Our Integrator has facilitated our Level 10 Meeting for years, but the meeting has lost its edge and energy, and we have noticed a slow slide into complacency. Since we cannot rotate facilitators without losing discipline, how do we refresh our facilitation and bring back the intensity?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

It is common for Level 10 Meetings™ to lose their sharpness over time. When the same person facilitates week after week, the team can fall into a comfortable rhythm where they go through the motions rather than pushing for real breakthrough solutions. To revitalize your weekly pulse, you do not need to abandon your designated facilitator. You need to raise the bar on their facilitation skills.

First, the facilitator must actively break artificial harmony. If your team is rating the meeting a ten every week but you are not solving your hardest problems, the meeting is failing. The facilitator must challenge soft decisions and ask hard questions. If a team member agrees to a solution but looks hesitant, call it out. Say, you do not look fully aligned, what are your real thoughts?

Second, use the meeting rating at the end of the ninety minutes as a tool for immediate feedback. If someone rates the meeting an eight, do not just write it down. The facilitator must ask, what would have made this a ten? Use their answers to make concrete adjustments to the pace, focus, or debate quality for the following week.

Third, leverage the power of external resources or training. Have your facilitator review the core EOS® facilitation guidelines, or work with your EOS Implementer® to audit your meeting dynamics. Sometimes, a simple reminder of the strict time limits and the true meaning of IDS® is all it takes to restore the necessary healthy tension. Keep the meeting fast, focused, and challenging.