedback can be sought by employees from managers and others to reach their goals in an effective manner. Here are a tips questions you can leverage while asking for start stop and continue feedback:

Ask specific questions in areas which you consider integral for your growth
Ensure that there are questions for all the three components to get a holistic picture
Try to gauge different aspects in terms of actions, behaviors and support for each component
Ascertain that answers to the questions are able to help you create a development plan with clear next steps
Try to get answers from 2-3 managers/leaders/peers for a diverse understanding
Focus on self reflection for the questions as well (Identify specific areas of improvements with the self assessment prompts)

How to give start stop continue feedback as a manager?

When it comes to giving start stop continue feedback, it is important to follow some best practices to maximize its effectiveness. At times, even when the intention is correct, managers might deliver the start stop and continue feedback in a manner that does not yield the intended impact. Use the following tips to bridge the gap from intention to impact.

1. Recommend specific actions

As a practice, start stop continue feedback seeks to be action oriented. However, you have to make sure that the actions are specific and backed with supporting resources/ guidance on how to achieve them.

For instance, if an employee doesn't collaborate effectively, instead of using 'Be more collaborative or be a better team player' as a start action, you can use:

'You should listen to what your team members have to say more often and build a relationship with them to facilitate meaningful synergies. I would recommend connecting with them over tea/coffee breaks, start asking for help instead of doing everything on your own and even lend a helping hand once in a while.'

2. Provide context and reasoning

If you simply mention an action that an employee should start, stop or continue doing, it might not have a large scale impact. However, if you back it up with examples and evidence, you are more likely to influence their behavior.

For instance, if you tell an employee to continue upskilling himself/herself in digital marketing, it might be a good idea to illustrate why you are saying so with an example of how his/her skills have improved and the impact it has created for the organization as well as for the employee professionally.

3. Maintain a balance

The start stop continue feedback framework seeks to motivate employees to take necessary action and improve their performance. However, if your feedback is skewed more towards start and stop actions, the employee is likely to get demotivated, considering himself/herself as a low performer. On the flip side, if your list of continue doing far exceeds the other two, it might set unrealistic expectations in the employee about his/her level of performance, potential appraisals and might lead to overconfidence.

4. Be objective

Finally, when you give start stop continue feedback, you need to make sure you are objectively focused on the performance around a particular goal/ area in mind. If you are talking about the interpersonal skills of an individual and you mention continuing high levels of technical efficiency, it will dilute the whole purpose. Stick to the main theme and provide feedback for the same, without being deflected around other aspects of the employee.

Top start stop continue feedback examples

As mentioned above, the start stop and continue feedback can be used for teams as well as individuals. Here are a few examples for each of the two segment groups that you can consider as a starting point.

Pro tip: Start with a specific goal in mind for which you want to create the start stop continue feedback strategy

I) Start stop and continue feedback examples for teams

From a team perspective, here are the top 5 examples:

Example 1: Facilitate better team understanding

What to start: Regular team meetings with high levels of attendance
What to stop: Working in silos without informing the other person what's going on
What to continue: Team activities, lunches and get togethers

Example 2: Ensure better customer service

What to start: Clear division of client responsibility and Robust customer service process with specific milestones
What to stop: Delay in complaint resolution
What to continue: Proactive customer service with regular check-ins

Example 3: Build an empathetic culture

What to start: Regular sensitization activities on inclusion, empathy, compassion
What to stop: Acceptance of casual offensive comments
What to continue: Regular communication of empathy as a core company value

Example 4: Meet monthly targets

What to start: Setting clear OKRs with distribution of responsibility
What to stop: Putting accountability on only one person
What to continue: Effective sales meetings leading to high levels of conversions and Marketing efforts resulting in brand recall

Example 5: Create an attractive place to work

What to start: Focus on health and wellness by offering resources, support, insurances, time off
What to stop: Unnecessary overtime and Skewed work-life balance
What to continue: Regular team outings and Benefits and perks

II)Start stop and continue feedback examples for individuals

Here are the top examples you can use to set start stop and continue feedback specifically for individual employees based on their career trajectory and goals:

