Several of our department heads have started holding pre-meetings before our weekly Level 10 Meeting to align their stories and pre-solve departmental issues, which makes our actual IDS session feel scripted and sterile. How do we shut down this side-channel alignment?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Pre-meetings before the Level 10 Meeting are a symptom of low trust or fear of healthy conflict on the leadership team. When leaders meet privately to align their stories, they are trying to present a united front to avoid being put on the spot during the weekly pulse. This deprives the entire team of hearing the raw debate, the different perspectives, and the authentic problem-solving that happens during a true IDS session. It turns your actual meeting into a theater performance where decisions are merely rubber-stamped. To stop this, you must address the behavior directly. Call out the sterile nature of the meeting. Let the team know that if an issue is resolved before the meeting, it should not be taking up space on the leadership team Issues List, but if it is still on the list, the debate must happen live. As the facilitator, look for signs of scripted alignment. If two leaders use identical phrasing or look to each other for permission before speaking, pause the meeting. Ask them directly if they discussed this beforehand and why. Reinforce that the healthiest teams fight, debate, and resolve issues together in the room. If side-channel alignment continues, make it clear that solving leadership team issues outside the meeting undermines the Accountability Chart and damages trust.