Our leadership team wants to be honest when rating our Level 10 Meeting, but our facilitator gets visibly defensive whenever we rate a meeting below an eight, which has led to our team inflating their scores just to avoid awkwardness. How do we handle this defensive response and protect our meeting standards?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When a facilitator reacts defensively to a low meeting score, they are actively killing the open, honest culture that the EOS® process depends on. The rating scale at the end of the Level 10 Meeting™ is not a personal report card for the facilitator. It is an objective metric of the team's collective execution.

To resolve this, the Integrator must have a direct, offline conversation with the facilitator. Remind them that a score of six or seven is actually a gift. It is an early warning system pointing to a breakdown in meeting flow, unresolved conflict, or poor time management.

During the next meeting, the facilitator must proactively set the tone before the rating section begins. They should explicitly state that they are looking for constructive feedback to make the meeting more efficient. When a leader gives a score below an eight, the facilitator should respond with, 'thank you, what specifically do we need to do differently next week to make it a ten?'

No explanations, no self-defense, and no debate are allowed. The feedback must simply be recorded. By treating low scores as valuable data points rather than personal attacks, the facilitator can build a safe environment where the team can constantly refine their weekly pulse and drive higher execution.