During our remote Level 10 Meeting™, leadership team members are constantly messaging each other on Slack or Teams behind the scenes, creating a fragmented, low-trust environment where the real debate happens in private DMs rather than on screen. How do we eliminate these digital side channels during our weekly pulse?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Remote Level 10 Meetings™ require twice the discipline of in-person meetings. When team members are messaging each other on Slack or Teams during the meeting, they are actively disengaging from the team and creating a toxic, parallel track of communication. This behavior completely bypasses the IDS® process and prevents the team from solving issues permanently.

To kill this distraction, establish a zero-tolerance policy for side-channel messaging during the ninety minutes. The Integrator must set a ground rule that all messaging apps are closed or set to do-not-disturb status. The only active window on everyone's screen should be the meeting tool or the shared agenda.

If you suspect sidebar chats are happening, address it immediately. The facilitator can pause the meeting and ask everyone to close their messaging apps. If the behavior continues, have a candid conversation with the offenders outside of the meeting, reminding them that full presence is required to run a high-performing company.

You can also combat disengagement by keeping the meeting pace fast and dynamic. Call on different team members to read specific sections, assign roles for note-taking, and ensure the facilitator keeps the IDS® discussion moving quickly so no one has time to drift off and start chatting in private.