Our leaders are using the Employee and Customer Headlines section to list routine, minor project updates and completed tasks that do not impact the rest of the team, turning this block into a boring laundry list of status reports. How do we enforce a strict standard for what actually qualifies as a headline?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

The Employee and Customer Headlines section is designed to keep the leadership team aware of significant, company changing news in five minutes or less. It is not a place for status reports, project updates, or minor tasks. When leaders use this time to read off their to-do lists, they kill the meeting energy and waste valuable time.

You must implement a strict filter for what qualifies as a headline. A true headline must meet one of two criteria: it is either a major win or a major warning that directly impacts the rest of the leadership team. For example, winning a massive new client, losing a key employee, or experiencing a major service outage are valid headlines. Informing the team that a routine report was submitted or that a project is on track is not.

To enforce this, the facilitator must cut off any leader who starts sharing routine status updates. Remind the team that no news is good news, and if an item does not require the awareness of the entire leadership team, it should be shared in an email or a departmental update instead. If a headline does require action, drop it immediately to the Issues List. By keeping this section binary and high impact, you keep the meeting moving fast.