Start, Stop, Keep
About six months ago, we began using a tool called Start, Stop, Keep for our semi-annual employee reviews. (We meet with each employee twice annually for a review.) We have a form that the supervisor uses to ask the employee three questions:
- What should Mountain View Mushrooms START doing?
- What should Mountain View Mushrooms STOP doing?
- What should Mountain View Mushrooms KEEP doing?
We also ask for an annual goal and how we can help them achieve this objective.
I first heard about this method from the book Scaling Up by Verne Harnish. He suggests using this method for employee surveys before annual planning meetings. We have used these questions before yearly planning meetings, as well.
We find the tool effective because it gives us feedback that never shows up in a suggestion box. I prefer our supervisors fill out the form while asking the questions. The supervisors like having the employees fill out the questionnaires on their own. There are three reasons the supervisor needs to ask the questions and complete the form:
- It allows the supervisor to interact with the employee differently than typical day-to-day work.
- The supervisors can dig deeper and gain clarity on some of the employee’s answers.
- The employees can talk instead of worrying about filling out another form.
Once the form is complete, we review the results at the weekly manager’s meetings. Here action plans are created to address the various topics in the Start and Stop questions. The Keep questions provide positive feedback to the group about what we’re doing right!
We have had many great ideas stem from these questionnaires in only six months. I’m excited to see what great solutions our employees come up with next.