We have rolled out departmental Level 10 Meetings, but our department heads are struggling to facilitate them effectively, leading to sessions that run over time or feel flat. How do we systematically level up our managers facilitation skills without the leadership team having to attend and micromanage every session?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

To scale your business without micromanaging, you must systematically build facilitation capacity within your middle management team. It is common for new departmental facilitators to struggle, letting discussions run over or allowing the meeting pace to drag. However, having leadership step in and take over the meeting completely destroys their authority and halts their development.

Instead, implement a facilitation shadowing and feedback loop. Have your department heads attend a leadership Level 10 Meeting™ specifically to observe how a master facilitator manages the clock, cuts off tangents, and drives the IDS® process.

Next, have your Integrator or a seasoned leader sit in on the departmental meeting as a silent observer. Their only role is to take notes on the facilitation, not to participate in the operational problem-solving. After the meeting, during a one-on-one same-page session, provide direct and actionable feedback. Focus on specific coaching points, such as how to cut off a long-winded speaker or how to push the team to a clear To-Do.

You can also rotate the facilitator role within the department occasionally to help everyone understand the difficulty of the seat. Building these skills at the departmental level is crucial for preparing the business for a clean exit, as it proves to future buyers that your middle management can drive accountability and solve problems independently.