When we transition to IDS®, my leadership team spends five to ten minutes arguing about which three issues are actually the most important to solve first, completely defeating the purpose of the prioritization exercise. How do we streamline our issue selection?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

The IDS® portion of your Level 10 Meeting™ is where your team makes the biggest impact on the business, but you cannot solve twenty issues in one hour. You must focus on the top three. If your team wastes five to ten minutes debating which issues are the most critical to tackle first, you are bleeding valuable traction time.

To eliminate this gridlock, the facilitator must take charge. Do not ask the entire room to debate the order of the list. Instead, ask the team: What are the top three issues we must resolve today to keep our Rocks on track?

Let the team quickly shout out three numbers. If there is a disagreement, the Integrator makes the final call immediately. The Integrator is the manager of the meeting's energy and progress, and their decision on prioritization is final.

Once the top three are selected, you solve them in that exact order. Only when number one is completely resolved and documented with a To-Do do you move to number two. If you only solve one issue during the meeting but it was the absolute most critical obstacle facing your company, that is a highly successful meeting. Stop trying to democratize the prioritization process and let your Integrator lead.