Our leadership team's weekly to-do completion rate is consistently hovering around seventy-five percent, but everyone insists they are working at capacity. How do we diagnose and correct this systemic failure to hit our ninety percent target?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A consistent seventy-five percent to-do completion rate is a clear indicator of a deeper execution problem on your leadership team. When everyone claims to be working at capacity but tasks are not getting done, you are likely dealing with poor prioritizing, oversized tasks, or a lack of real accountability.

First, audit the size of the to-dos you are creating during the IDS process. A weekly to-do must be something that can realistically be completed within seven days. If your team is writing down tasks that require weeks of research, cross-departmental coordination, or massive operational shifts, those are not to-dos. Those are Rocks or special projects. Break them down into bite-sized, weekly actions.

Second, look at your prioritization. If leaders are letting daily operational fires consume their entire week, they are failing to protect their leadership time. Every member of the leadership team must manage their own schedule to ensure they can deliver on their commitments.

Finally, the Integrator must stop accepting excuses during the to-do review. If a to-do is not done, it does not get discussed during the review. It stays on the list, and if it is missed two weeks in a row, it must immediately be dropped to the Issues List. Use the IDS process to find out why the owner is struggling to execute. Do they have too many operational tasks, or is there a capacity issue in their seat? Address the root cause directly instead of tolerating a perpetual seventy-five percent score.