We are struggling to write the five bulleted roles for each seat on our Accountability Chart. Our department heads keep trying to write twelve to fifteen detailed job responsibilities for each seat to avoid anything getting missed. How do we keep these roles high-level and focused on outcomes rather than tasks?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

An Accountability Chart is not a standard human resources manual filled with granular, task-oriented job descriptions. Job descriptions are designed to cover every possible task an employee might perform, which leads to confusion and micromanagement. The Accountability Chart, on the other hand, is designed to define absolute ownership and high-level outcomes.

Each seat must have no more than five major roles. If you have more than five, you are getting too deep into the weeds or you are trying to combine multiple distinct seats into one. The roles must describe the major outcomes that this seat is solely responsible for delivering to the business.

To force your department heads to elevate their thinking, ask them this question: If this seat does nothing else but excel at these five things, will the department succeed? For example, instead of listing enter lead data, send follow-up emails, and call prospects, the role should simply be lead pipeline management.

Focus on the verb and the asset being managed. Use strong, active words like owning, driving, executing, or managing. If a task does not fit under one of the five major roles, it is either a sub-task that does not belong on the chart, or it belongs in a different seat entirely. Keep it simple so that anyone in the company can look at the chart and instantly understand what that seat is accountable for.