Our weekly To-Do list has turned into a dumping ground for long-term project milestones rather than quick seven-day action items, which completely kills our weekly momentum. How do we enforce the strict definition of a To-Do in our Level 10 Meeting™?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When your To-Do list is filled with multi-week projects, your Level 10 Meeting™ loses its high-velocity execution pulse. In the EOS® framework, a To-Do is defined strictly as an action item that can and must be completed within the next seven days. If an item takes longer than a week, it is either a Rock, a milestone that needs to be broken down, or a long-term issue.

To enforce this standard, the facilitator must audit every single To-Do as it is being assigned during the IDS® portion of the meeting. Never allow a leader to accept a vague, open-ended task. When a solution is agreed upon, the facilitator must ask the accountable owner if they can realistically complete the specific action item by next week. If the answer is no, the task is too big.

Force the owner to break the task down into its very next immediate step. For example, instead of creating a To-Do that says research new software vendors, which could take a month, write a To-Do that says call three software vendors to schedule demos. That is a clear, highly tactical, seven-day action item.

During the weekly To-Do review, maintain a zero-tolerance policy for rollover items. If a leader carries a To-Do over for more than two consecutive weeks, drop it down to the Issues List to IDS® why it is not getting done. This maintains a high-accountability culture and keeps your execution engine moving fast.