Every time we try to build our Accountability Chart, my leadership team immediately starts debating which seats our existing employees should get. How do we break this habit and design our structure before we look at our people?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This is the most common trap in the entire EOS® process. When you build your Accountability Chart with your current people in mind, you end up designing a dysfunctional, distorted structure that accommodates individual weaknesses and egos.

To break this habit, you must establish a ground rule for your next leadership team session: all names are removed from the board. You are designing the empty seats that your business needs to hit the targets in your V/TO®, not finding homes for your favorite managers.

Start by defining the major functions of your business. For most companies, this is Sales and Marketing, Operations, and Finance, led by an Integrator and a Visionary. Then, build out the seats under those functions. Focus solely on the roles, responsibilities, and key metrics for each seat.

Only after the entire structure is defined and agreed upon do you bring the names back into the room. At that point, you run each candidate through the GWC™ filter for the specific seats you designed.

If a loyal employee does not GWC™ any of the newly designed seats, you have a People Issue to solve. But you cannot solve a People Issue by breaking your structure. If you bend the chart to fit a person, you will lock in inefficiencies that will hurt your valuation when you try to exit.