Example 1: Improve communication skills

What to start: Take up a course on storytelling to improve the way you pitch and Prepare a script and practice it well before presenting
What to stop: Using colloquial terms and slangs
What to continue: Use body language and gestures to communicate

Example 2: Build technical knowledge

What to start: Pick up courses on AI/ML and data science
What to stop: Focus only on tech stack you are working in
What to continue: Participation in hackathons and programming workshops

Example 3: Hone leadership qualities

What to start: Delegating work to others based on their strengths and interests
What to stop: Blaming everyone else for poor performance
What to continue: High levels of clear communication and team understanding

Example 4: Focus on health and wellness

What to start: 30 minutes of walk every day
What to stop: Ordering food in every day
What to continue: 30 minutes of meditation and yoga

Example 5: Improve quality of work

What to start: Proof reading of work at least 3 times before delivery
What to stop: Multitasking between several projects at once rather than prioritizing
What to continue: Maintenance of a checklist with all timelines

Example 6: Take more initiative

What to start: Identify new areas where you can add value
What to stop: Staying away from new projects and responsibilities
What to continue: Focus on picking up new skills and competencies

Example 7: Focus on interpersonal skills

What to start: Practice empathy by listening to others
What to stop: Being disrespectful, even if unconsciously
What to continue: Clear communication

Example 8: Improve attendance record

What to start: Show up for meetings on time
What to stop: Taking time off without prior notice
What to continue: Adhering to timelines and being present at key discussions

Example 9: Facilitate better problem solving

What to start: Come up with solutions for problems and not just take problems to the leadership
What to stop: Hesitance to think outside the box
What to continue: Comprehensive understanding of the problem

Example 10: Be agile and adaptable

What to start: New courses and skills relevant for your functional domain
What to stop: Focus on long processes and cycles‍
What to continue: Willingness to change deadlines to adapt to changing priorities

Start stop continue feedback template

As we come to the end of our article, here is a quick template for you to help you get started with the right questions that you can add to your start stop and continue feedback strategy to ensure that all stakeholders get a fair understanding of what is expected of them.

Questions for start feedback

What are a few new skills that Mr.A can pick up?
As a part of Mr.B's goal X, what additional responsibilities do you think he should take?
What are some competencies that will help Ms.P take the next career leap?
Ms.R sees herself as a Y in the next six months, how do you think she can reach there?

Questions for stop feedback

What do you think are some factors limiting Mr.L's growth?
Ms.W is planning to take on these additional responsibilities, do you think she should refrain from any?
What is the one thing that if Mr.I stopped doing will help the team perform better?
Ms.O sees herself as a Y in the next six months, what do you think she should stop doing to reach there?

Questions for continue feedback

What do you think are Mr.T's key strengths?
What do you think are some qualities and skills others can learn from Mr.K?
What are some responsibilities Ms.U shouldn't leave for picking up others?
What do you think is Ms.D's biggest contribution to the team?

While start stop continue feedback is the simplest way to provide actionable feedback, you need to make sure that the feedback you are giving is based on facts and not just mere opinions. Before you start your feedback session, analyze performance trends of the employee (it is even better to have it supplemented with behavioral data) as well as gather 360 degree feedback on the employee to have a qualitative understanding of the overall employee performance.

Wrapping Up (TL:DR)

In conclusion, it is quite evident that the Start Stop Continue framework is something any organization can implement to facilitate employee development and performance management in a structured manner. Here's what you need to keep in mind:

Use the framework to help your employees identify behaviors and actions that they should start based on their areas of improvement, stop which are hampering their performance and continue which are going well for them
The greatest merit of this framework lies in the ease of implementation and interpretation as well as on being focused on action and helping employees understand what to do
It is integral for managers who want to deliver a comprehensive feedback on strengths, weaknesses and areas of improvement all at once
As a manager, when delivering this feedback, one needs to be objective and context driving, while providing action oriented suggestions
Use the examples and use cases above to understand when and how to leverage this framework for maximum effectiveness

Once you implement the Start Stop Continue framework, you will realize that your employee development efforts have become more structured and are delivering results with performance improvement. The action bias of this framework is what makes it most effective and something that should be sacrosanct when you are implementing it.

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Source: https://www.superbeings.ai/blog/how-to-use-start-stop-continue-feedback