Our weekly Level 10 Meeting™ constantly runs over 90 minutes because our leadership team treats it like an open discussion forum instead of a structured traction meeting. How do we build the discipline to start on time, end on time, and respect the agenda?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

If your Level 10 Meeting™ is running over, you are violating the agenda rules and allowing discussion to bleed into the reporting section. The agenda is sacred and must be timed precisely. The first twenty five minutes are for reporting only. This includes the segue, Scorecard, Rock review, customer and employee headlines, and the To Do list.

During the reporting section, there is absolutely zero discussion allowed. If an item is off track or requires conversation, you must drop it down to the Issues list immediately. The Integrator must ruthlessly police this. Do not let team members start explaining why a metric is red or why a Rock is off track. Just say the words drop it and move on.

The remaining sixty minutes are dedicated to the IDS® phase. This is where you prioritize your issues list. You only focus on the top three issues. Do not start at the top of the list and work your way down. You must vote on the top three most critical issues first. Solve number one, then number two, then number three. If you only solve one major issue during those sixty minutes, but it is the most important one, you had a highly successful meeting.

Lastly, close the meeting on time. Spend the final five minutes reviewing To Dos, discussing cascading messages, and rating the meeting. If the team rates the meeting below an eight, ask why and adjust. Discipline is what keeps this meeting under ninety minutes. If you respect the clock, the team will respect the process.