We are successfully identifying and discussing our issues, but the to-dos we create in the Solve phase are incredibly vague, like look into pricing or talk to marketing, which leads to zero traction by the next week. How do we write better to-dos?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Vague to-dos are where accountability goes to die. If your weekly action items are written as open-ended research projects, they will continue to roll over from week to week. A true Level 10 Meeting™ to-do must be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound. It must describe a completed action, not an ongoing process. To fix this, your facilitator must hold a high standard for how to-dos are captured on the list.

Never write down verbs like look into, analyze, or talk to without defining the exact output of that activity. Instead, use action-oriented language that defines a clear deliverable. For example, change look into pricing to draft a tiered pricing proposal and email it to the team. Change talk to marketing to schedule a thirty-minute campaign review with the marketing director. Every single to-do must have one owner and must be realistically achievable within seven days. If a task is too large to complete in a single week, break it down into smaller, bite-sized components and assign only the first step as this week's to-do. By forcing clarity during the wrap-up of your IDS® session, you eliminate excuses and ensure your team returns the following week with completed items.