Start - Stop - Continue

An action-oriented format that pushes the team toward concrete decisions rather than abstract discussion. Participants name practices worth starting, those to stop because they get in the way, and the ones that already work and should continue. The result is a clear, immediately usable list of changes that supports a culture of continuous improvement.

Start

New practices worth trying in the next cycle

Roman

Start writing a one-line rollback plan on every deploy ticket

Maria

Start inviting support to sprint review

Kirill

Start blocking two hours on Thursday for tech debt

Stop

Habits that get in the way and should end now

Anna

Stop pulling new tickets while three are in review

Daria

Stop booking meetings without an agenda in the invite

Roman

Stop merging on Friday afternoon

Continue

What already works and must survive the next change

Maria

Continue the Wednesday demo — people actually show up

Kirill

Continue rotating the on-call handover doc

Anna

Continue pairing juniors with a reviewer for the first week

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What is a Start Stop Continue Retrospective?

The Start Stop Continue retrospective is a framework for teams to reflect on their past performance and make improvements for the future. It covers three main focus areas:

Start
Stop
Continue

Start

This group contains items the team should be working on but aren’t just yet. “Start” is often home to new ideas that solve problems in different ways.

Stop

This group is all about those little annoyances and frustrations that team members face in their everyday jobs. If it’s a source of negativity in the team, it goes in this bucket.

Continue

This is where teams keep the stuff they’re most proud of. These items are things that are working well, producing results for the team, and so should be continued.

Benefits of using the Start Stop Continue Retrospective

Provides a democratic process for every team member to voice their opinions
Uncovers previously-unexplored ideas and insights
Improves team cohesion and productivity
Identifies potential flaws in the process
Maintains project momentum, even when things get tough

How to plan and run a Start Stop Continue retrospective meeting

Schedule the meeting and create a board in QRetro with the Start Stop Continue template
Brainstorm suggestions for each category
Refine the list through voting and discussion
Document the final decisions

Examples of the Start Stop Continue method

Start: Clean up the backlog, improve communication between team members
Stop: Adding too many stories to the sprint, beginning daily stand-ups late
Continue: Team-building and work outings, meeting shared goals

Get started with a free template

QRetro.com provides a free Start Stop Continue template that can be exported in various formats for future reference. Teams can improve their performance by trying out the Start Stop Continue framework.

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