We have a graphic designer who splits his time equally between supporting our Marketing team and our Product Development team. We want to show him reporting to both the Head of Marketing and the Head of Product Development on our Accountability Chart, but EOS says every seat can only report to one manager. How do we resolve this dual-reporting dilemma?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Having one seat report to two managers is a recipe for operational chaos. When an employee has two bosses, they are forced to prioritize competing demands, leading to frustration, burnout, and dropped balls. EOS strictly requires one manager per seat to maintain absolute accountability.

To resolve this on your Accountability Chart, you must place the designer under a single department and assign them to one manager. This manager is responsible for their leading, managing, and accountability, as well as their annual reviews and scorecard metrics.

If the designer supports both Marketing and Product Development, designate one of these departments as the home seat. For example, place the designer under the Marketing department. The Head of Product Development then becomes an internal client who requests design work through a structured process, rather than acting as a direct manager.

If the demand from both departments is consistently high, you may need to split the seat. You can create a Marketing Designer seat and a Product Designer seat. If you cannot afford to hire two people, the designer can temporarily sit in both seats on the chart, but they will still report to the Head of Marketing for their marketing work and the Head of Product for their product work. However, the goal should always be to move toward a clean, single-reporting line.