If you’re a manager, then you’re probably responsible for providing your team members with feedback – perhaps during annual performance reviews. But it’s also important to ask your team members to provide you with feedback. To be an effective leader, you need to know if you’re providing your team with the tools and information that they need to be effective and productive.

But just asking your team members “how am I doing?” is probably not the best approach. Most team members will probably respond by saying something like “good” or “fine.” They probably won’t provide specifics. And they might be afraid to say anything critical.

So if you’d like to get valuable feedback, it’s best to avoid asking general questions like “how am I doing?” Instead, provide your team with some structure, and ask them three questions:

  1. What should I start doing?
  2. What should I stop doing?
  3. What should I continue to do?

This “start-stop-continue” method will encourage your team members to provide you with specific information and concrete examples. You’ll come away with suggestions that you can actually put into action. And your team members will appreciate your effort! They’ll feel like they’re really being heard and recognize that their opinions matter.

 

Getting Feedback from Students. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.bu.edu/ctl/teaching-resources/start-stop-continue/