(verb) to ensure agreement or otherwise establish the parameters for a subsequent discussion, generally done in order to head off potential digressions, as in “Just to level-set, we should focus our discussion today on implementation issues only”; can also be used to lower expectations and so temper undue enthusiasm, in case the listener was expecting to review more complex work than what is about to be presented; may also be invoked to subtly redirect a conversation by introducing a topic different from the one under consideration; as with many examples of business jargon this term is used to enforce the speaker’s desires without appearing too aggressive