We are struggling to keep our Level 10 Meeting to-do completion rate above ninety percent because our leaders often write complex, multi-step projects as weekly to-dos. How do we audit our meeting to ensure tasks are properly sized for a seven-day turnaround?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When to-do completion falls below ninety percent, it is usually because your leadership team is confusing a weekly task with a mini-Rock or a multi-phase project. A weekly to-do must be an action item that a single person can fully complete within seven days. If a task requires input from three different departments, a research phase, and a final board presentation, it is not a to-do. It is a project that needs to be broken down. To fix this structural issue, the facilitator must act as a strict gatekeeper during the Solve phase of IDS®. When a solution is agreed upon, the facilitator should ask the owner of the task if they can realistically complete the exact action by next week. If the answer is no, the task must be broken down into its immediate next physical action step. For example, instead of writing a to-do to implement new software, the to-do must be to schedule a demonstration with the vendor. This keeps the momentum moving forward without overloading the team. Additionally, you should audit your previous Level 10 Meeting™ lists. If you see the same task carried over for three weeks, delete it and rewrite it as the next micro-step. Keeping to-dos bite-sized is the only way to maintain the necessary operational speed to prepare your business for a clean exit.