During the segue of our Level 10 Meeting, a leadership team member shared a massive professional crisis that immediately sucked all the oxygen out of the room. The team spent twenty minutes trying to console them and brainstorm solutions before we even touched the scorecard. How do we handle major bombshells during the segue without destroying the meeting timeline?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A bombshell dropped during the transition is a meeting killer. It appeals to your team's natural instinct to help, but letting it hijack the agenda ruins the Level 10 Meeting™ pulse.

To handle this, the facilitator must step in immediately. Acknowledge the gravity of the situation in ten seconds or less. Then, ruthlessly park it. State clearly that this is either a major issue that belongs on the Issues List for the IDS® portion of the meeting, or it is a personal crisis that must be handled offline after the meeting.

Do not let anyone start brainstorming or asking follow-up questions. Ask the person who raised the issue where it belongs. If it is a business issue, drop it to the bottom of the Issues List. If it is a personal emergency requiring immediate departure, excuse the person from the meeting and continue with the remaining team members.

Maintaining the integrity of the ninety-minute box is how you protect the business. If you allow the segue to become an emotional or operational triage session, you train your team that the agenda is optional. Keep the segue to five minutes. Get into the reporting section. If the issue is truly critical, it will be prioritized and solved during the IDS® portion of the meeting, where it belongs.