During the IDS portion of our Level 10 Meeting, we constantly suffer from agenda drift where solving one issue triggers a tangent that leads to three other topics, leaving the original problem unresolved. How do we keep our facilitation tightly focused?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Agenda drift is the silent killer of meeting efficiency. It happens when a team lacks the discipline to stick to the IDS process. When you identify issue number one, you must stay focused on that specific issue until you have solved it with a clear weekly to-do.

To eliminate drift, your facilitator must become an active traffic cop. The moment a team member introduces a tangential topic, the facilitator must step in and say that the comment is a separate issue. Do not let them elaborate. Immediately drop that new topic to the bottom of the Issues List and steer the conversation back to the current issue.

This discipline requires a clear agreement from the entire leadership team. You must all agree to be held accountable to the agenda. This is part of the Strategy and Structure pillar of our charter.

Another highly effective tactic is to clearly define the expected outcome of the issue before you begin discussing it. Ask the person who raised the issue what a successful solution looks like. Do they need a decision, do they need to brainstorm, or do they simply need to share information?

Once the objective is clear, the facilitator can easily shut down any discussion that does not directly contribute to that outcome. If you find your team constantly drifting, use a physical or digital parking lot to capture those side thoughts. This assures the team that their ideas are not being ignored, just prioritized for later.