We are a fast-growing tech startup and several of our leadership team members are currently sitting in three or four different seats on our Accountability Chart. They are burning out and things are falling through the cracks. How do we transition them out of multiple seats without over-hiring?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

It is very common in smaller organizations for a single person to wear multiple hats, but sitting in three or four seats on the Accountability Chart is a recipe for severe burnout and operational failure. When one person is spread too thin, they cannot give any single seat the focus it deserves.

To address this without over-hiring and driving up your overhead, you must prioritize and sequence your hires. Start by conducting an audit of your Accountability Chart to see exactly who is sitting where.

Have each multi-seat holder track their time for two weeks to determine which seat is consuming the majority of their energy and which seats are being neglected.

Next, identify the single most critical seat that is currently vacant or shared that represents your biggest bottleneck. This is your first hiring priority.

For the remaining seats, look for opportunities to delegate and elevate. You may have junior employees who are ready for promotion and possess the GWC to take over some of these seats.

Alternatively, you can temporarily group related seats under one person if their roles are complementary, but you must formally acknowledge that they are occupying multiple seats and adjust your expectations accordingly.

The goal is to methodically transition your leaders down to holding only one or two seats maximum. This focused approach ensures high performance, protects your culture from burnout, and allows you to scale your team in a structured, cash-flow-conscious manner.