Stop – Keep Doing – Start

Simple Questions for Improving Performance

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"Stop – Keep Doing – Start" provides action focused feedback.

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Feedback is essential for our professional growth: It helps us identify and build the skills we need for success.

But asking for feedback can be daunting, particularly when we fear that it might not be wholly positive.

In this article, we'll look at "Stop - Keep Doing - Start", a tool that helps us ask for focused, action-based feedback.

Overview

The SKS (Stop - Keep Doing - Start) Process is the formal name for a short set of questions that you can use when you ask for feedback. The questions are simple:

Phil Daniels, a psychology professor at Brigham Young University, is credited with devising the process. It's effective for several reasons.

Tip 1:
Stop - Keep Doing - Start was initially devised as a way of requesting help and feedback. However, you can also use it when giving feedback  .

Tip 2:
The process works best when the questions are asked orally: It's not intended to replace more formal feedback processes, such as performance reviews.

How to Use the Process

What Should I STOP Doing?

Look closely at the behavior that you've been asked to stop doing.

It can be upsetting to learn that you're doing something that your boss or your peers want you to stop. However, remember that they will hopefully be looking at this from a business perspective, and not making a personal criticism. Try to manage your own feelings  , and focus on the value in what they're saying.

What Should I KEEP Doing?

These are the actions and behaviors that your colleagues appreciate. To understand how you could incorporate these tasks more fully into your role, think about the following questions:

What Should I START Doing?

The feedback that you receive with this last question points to gaps in your current performance. These suggestions can help you look at issues that you might not have addressed until now.

Tip:
If your workload is already large, adding new tasks or projects might feel overwhelming. If so, make sure that you prioritize effectively  , so you can work the most valuable suggestions into your schedule.

Key Points

Stop - Keep Doing - Start is a simple way to gather guidance and feedback using three simple questions:

  • What should I stop doing?
  • What should I keep doing?
  • What should I start doing?

You can use this tool to ask for feedback about your own work. However, it's also useful when giving feedback to someone else, or for enhancing a mentoring or coaching relationship.

This site teaches you the skills you need for a happy and successful career; and this is just one of many tools and resources that you'll find here at Mind Tools. Click here for more, subscribe to our free newsletter, or become a member for just $1.

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