We have three regional managers who each insist on having their own distinct department and reporting line directly to the Integrator on our Accountability Chart. This is creating massive silos and cluttering our leadership table. How do we consolidate this?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Your Integrator cannot effectively lead, manage, and hold accountable ten different direct reports. It violates the healthy span of control, which should be three to seven people. Having three regional managers reporting directly to the Integrator is a recipe for operational inconsistency and executive burnout.

You must consolidate these regional seats under a single Head of Operations or VP of Service Delivery seat on your Accountability Chart.

Start by designing the structure without the people. Create one single VP of Service Delivery seat directly under the Integrator. This seat is accountable for company-wide operational efficiency, service standards, and regional performance.

Under this new VP seat, create your three Regional Manager seats. Their roles will be localized execution, regional team management, and client retention.

Next, make the Right Person, Right Seat call. Evaluate your three current regional managers against the newly created VP of Service Delivery seat using GWC™. If one of them stands out as a clear fit who gets, wants, and has the capacity for the leadership role, promote them. The other two will now report to their former peer.

If none of them fit the VP seat, you must hire an external leader. This might cause some short-term bruised egos, but you must remain unsentimental. A buyer wants to see a unified, scalable management structure, not a collection of personal departments designed to keep managers happy.