During the IDS® portion of our Level 10 Meeting™, a single issue often triggers a massive tangent about operational processes, and we drift completely away from the actual issue we prioritized. How do we keep the conversation locked on the specific issue at hand?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Agenda drift during IDS® is a symptom of poor facilitation and a lack of discipline. When someone brings up an issue, you must follow the IDS® process strictly: Identify, Discuss, and Solve. The drift usually happens during the Identify phase because teams start discussing and solving before they truly know what the root problem is.

To kill this waste, the facilitator must act as a strict gatekeeper. Your job is to keep the spotlight on the prioritized issue. If a team member brings up a tangent or a related but separate problem, you must stop them immediately. Use the phrase: Is this directly related to solving the current issue, or is this a new issue?

If it is a new issue, drop it to the bottom of the Issues List and get back to the topic at hand. Do not let the team debate it.

If the drift is caused by a lack of real-time data, do not guess or hypothesize. Use your digital tools or AI-driven dashboard to look up the exact operational metric instantly. If the data is not available, create a quick to-do for someone to gather the data and bring it back next week, then move to the next issue. Keep the meeting moving. Your Level 10 Meeting™ is a place to solve issues, not a brainstorming sandbox.