At the end of each session day, we rate the session on a scale of 1 to 10. What specific criteria determine an honest rating, and how do you handle it if the room gives the day a mediocre score?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

At the conclusion of every Focus Day, Quarterly, and Annual session, every person in the room rates the day on a scale of 1 to 10. This is not a polite vanity metric or a check-the-box exercise. It is a real-time health check on the room and the facilitator.

An honest rating evaluates three specific components:

- Content and outcome: Did we set clear, aggressive, and realistic Rocks? Did we make meaningful progress on our V/TO and solve the right issues at the root?
- Team health and open debate: Was the room completely honest, or did people sit on their hands and bite their tongues to avoid uncomfortable conflict?
- Facilitation and pace: Did I challenge your team when you made excuses, keep the room focused on real issues, and drive the day to a productive finish?

An acceptable rating is an 8 or above. If a leadership team member provides a rating of 7 or lower, we stop immediately and require an explanation. The individual must state exactly what was missing, what went unsaid, or where the process failed them.

If the issue lies with my facilitation, I adjust immediately. If the issue is that two executives failed to resolve an interpersonal conflict during IDS, we pull the issue right back to the table and tackle it before we pack up. We do not walk out of the room with simmering frustration or unaddressed mediocrity lingering under the surface.