Does leadership sometimes feel like this vast unknown space and you are uncertain how to navigate? Do you find yourself moving in and out like the tide but not really getting any traction? Are you a new leader or a seasoned leader challenged by Covid changes? Has your team experienced major changes? As an Executive Coach my clients come to me with these issues. In order to get traction you need to be intentional to navigate your course. As you plan for 2021 let’s begin by looking at what is working and what is not in 2020. We can begin with the start, stop and continue process.
Start
What should I start doing? What should you start doing because you want something to work better?
Taking regular breaks from technology throughout the day
Providing more feedback to team members
Preparing and sending agendas in advance of meetings
Communicate clear expectations
Ensuring meetings start/finish on time
Stop
What should I stop doing? What should you stop doing because it isn’t working for whatever reason?
Showing up late for meetings
Running over on meeting times
Stop doing everything yourself - delegate more
Stop interrupting
Continue
What should I continue to do? What should I continue to do because it is working well?
Setting clear expectations
Active listening
Holding yourself/others accountable
Goal Setting
The next step is to set goals for the year and then break these down into actions for the first 90 days of 2021. What will you start, stop, and continue to do that will inform your goals for 2021? Every 90 days you can determine your actions for the next 90 days. This allows you to be intentional.
Summary
This easy process provides an opportunity to review, reflect and identify improvements to be implemented in the future. For example, this can be a business review of financial plans, year in review, marketing strategy, or team tasks. From a personal perspective it can be a review of health, marketing, finance, family chores, scheduling and time management. Some of the benefits are:
Easy for individuals/teams to clarify issues, weigh the impact of ideas, and reach a consensus on shared priorities.
Easily done while commuting on your phone, tablet or laptop
Action oriented and builds momentum and energy
Empowers continuous improvement and goal setting
Simple to implement
In conclusion, this is a simple and effective way for individuals, leaders, and teams to reflect on their recent experiences and decide what they should or shouldn’t change moving forward.
The end of the year is a perfect time to apply this technique, however, it is effective any time. When used as a work process improvement tool, quarterly, it will keep you aware, on track and continuously improving. In future blogs I will discuss other applications for this tool. I would love to hear how you will use the start, stop, and continue process to inform you for 2021?