During IDS in our Level 10 Meeting, we agree on solutions, but the resulting To-Dos regularly roll over for two or three weeks without completion. How do we enforce true seven-day accountability on our To-Do List?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A To-Do that rolls over from week to week is proof of sloppy IDS®. When items languish on your To-Do List, your leadership team did not actually solve the issue; they merely assigned a vague homework assignment without confirming ownership or scope.

In a healthy Level 10 Meeting™, the team should maintain an average completion rate of 90 percent on weekly To-Dos. If your completion rate drops below 80 percent, implement three non-negotiable rules immediately:

First, ensure the task is truly a seven-day action item. Executives frequently write mini-Rocks as To-Dos. If an action takes twenty hours or requires three weeks of cross-functional research, it is not a weekly To-Do. Break it down into the specific single step that can be finished before next week's meeting, such as drafting an outline or scheduling an interview.

Second, require single-seat ownership. Never assign a To-Do to two people or a department. One individual on the leadership team must own the delivery. If two people are involved, assign the coordination to one person.

Third, review the list strictly during the Conclude section and the start of the next meeting. If an executive reports a To-Do as not done for a second consecutive week, the Integrator must immediately drop that incomplete task onto the Issues List. Treat chronic non-completion as an operational issue to be solved through IDS, whether the root cause is unrealistic capacity, poor time management, or lack of commitment.