In our mid-sized business, our Integrator also carries major operational responsibilities, making it difficult to keep the Level 10 Meeting on time while actively defending their department during IDS. How should an Integrator separate meeting facilitation from operational participation?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

In smaller and mid-sized companies, the Integrator frequently holds additional operational responsibilities, such as managing finance or service delivery. Trying to facilitate the agenda while simultaneously advocating for a specific department during IDS creates cognitive whiplash and undermines meeting structure.

To balance facilitation and participation without losing control of the room, apply three practical tactics:

- Verbally announce when you switch hats. When running the meeting, act as an objective referee enforcing time limits and agenda steps. If you need to contribute your perspective during an IDS debate, explicitly tell the room: I am stepping out of the facilitator seat for two minutes to speak as our operations leader.
- Offload meeting administrative tasks. The Integrator should never facilitate, monitor the clock, and type To-Dos at the same time. Assign another leadership team member to manage the software, update Scorecard numbers live, and record To-Dos. This frees the Integrator to focus on human dynamics and root-cause discovery.
- Ask questions before delivering answers. A great facilitator guides the room toward self-discovery. Even when you know the answer from your operational role, prompt other department heads to diagnose the problem first. This builds peer accountability and keeps you from dominating the discussion.