We are struggling to define the right seats on our Accountability Chart because our current team wears too many hats and we cannot afford to hire new people. How do we structure the chart based on the needs of the business rather than our current staff limitations?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

The golden rule of building an Accountability Chart is that you must design the structure first and worry about the people later. When you try to build seats around your current staff and their blended skill sets, you end up with a convoluted structure that guarantees operational confusion and slows your growth.

Start by designing the ideal organization chart to take your company to the next level over the next twelve months. Focus entirely on the essential seats and the five key roles for each seat. Do not put any names in those seats during the design phase.

Once the structure is locked in, you can begin placing names. It is completely normal for a team member, especially in a smaller business, to sit in multiple seats. If your operations manager also handles marketing, their name goes in both seats.

The key is that they must GWC™ both seats and have enough capacity to do both well. Most importantly, when they are working, they must know which hat they are wearing. This clarity allows you to identify exactly where you are bottlenecked and where your next hire needs to be, helping you build value as you prepare for a clean exit.