When we prioritize our weekly Issues List, the team always votes to solve the issues brought by our loudest and most assertive leaders, leaving quieter team members with unresolved problems. How do we fix our IDS prioritization?
When your weekly IDS prioritization is dominated by the loudest voices, your meeting is failing to address the most critical risks to your business. The issues that get solved are simply the ones backed by the most dominant personalities, not necessarily the ones with the highest impact.
Correcting Prioritization Bias
To correct this bias, you need to change how you select the top three issues. Instead of allowing the loudest leaders to call out their priorities, implement a structured approach:
• Have the facilitator go around the table and ask each team member to silently identify their top three choices.
• Then, tally the votes to determine the true priority. This democratic approach forces the team to focus on the actual root causes holding the business back, rather than just the loudest complaints. For more strategies on meeting dynamics, see [should Integrator facilitate Level 10 Meetings](/qa/should-integrator-facilitate-level-10-meetings).
Facilitating Inclusive Discussion
Additionally, the facilitator must actively manage the dynamics during the Identify phase.
• If a quieter team member places an issue on the list, the facilitator should intentionally invite them to speak first.
• A good way to phrase this is: "Let us hear from the owner of this issue before we open the floor to discussion."
By structuring both the selection and discussion process, you ensure that quiet but critical insights are not drowned out. This helps prevent situations where teams spend time [arguing over why numbers were missed](/qa/how-to-review-scorecard-under-five-minutes) instead of focusing on solutions. It also supports better team dynamics, similar to how an [Accountability Chart can stop blame games](/qa/using-accountability-chart-to-stop-blame-in-ids) in meetings.
Related questions
• [How do we review our weekly scorecard in under five minutes?](/qa/how-to-review-scorecard-under-five-minutes)
• [Should our Integrator facilitate the Level 10 Meeting?](/qa/should-integrator-facilitate-level-10-meetings)
• [When an issue is dropped to IDS, my leadership team immediately starts pointing fingers at other departments rather than taking ownership. How do we use the Accountability Chart to stop the blame game during meetings?](/qa/using-accountability-chart-to-stop-blame-in-ids)
Category: Level 10 Meetings