A Keep, Stop, Start analysis is a quick and easy tool to include in a post mortem. Get your team on the same page with what’s working and what’s not, then decide on what to try next!
Keep Start Stop Analysis Template
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Keep Stop Start Template Download
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Highlights:
- Capture key project information and set a focus
- Designed to capture the most critical elements of your post mortem.
- Automatically count the number of items in each category.
- Conditional formatting grays out unused boxes.
- Space to capture a title, description and reference outside materials for each idea.
- Designed with bold colors and prints to a single page.
- Space to add your own logo!
- Free to download and easy to use.
What is a Keep, Stop, Start Analysis
A Keep, Stop, Start analysis is a simple, action-oriented approach to performing a retrospective review. The outcome of this analysis is progress. In short, it is a useful tool to gather feedback from individuals or teams.
Quick Start Steps
- Download the free template. Link is above.
- Brainstorm ideas for each category. If working in a group, brainstorm individually, then together.
- Use the dot voting method to pinpoint critical ideas.
- Summarize the critical ideas on this template.
- Assign someone to the idea, and build out the next steps (try our free action plan template).
- Establish milestones and time to check back on progress.
- Repeat this process periodically.
Perform a Quality Keep, Stop, Start Analysis
Understand the Categories
Keep – Those items that are working and are critical to the objective. Typically, these items will not require an owner to be assigned or any additional work. In other words, they already exist and are working well!
Stop – Those items that are either not critical, are ineffective or counterproductive. The best thing about the stop list is that it can free up time. What you can stop doing is the most critical section of the analysis! Typically, the only action step necessary is to eliminate the item. However, to ensure the action is stopped, assign an owner!
Start – Those items that would further enhance the objective. For example, these could be things that make something more efficient, effective, or otherwise prove to make a positive impact. Typically, these items need an owner assigned (to ensure it happens) and often require a detailed work plan with milestones.
Analysis Owner / Leader / Facilitator
Complex projects may involve different people in the role of Owner, Leader, and Facilitator. However, in most cases, this can be an individual. The owner is responsible for documentation, roles assignments, and overseeing follow through. The owner is involved before, during, and post-analysis.
The facilitator is the person who leads the analysis. They establish the plan (through an agenda), ask critical questions, and organize everything from the brainstorming process to the ranking of ideas. Finally, they help guide the team to identify which ideas make it to the final list.
The leader is the individual ultimately responsible for the underlying project or initiative. Therefore, this individual should help set the tone and expectation of the analysis.
Prepare
Before getting everyone into a room, you need to prepare. Prepare the following before the first meeting:
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- a meeting plan (you can use one of our agenda templates)
- determine who needs to participate
- prepare prompt questions
- finalize the critical objective and point of focus
- items to emphasize when providing an overview
- identify ground rules (if any).
The Meeting
Start by giving everyone an overview of what to expect. It’s always a good idea to go over the ground rules and be explicit with the objective. Performing a Keep, Stop, Start is a great way to ensure everyone on the team has a say.
Most importantly, it’s essential to make it clear that when brainstorming, there are no bad ideas. Let the process unfold.
Start brainstorming.
Experienced teams can consider brainstorming before the meeting. Pre-work enables people to come to the meeting prepared. Either way, the goal here is to generate as many ideas as possible.
Ideas will feed more ideas.
Tip: use a whiteboard and sticky notes. Divide the whiteboard up into three sections and use colored sticky notes to capture ideas.
Group main ideas.
In this step, the team will take ideas that cover the same issue or represent a similar idea and group them into a single idea.
Vote on the grouped ideas.
Now it’s time to focus on those ideas that will significantly impact each category. For example, we recommend using the dot voting technique.
Remind the participants of the key objectives and areas of focus before voting. Again, all participants get to cast votes.
Capture the ideas that “make the list.”
As a general rule of thumb, you would want to shoot for no more than three ideas per bucket. Our Keep, Stop, Start Analysis template allows for up to six but shoot for less.
The ultimate number will depend on the significance of the ideas, the number of items stopped, and the team’s availability to make changes.
Assign Responsibility & Milestones.
For each idea, assign someone from the team as the champion. This person is responsible for building out the idea and overseeing its execution. For instance, the template includes a “Reference” cell to document either the owner’s name or where to find additional information. We’ve developed an action plan template that you can download and use for free.
Be sure to include a follow-up date/meeting to see how progress is coming.
Conclusion
In short, there are several ways to go about performing a Keep, Stop, Start analysis. Don’t get bogged down in trying to complete a perfect analysis! Going through the steps outlined above will pay significant dividends. Your team will feel more empowered, be on the same page, and you’ll have the opportunity to identify potentially overlooked ideas.
Helpful Resources
- PARABOL offers a take on the difference between a Post Mortem and a Retrospective. (generally the Keep, Stop, Start is considered a retrospective analysis).
- Conceptboard offers a useful web based template that is free to try.
- The Start, Stop, Continue Tutorial from Forbes.
- Three Questions for Effective Feedback from the Harvard Business Review
- From Spreadsheetshoppe.com – Action Plan Template