Our weekly Level 10 Meeting Issues List has grown to over fifty items, and because we only solve the top three each week, the rest of the list has become a stagnant graveyard of old problems. How do we clean up and manage a massive issues backlog without losing track of important operational items?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A massive, bloated Issues List is a symptom of poor prioritization and a lack of focus. When your list grows to fifty items, it creates mental fatigue and makes it harder for your leadership team to identify what actually matters during your weekly pulse.

To clean up this backlog, the facilitator must lead a systematic purge of the Issues List. First, understand that not every issue belongs on the leadership team's weekly Level 10 Meeting agenda. Many items are minor department-level tasks, individual To-Dos, or long-term strategic discussions that belong on the V/TO.

Take thirty minutes during your next quarterly planning session or a dedicated meeting to scrub the list using these three rules:

- First, delete any issue that is no longer relevant or has solved itself over time. If it has been sitting there for six weeks and nothing broke, it was never a critical issue.

- Second, delegate issues that belong to specific departments. Move them off the leadership team's list and onto the departmental Level 10 Meeting agendas where they can be resolved by the people closest to the work.

- Third, move long-term issues that do not need to be solved this week to your V/TO Issues List. This keeps your weekly list focused strictly on the obstacles blocking your current scorecard metrics and quarterly Rocks.

Keep your weekly Issues List tight, lean, and highly focused on the immediate future.