In our departmental Level 10 Meetings, the mid-level managers and their teams are treating the IDS portion as a checklist of completed tasks rather than a problem-solving session, resulting in meetings that end early with zero actual issues solved. How do we get departmental teams to actually identify and solve real issues instead of just reporting status?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When departmental Level 10 Meetings™ have empty Issues Lists and end early because everything is green, it is rarely a sign of perfection. Instead, it usually indicates that the team is hiding problems, fears conflict, or does not understand how to identify an issue.

To break this pattern, the department manager must change how they define an issue. Teach the team that an issue is not just a disaster; it is any obstacle, opportunity, idea, or systemic friction that holds them back from hitting their targets.

If the department Scorecard is completely green but the team is still working late or feeling stressed, there are hidden issues. The manager should actively seed the Issues List before the meeting by adding observations about departmental processes, customer feedback, or cross-departmental friction.

During the meeting, if the team claims they have no issues, the manager must dig deeper. Ask targeted questions like, what is the most frustrating part of your week, or what is one thing we could do to make your job ten percent easier?

By forcing these discussions, you normalize the vulnerability required to surface problems and transform the departmental meeting from a boring status report into a high-value operational engine.