Our leaders often use the IDS® portion of our Level 10 Meeting™ to share progress updates on their projects instead of actually solving problems, turning our problem-solving block into a series of boring status reports. How do we keep IDS® strictly focused on resolving obstacles rather than giving status updates?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

The IDS® portion of your Level 10 Meeting™ is for solving issues, not for sharing updates. When leaders list items that are simply status reports, they clog the agenda and waste valuable problem-solving time. This behavior usually stems from a desire to look busy or a misunderstanding of what constitutes a real issue.

To clean up your Issues List, the facilitator must challenge every item before you begin the voting process. When reviewing the list, ask the owner of each new issue: 'What is the actual problem we need to solve here, or is this just an update?'

If it is just an update, remove it from the list immediately. Explain to the team that progress updates belong in the customer/employee headlines section, which is capped at five minutes, or they should be shared via your daily communication channels. They do not belong in IDS®.

A real issue is an obstacle, a decision point, an opportunity, or a system failure that is preventing the company from hitting its goals or completing its Rocks. If there is no decision to be made, no obstacle to clear, and no conflict to resolve, it is not an issue.

By keeping the Issues List strictly focused on real, actionable problems, you will find that your team has more energy and focus. They will spend their time debating solutions that actually move the business forward, rather than listening to passive presentations about projects that are already on track.