Start … Stop … Continue - A Brainstorming Exercise to Drive Business Value

Taking time to brainstorm with team members on how to improve the business can take many forms.  One useful technique is the “Start…Stop…Continue” exercise.  It is a very simple process whereby each team member is asked to list a few things they think the team should start doing, stop doing, and continue doing.  Usually, the facilitator will provide some guiding questions beforehand to get the ideas flowing.

A few leading questions for the “Start” session could be:

• If money wasn’t a factor, where would you invest or what positions would you add to the team? … or,
• What projects should we initiate to grow topline sales the fastest?

Compiling the list and going through a priority-setting process should lead to two or three key initiatives to implement.

Deciding on the activities that do not add value to the business and therefore should be stopped can feel like a breath of fresh air for the team.  Taking a hard look at all the team activities that don’t fit with the core purpose of the business should be part of the process. 
 
Some potential questions could be:

• What are the daily or weekly tasks that you “mentally” place on the bottom of your “to-do list” and why?
…or,
• What tasks are completed inconsistently and what is (or was) the impact?  If it had a minimal negative impact, then why keep doing it?

From a customer’s perspective, if value equals benefits minus costs, perhaps there are unnecessary customer costs that can be reduced or eliminated.  Discontinuing services or processes can free up resources to focus on priority initiatives identified from the “Start” exercise.

For the “Continue” part of the exercise, it is important to identify the initiatives that are working well and to figure out ways to do more of them.  How are you measuring progress on these initiatives and how can the team dedicate more resources to accelerate the success?

Perhaps there are examples of how the team “wowed” a customer or helped turn a bad situation into a win.

Sometimes, changes can be made to how critical processes are undertaken through a “Start…Stop…Continue” exercise and meaningful improvements can be made. 
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You should look for at least a few small wins each time you execute the process to gain buy-in and momentum for the next session.  Of course, if nothing changes after the exercise, team members will quickly disengage from future sessions.