We have two highly capable project managers who have split our core Delivery seat geographically, resulting in two people sharing one leadership seat. Clients are getting inconsistent experiences. How do we resolve this "one seat, two people" bottleneck on our Accountability Chart?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

You have a classic structural bottleneck. In the EOS® model, we have a firm rule: more than one person can sit in a seat, but only one person can be accountable for it. When two people share accountability for a single seat on your leadership team, nobody is actually accountable. This structure always leads to inconsistent client delivery, finger-pointing, and operational drag.

You need to clarify your Accountability Chart immediately. You have two viable paths to resolve this conflict.

First, you can create a single Head of Delivery seat on your leadership team and promote one of the project managers to own it. The other project manager will report to them. This creates a clear line of reporting and ensures a single point of accountability for your client experience.

Second, if the geographic split is truly necessary for your business model, you must split the seat structurally on the Accountability Chart. Create two distinct seats, such as Head of Eastern Delivery and Head of Western Delivery. Both of these seats must report to a single Integrator who is ultimately accountable for ensuring consistent delivery standards across both regions.

Use GWC™ to evaluate which option is best for your scale. Do not let the fear of hurt feelings prevent you from making this decision. Your clients deserve a consistent experience, and your business needs clear accountability. Pick one structure, communicate the change clearly, and implement it without delay.