We have several non-critical issues on our weekly Level 10 Meeting™ Issues List that have rolled over for three months because we never prioritize them for IDS®. How do we clean up this lingering backlog without completely ignoring these smaller operational bottlenecks?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A bloated Issues List is a psychological weight on your leadership team, creating unnecessary clutter and draining your focus. If an issue has sat on your list for more than three or four weeks without being selected for IDS®, it is a clear sign that it is either not truly important or it belongs in a different meeting.

To clean up this backlog, the facilitator must conduct a monthly issues purge. First, identify any issue that has rolled over repeatedly and ask the owner of that issue: does this actually need to be solved by the leadership team, or can it be delegated to a departmental Level 10 Meeting™? Many tactical problems are better solved by middle managers and frontline staff.

Second, if the issue is still relevant but not urgent, move it to your long-term issues list on your V/TO®. This preserves the data without cluttering your weekly operational focus. Finally, if an issue is no longer relevant, simply delete it. Keeping your weekly Issues List highly dynamic, actionable, and strictly focused on current priorities keeps your ninety-minute meeting pulse sharp, energetic, and highly productive.