We have issues on our weekly Level 10 Meeting™ list that have been sitting there for three weeks, and when we finally prioritize them during IDS®, the person who added them says they cannot remember what the issue was actually about. How do we prevent these vague, context-less issues from wasting our problem-solving time?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

An issues list is not a random scratchpad for passing thoughts. If an issue is important enough to put on the Level 10 Meeting™ list, it must have enough clarity to be solved. When someone forgets why they added an issue, it is a clear sign of lack of preparation and discipline.

To stop this waste of time, implement a simple rule: every issue added to the list must have a clear owner and a brief, one-sentence description of the actual problem. If an issue is vague, like marketing or sales problem, the facilitator should ask the owner to clarify it or remove it from the list before the meeting starts.

During the meeting, if you reach an issue and the owner cannot clearly define the conflict or the desired outcome, drop it immediately. Do not spend three minutes trying to jog their memory. Tell the owner to go back, gather the details, and add it back to the list next week when they are prepared.

This forces your leaders to be intentional about what they bring to the table. It also keeps your issues list clean and actionable. Your ninety minutes are too valuable to spend deciphering mystery notes.