Our weekly Level 10 Meeting is bogged down by informational issues that do not require any actual problem solving, with leaders adding items to the list just to keep everyone updated. How do we eliminate these FYI items and keep our Issues List focused purely on things that need to be solved?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

An Issues List is not an administrative bulletin board or an FYI list. When leaders add items to the weekly Level 10 Meeting list just to keep others updated on their projects, they dilute the focus of the meeting and waste valuable problem solving energy. This habit turns your weekly pulse into a passive status update session, which is the exact opposite of what a Level 10 Meeting is designed to be.

The rule for putting an item on the Issues List is simple: it must require a decision, a solution, or a prioritization choice. If a leader simply wants to share a piece of information, that belongs in the customer and employee headlines section, which is capped at five minutes, or it should be communicated via email outside of the meeting.

During the prioritization step of IDS, the facilitator must ask the owner of any vague issue, what is the barrier we need to solve here? If the answer is just that they wanted everyone to know about it, remove the item from the list immediately. Do not discuss it. Teach your team that the Issues List is reserved exclusively for roadblocks, challenges, and opportunities that require collective brainpower to resolve. Keeping this boundary sharp keeps your meetings fast and highly impactful.