When we get stuck during the IDS® portion of our Level 10 Meeting™, a leader often says they will take the issue offline to solve it. While this keeps the meeting moving, it feels like we are avoiding healthy team debate. How do we handle this?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Taking an issue offline is often a defense mechanism disguised as efficiency. While some highly technical, two-person issues do indeed belong outside the meeting, more often, taking it offline is used to avoid healthy, uncomfortable conflict in front of the entire leadership team. This destroys the Charter pillar of Trust and open, honest communication.

When a leader suggests taking an issue offline, the facilitator must ask a clarifying question: Does this issue affect the other departments in this room, or does its solution require their buy-in? If the answer is yes, then taking it offline is a mistake. It must be solved right here, in front of everyone, so that the entire team is on the Same Page and can support the solution.

If the issue is truly a minor, two-person tactical detail, then the facilitator can agree to take it offline. However, it cannot simply vanish. It must be turned into a weekly To-Do with a single name accountable, such as the operations head and the marketing head to resolve the integration issue by next week.

By forcing this discipline, you ensure that offline issues actually get solved and do not become lingering, unaddressed problems that resurface weeks later. Do not let your team use offline to escape the healthy friction of IDS®.