{"id":15964,"date":"2022-01-03T14:00:20","date_gmt":"2022-01-03T14:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/intercom.com\/blog\/?p=15964"},"modified":"2022-01-04T13:26:23","modified_gmt":"2022-01-04T13:26:23","slug":"continue-stop-start-retrospectives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/continue-stop-start-retrospectives\/","title":{"rendered":"Continue, Stop, Start: Rethinking retrospectives"},"content":{"rendered":"

When faced with a problem or new process at work, most people usually don\u2019t try to reinvent the wheel. Instead, they look for patterns and frameworks that are widespread and valuable.<\/p>\n

A common challenge for many teams is how to run retrospectives<\/a>. There are plenty of solutions, and one of them is Start, Stop, Continue<\/em> \u2013 a framework to structure a retrospective for a team, career or project.<\/p>\n

For example, at the end of a sprint, you think about what else you should do, what you should stop doing and you should continue to do. Or at your performance review, you might wonder what you should start doing to get a promotion, what is blocking you and what you are currently doing that works well. Start, Stop, Continue<\/em> can be an actionable, motivational and straightforward way to critically think about how you are working.<\/p>\n

Experimenting with your retrospectives<\/h2>\n

I experiment a lot with retrospectives, usually mixing different exercises that share the same goal but differ in structure. Recently, during a discussion about what else my team could start doing, I heard a bold statement that starting new things is less important than continuing what\u2019s successful. When I reflect on that, I must say that I fully agree.<\/p>\n

Start, Stop, Continue<\/em> allows you to kick off a retro session motivated and energized with a head full of ideas of what else you could be doing. If you think about your career growth by beginning with what you should start doing, you instinctually ask yourself, \u201cWhat else should I do to get promoted? What else should I do to get a director role?\u201d You want to take actions, invest and get a profit.<\/p>\n

But I’ve always felt that there was a problem with this technique. Every time I use it, I feel overwhelmed with amount of things we should start doing. All these ideas easily make me feel I’m not doing a good job and missing so many opportunities. The fact is the order of Start, Stop, Continue<\/em> is broken. The best sessions should begin with Continue<\/em>, progress through Stop<\/em>, and finish on Start<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The best order \u2013 Continue, Stop, Start<\/h2>\n

Continue<\/em><\/strong> shows what you or your team are doing best. What is the real foundation of your success? Asking what your team should keep doing highlights the positive things that are deep in the culture of your organization that are necessary for future success.<\/p>\n

Asking what your team should keep doing highlights the positive things that are necessary for future success<\/p>\n

To grow sustainably, either as a team or a career, you need to have a strong foundation, and you need to keep focus on it. Begin your retrospective with this focal point to align everyone with what you are doing great, what is essential and what you can\u2019t trade off when under pressure.<\/p>\n

Stop<\/strong><\/em> highlights the things you may not even be aware of that are blocking your full potential. One common example is meetings. You might be a huge help to a department other than yours and it usually works well but it potentially blocks you from being more focused on your most impactful projects at the moment.<\/p>\n

Sometimes you might think that there is nothing to stop and that everything is essential. Well, almost always that\u2019s not true. Go through everything you and your team are doing and challenge it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Start<\/strong><\/em> is usually where you would begin a retrospective, but I recommend that you end with it instead. Every new thing to start doing means that you need to make a trade-off. You can potentially distract yourself or unknowingly stop doing something that is core to how you or your team works. What would you stop in order to start this particular item? How does it impact everything you want to continue to do (i.e. the foundations of your success)?<\/p>\n

In the engineering world, one of the things that a lot of engineers would like to start doing is taking on tech debt or delivering something well scoped that they think is reasonable to ship. However, working on these things always means you need to say stop to doing something else. You can try hard to not drop any ball and still deliver. In the background though, you will need to stop doing something less measurable, like leadership, that can impact your career.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, starting something new is an excellent way to learn. Be open to new things, but question if this particular thing is the most impactful of all the things you can do.<\/p>\n

How to balance actions and make trade-offs<\/h2>\n

When your team decides to start doing something new, a trade-off will almost always need to be made. It\u2019s vital to be deliberate when starting new things. It\u2019s tempting to add one more thing into your schedule, but you should make sure you understand the consequences.<\/p>\n

Start with expectations<\/h3>\n

To make informed trade-offs, you need to clearly understand the expectations, both for your team and your career. Ask yourself these questions:<\/p>\n