How to Run a Level 10 Meeting Your Team Actually Looks Forward To

Ask most leadership teams to rate their weekly meeting from 1 to 10 and you'll hear a 4 or 5. The meetings run long, wander off topic and end without decisions. Then the same problems show up next week.

The Level 10 Meeting™ fixes that. It's the weekly meeting at the heart of EOS®, and it's designed so teams rate it a 10. Here's how to run one well.

What is a Level 10 Meeting?

A Level 10 Meeting (often shortened to L10) is a 90-minute weekly leadership meeting with a fixed agenda. Its purpose is simple: keep the team on track with its numbers and priorities, and solve the most important issues every week.

Three rules make it work:

1. Same day, same time, every week. Consistency builds the habit.

2. Same printed agenda, every time. No surprises, no wandering.

3. Start on time, end on time. Respect the clock and people will respect the meeting.

The Level 10 Meeting agenda

The L10 agenda has seven sections. Most of the time goes to solving problems, not reporting.

Anything off track in the first five sections doesn't get discussed there. It drops to the issues list and gets handled during IDS. That one rule keeps reporting short and saves the meeting's energy for solving.

How to IDS: the 60 minutes that matter most

IDS stands for Identify, Discuss, Solve. It's how EOS teams turn a long list of problems into real decisions.

1. Prioritize. Look at the full issues list and pick the top three. Don't go in order; go by importance.

2. Identify. Get to the real, root issue. The first problem stated is often a symptom.

3. Discuss. Everyone says what they think, once. No speeches, no repeating points.

4. Solve. Agree on the solution. It usually becomes a to-do with one owner and a seven-day deadline.

Then move to the next issue. When the top three are solved, pick the next three. A good team solves more issues in 60 minutes than most teams solve in a month of ordinary meetings.

7 common Level 10 Meeting mistakes

• Skipping weeks. The rhythm is the point. Moving or cancelling the meeting tells the team it's optional.

• Discussing during reporting. Scorecard and Rock reviews should take minutes, not half the meeting.

• Solving the easy issues first. Always start with what matters most.

• Staying at the symptom level. If the same issue keeps coming back, you haven't found the root cause.

• Vague to-dos. Every to-do needs one owner and a seven-day deadline.

• No honest rating. If the meeting scores below 8, ask why and fix it next week.

• The wrong facilitator. The person running the meeting needs to keep time and hold people to the agenda, even the owner.

Why Level 10 Meetings work

The L10 works because it turns accountability into a weekly habit. Numbers, priorities and commitments are reviewed every seven days. Problems surface early and get solved before they become expensive.

It also changes the team. When people know every issue will get a fair hearing and a real decision, they stop sidestepping hard conversations. Trust rises, and the meeting becomes the most valuable 90 minutes of the week.

When your Scorecard shows red numbers between quarterly sessions, my post Meeting Pulse 2.0: How to Turn Red Numbers into Action Between Quarterlies shows how to act on them.

Getting started with Level 10 Meetings

You can start running a basic L10 next week. But most teams find the meeting works best as part of the full EOS toolbox, alongside a clear Accountability Chart™, a weekly Scorecard and well-set Rocks.

An EOS Implementer teaches your team to run the L10 during Focus Day™ and then helps you sharpen it each quarter. I'm a Professional EOS Implementer based in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and I've run Level 10 Meetings in my own businesses for more than seven years. I know where teams slip, because I've been in the chair.

FAQ

How long is a Level 10 Meeting? 90 minutes, held on the same day and at the same time every week.

Who attends a Level 10 Meeting? The leadership team. Departments can run their own L10s with the same agenda.

What does IDS stand for in EOS? Identify, Discuss, Solve. It's the EOS method for solving issues at their root.

What is a good Level 10 Meeting rating? Teams aim for an average of 8 or higher. Anything lower is a signal to improve how the meeting runs.

Make your weekly meeting a 10

If your meetings feel like a waste of time, it's fixable. Book a free introductory call with me to see how EOS can bring focus and discipline to your leadership team.

Keep reading: what a business operating system actually is and how to hire an EOS Implementer in Northwest Arkansas. Questions first? Get in touch.