We are preparing for a clean exit and need to establish a dedicated IP Audit and Software License Compliance seat to ensure our code and third-party tools are fully documented for due diligence. None of our developers want this tedious, highly administrative seat. How do we assign accountability when everyone actively avoids it?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When you are preparing for a clean exit, tedious due diligence tasks cannot be ignored. A Software License and IP Audit seat is critical because buyers will walk away if they find unmapped open-source dependencies or undocumented intellectual property. If nobody on your current development team wants this highly administrative seat, you cannot simply force it on someone who will neglect it.

Under the EOS framework, every seat on your Accountability Chart must have one name. If you have an unpopular seat, start by identifying the critical roles of that seat and placing it on the chart. Next, run an IDS session with your leadership team to find a solution.

You have three practical options. First, look for a junior engineer who wants to prove their detail-orientation and elevate them into this seat as a stepping stone. Second, outsource this function to a specialized third-party firm and assign a current leader to occupy a vendor management seat to hold them accountable. Third, have your Integrator own the seat temporarily while you hire a dedicated technical operations assistant.

The one thing you cannot do is leave the seat empty or assign it to three different developers. When everyone is accountable, no one is accountable. Choose one of the three paths, document the roles clearly, and hold the owner to strict weekly metrics in your Level 10 Meeting.