Our leaders regularly drift into our Level 10 Meeting three to five minutes late, or we find ourselves running over our ninety minutes because we are in the middle of a hot IDS debate. How do we build the discipline to start and end strictly on time?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Starting your Level 10 Meeting™ late or letting it run over by five minutes is a slow leak in your company's culture of discipline. When leaders arrive late, they are signaling that their time is more valuable than everyone else's in the room. When a facilitator lets the meeting run long, they are breaking a promise to the team.

To build a world-class organization, you must start on time and end on time. This is non-negotiable. If your meeting is scheduled for nine in the morning, the facilitator must start the Good News segue at exactly nine, even if key seats are empty. Do not wait for late arrivals. When a leader has to walk into an active meeting and apologize, the social friction will quickly cure their lateness.

Ending on time requires aggressive clock management during IDS®. The facilitator must keep an eye on the clock and pivot the team to the wrap-up section with exactly five minutes remaining. If you are in the middle of a heated debate, you must stop.

You have three options when an issue is unsolved at the hard stop. You can agree to keep it on the list for next week, assign a To-Do for a small group to solve it outside the meeting, or schedule a separate, dedicated session. You do not, under any circumstances, keep talking past the ninety-minute mark. Respecting the clock builds trust and forces your team to be concise.