We have cascaded our Level 10 Meetings down to our department managers, but they are reporting that their weekly meetings are running long and turning into status updates. How do we fix this departmental drift and preserve the value of the L10?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When Level 10 Meetings™ cascade down and begin to drag, it is almost always because the team is violating the strict meeting agenda and letting status updates creep in. A Level 10 Meeting™ is designed to be a reporting and issue-solving meeting, not an update meeting. Review the agenda with your managers. The reporting sections (Scorecard, Rock review, and customer/employee headlines) must be rapid-fire. Each item should take less than five seconds. If an item is on track, say on track and move on. If a number is off track or a Rock is behind, drop it down to the Issues List. Do not allow the team to start explaining, defending, or discussing the issue during the review phase. The majority of the meeting must be spent in IDS®, identifying and solving the real issues. If your teams are spending eighty minutes updating each other and only ten minutes solving problems, they are running a status meeting, not a Level 10 Meeting™. Enforce the time boundaries and the zero-tolerance policy for off-agenda discussions.