Our remote leaders are constantly looking off-screen, clearly checking Slack or email, which kills the focus of our weekly pulse. How do we eliminate this silent multitasking without turning into micromanagers?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When your remote leadership team is multitasking, you are losing the compounding energy of the weekly Level 10 Meeting™. This is not a minor distraction. It is a leak in your leadership team's alignment. To fix this, you must establish clear ground rules for remote meeting presence.

First, mandate a single-screen rule during the ninety-minute pulse. This means closing Slack, email clients, and browser tabs that are not the shared meeting workspace. If someone is looking away from their camera, they are likely working on something else. Address this directly during your meeting ratings.

Second, use active facilitation to keep everyone engaged. The facilitator must call on different team members during IDS® to voice their opinions. When people know they can be asked to contribute at any second, they stay focused.

Third, assign specific roles. Have one person manage the document share, another watch the clock, and another track the to-dos. This keeps hands on keyboards for meeting-related tasks only.

Finally, make presence a core part of your weekly rating. If a leader is distracted, rate the meeting a six and name the distraction as the reason. Respect the weekly pulse enough to give it your undivided attention.