Our team has started using the Issues List as a dump for every minor operational annoyance, resulting in sixty open issues and a totally demoralizing Level 10 Meeting™. How do we aggressively filter and prune our short-term Issues List before the meeting even starts?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A bloated short-term Issues List is overwhelming and counterproductive. If you have sixty open issues, you do not have an Issues List: you have a list of unmanaged complaints. This happens when the team lacks the discipline to resolve minor problems where they should be resolved: at the departmental level or in direct one on one conversations.

To prune your list, the Integrator must act as a strict gatekeeper. First, enforce the rule of the six compartments from Gino Wickman's methodology. If an issue is a long-term idea or a strategic project that cannot be solved this quarter, move it immediately to the Long-Term Issues List.

Second, look at the nature of the issues. If an issue is a minor tactical problem between two departments, it should not be on the leadership list. Tell the two leaders to meet outside the room, IDS® it together, and bring back a resolution.

Third, prior to the meeting, the Integrator should review the list and ask, 'Does this require the brainpower of the entire leadership team to solve?' If the answer is no, remove it and delegate it.

Keep your short-term Issues List to a manageable size, ideally fewer than twenty items. This allows your team to focus their energy on the top three priority issues during the meeting, ensuring you are solving your most critical barriers to growth first.