A “Traffic Light” Assessment

When trying to make assessments of self or of situations, it can be hard to determine where to start. A simple way to organize thoughts and chart where to make changes (or not) is to use the traffic light assessment model.

Just as a traffic light signifies to stop, start, and slow your roll, this tool provides the same feedback on three fronts:

• Red: What should I stop, full halt? What is undermining efforts/goals? What is counterproductive or veering off path?
• Green: What should I start or keep doing? What is going well? What is on track?
• Yellow: What might be better to pause or let simmer? What doesn’t need full attention at this moment? What should be vetted more before proceeding?

This method can be used for both personal and professional settings. It is practical and easy to implement because each traffic light has a specific ask to be answered. When offering feedback, there can sometimes be trepidation sharing thoughts on what isn’t working. By providing full spectrum feedback of things that are working and could be considered more, this tool could be especially important when deciding future changes.

Try the traffic light assessment for various facets—family ties, friendships, relationship with significant other, workplace, life goals/dreams—and see what insights you may find (then own it!).