We are designing our Accountability Chart and realize our traditional functional structure of Sales, Operations, and Finance is creating silos. Can we structure our major leadership seats around our three distinct product lines instead of functional departments?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Yes, you can structure your Accountability Chart around product lines, customer segments, or geographic regions instead of functional departments. The framework is completely flexible on how you structure your business, as long as it represents the unique way you deliver value.

If your product lines operate as independent business units with their own distinct sales and operations needs, structuring by product line makes perfect sense. In this model, you might have three seats on your leadership team, such as Director of Product A, Director of Product B, and Director of Product C.

Each of these directors would be fully accountable for the revenue and delivery of their respective lines. However, you must be careful not to duplicate support functions unnecessarily.

Typically, functions like Finance, HR, and IT remain centralized under a single seat on your leadership team to maintain efficiency and consistency. Your product line directors will then leverage these shared services.

When you design this structure, ensure there is zero ambiguity about who owns what. If Product A and Product B share a sales resource, you must clearly define which seat manages that resource to avoid turf wars. Build the structure that matches your strategic vision and makes the business easiest to run.