Our business has grown quickly, and our Accountability Chart now shows eleven different seats reporting directly to our Integrator. She is completely overwhelmed and dropping balls. How do we restructure the seats to solve this span of control issue?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

An Integrator managing eleven direct reports is a recipe for operational failure. In a healthy EOS structure, the maximum number of direct reports for any leader should be seven, and the sweet spot is typically five. When a leader has eleven direct reports, they cannot provide effective leadership, management, or accountability.

To solve this, you must restructure the leadership team seats on your Accountability Chart. Bring your leadership team together to IDS this issue. Look at the eleven seats reporting to the Integrator and group them into logical, high-level functions.

Typically, this means creating tier-two leadership seats. For example, instead of having customer service, account management, and logistics all report to the Integrator, group them under a single Head of Operations seat. Instead of having digital ads, local events, and content creation report to her, group them under a Head of Marketing seat.

This reduces the Integrator's direct reports to three or four key leaders. These leaders then manage their respective departments. This structural change frees up your Integrator to focus on her core roles, which are driving execution, removing obstacles, and keeping the leadership team aligned. It also creates a scalable management layer that makes your business much more attractive to potential buyers during an exit.