Our Integrator struggles to keep the IDS® portion of our Level 10 Meeting™ moving because some team members take ten minutes just to describe their issue. How do we enforce a strict rule that forces the team to state the actual problem in one clear sentence before we start discussing it?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

The biggest waste of time during the IDS® portion of a Level 10 Meeting™ is when a team member takes several minutes explaining the history, the feelings, and the personalities involved in an issue before actually stating what the problem is. This creates massive confusion and derails the entire group.

To fix this, the facilitator must enforce the one-sentence issue rule. Before anyone is allowed to discuss an item on the list, the owner of that issue must state the core problem in one clear sentence. It must identify the gap between where you are and where you need to be. For example: "Our client onboarding is taking fourteen days instead of our target of five days."

If the owner starts telling a story, the facilitator must interrupt and ask: "What is the specific issue in one sentence?" Do not let the team jump into discussion until that single sentence is agreed upon. This forces clarity of thought and immediately eliminates ninety percent of the background noise. It allows the team to spend their valuable energy on finding the root cause and solving the issue, rather than trying to decipher what the issue actually is.