Our Head of Operations is currently hitting all of her Rocks and has great GWC, but she is working eighty hours a week because our transaction volume has tripled. How do we use the Accountability Chart to diagnose and solve this capacity issue before she burns out?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When a highly capable leader is working eighty hours a week, you have a structural capacity issue that must be addressed on the Accountability Chart before burnout occurs. You cannot solve a capacity issue by simply telling the person to manage their time better.

First, look at the five major roles defined for her operations seat. Identify which of these roles is consuming the majority of her time. Often, a single role has grown to represent a full-time job on its own due to transaction volume.

Second, apply the delegate and elevate tool. Help her identify the lower-value tasks she is currently performing that do not require her unique talents.

Third, create a new seat on the Accountability Chart directly beneath her. Move the high-volume, repetitive roles from her seat to this new supporting seat. For example, if she is managing both logistics planning and frontline team scheduling, split scheduling into a separate seat.

By updating the Accountability Chart to reflect this new division of labor, you preserve her high-level leadership capacity and ensure the business can continue to scale. Never let a great leader leave because you failed to adjust the structure to match growth.