Our leadership team is struggling to keep our Level 10 Meeting™ Issues List clean, and we find ourselves carrying forty issues week after week. How do we clean up our Issues List during our quarterly sessions to ensure we are only focusing on what is truly holding us back?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A bloated Issues List is a symptom of a leadership team that is failing to make hard decisions or using the list as a holding pen for low priority tasks. When you carry dozens of issues week after week, your weekly Level 10 Meeting™ loses its punch. You waste time scrolling through minor complaints instead of solving the systemic problems holding the business back.

To clean this up, you must run a strict audit during your quarterly planning sessions. First, look at every issue and ask if it is a real issue or just a To-Do. If it can be solved with a quick action, assign it as a To-Do and get it off the list. Second, determine if the issue is a weekly operational problem or a long-term strategic challenge. If it is strategic, move it to your long-term Issues List on your V/TO® so you can address it during a future quarterly session rather than letting it clutter your weekly agenda.

Finally, use the IDS® process to force prioritization. You should only ever focus on the top three issues that will move the needle most. If an issue sits on the list for more than three weeks without being selected as a top priority, delete it. If it is truly important, it will come back. Keeping your weekly list lean ensures your team stays focused on execution and prevents meeting fatigue.