Our team members constantly add new issues to the list during the actual Level 10 Meeting, which disrupts our prioritization and forces us to spend valuable time processing unplanned items. How do we enforce a strict rule on when and how issues are added to the weekly list?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A bloated Issues List is the enemy of a highly effective Level 10 Meeting™. When team members constantly add items to the list during the actual ninety-minute meeting, it creates chaos, breaks focus, and wastes time that should be spent solving your highest-priority issues.

To fix this, implement a strict cutoff rule. All issues must be added to the weekly list before the meeting begins. Ideally, team members should drop issues onto the list throughout the week as they arise in their daily work. Once the clock strikes the start time of your meeting, the list is locked.

If a team member tries to add an issue during the meeting, the facilitator must say, "That is not on the list for today. Please add it to the list for next week, or handle it outside this room if it cannot wait seven days."

The only exception to this rule is when an issue naturally surfaces during the Scorecard, Rock, or headline review, in which case it is dropped to the list by the facilitator.

By enforcing this boundary, you teach your team to be intentional about what they bring to the leadership team. It forces them to solve minor, day-to-day problems on their own, keeping the weekly meeting focused entirely on the issues that require the collective intelligence of the leadership team.