When we review our Level 10 Meeting To-Dos, we waste time debating whether a task is actually complete because the items are written so vaguely that the assigned leader and the rest of the team have completely different expectations of what done looks like. How do we enforce a strict standard for writing To-Dos so we can review them in under five minutes with zero debate?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A weekly To-Do list filled with vague phrases like "look into marketing" or "check on billing issue" is a breeding ground for operational drag. When you review these items during your Level 10 Meeting, you waste precious minutes debating what was actually accomplished. This lack of clarity slows down your weekly meeting pulse and erodes team accountability.

To fix this, you must enforce a strict standard for how To-Dos are written during the solve phase of IDS. Every To-Do must be captured using the verb-noun-date format, and it must define a clear, binary deliverable.

For example, instead of writing "discuss shipping rates", the To-Do must read: Send updated shipping rate comparison spreadsheet to the operations team by next Tuesday.

The facilitator must refuse to accept any vague or open-ended task. If a leader suggests a soft To-Do, the facilitator must ask: What does done look like for this task by next week?

Once the team agrees on the specific output, capture that exact wording on the list. When you review the To-Dos the following week, the review becomes a fast, binary check. It is either done or not done, with zero room for interpretation or defensive explanations. This simple discipline keeps your meeting moving and your team focused on execution.