We recently created three regional manager seats on our Accountability Chart to prepare for our exit, but the frontline staff continues to bypass these managers and comes straight to me for decisions. How do we use the Accountability Chart to enforce the reporting lines and build true management accountability?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

If frontline employees are bypassing your newly created regional manager seats, your Accountability Chart exists only on paper. This bypass behavior destroys the authority of your middle management and keeps you trapped in daily operations. Buyers will see this as a major key-person risk, assuming the business will collapse the moment you exit.

To fix this, you must enforce the reporting lines defined on your chart. The next time a frontline worker comes to you with an issue that belongs to a regional manager, you must stop them mid-sentence. Ask them if they have spoken to their direct manager. If they have not, politely direct them to that manager and refuse to make the decision.

Simultaneously, you must run a GWC check on your regional managers. Do they truly Get, Want, and have the Capacity to own their seats? Sometimes, managers allow themselves to be bypassed because they lack the confidence to make decisions, or because you have not clearly delegated the authority that goes with the seat.

Make sure the five roles for these regional manager seats are crystal clear, especially the accountability for local decision-making and problem-solving. Use your Level 10 Meeting to IDS any instances where reporting lines were breached.

Your job as the owner preparing for an exit is to manage your direct reports, not their direct reports. Respect your own structure so your team and prospective buyers will do the same.