Our leadership team has identified a critical new seat on our Accountability Chart for client onboarding quality control, but it involves tedious manual testing and nobody on the team wants to take it on. How do we assign accountability for this unpopular seat?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When you have an essential seat that everyone is avoiding, you cannot simply let it sit empty or divide it among multiple people. Splitting accountability means nobody is actually accountable.

First, confirm that the seat is truly necessary for your structure. If it is critical to your operations and exit valuation, it must have one owner.

Second, look at your existing team through the lens of GWC™. Is there someone who already manages a related department, like operations or client success, who has the capacity and the skill set to own it temporarily? If so, put their name in that seat. They must understand they are fully accountable for the outcomes of that seat, even if they dislike the daily tasks.

Third, if your current leadership team is truly maxed out or lacks the GWC™ for it, you must look outside. Treat this as an immediate hiring priority. Often, a seat that feels like a chore to your current leadership team is a perfect fit for a specialized hire or a dedicated virtual assistant. You can also look at automating the manual testing tasks using basic AI tools. Whoever ultimately owns the seat above it, typically your Integrator, must ensure the roles are executed properly until a permanent resource is in place. Do not let the unpopularity of a seat prevent you from maintaining your operational standards.