I have a loyal executive assistant who has been my right-hand helper for years. On our new Accountability Chart, we are struggling to define her seat because she does a little bit of everything, from booking travel to handling light bookkeeping and customer support. How do we structure this seat properly?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

In a scaling business, a seat that does a little bit of everything is a major operational bottleneck and a risk to your business value. When a seat is poorly defined, accountability is impossible to measure. To structure this seat properly, you must move away from the title of right-hand helper and define a true seat on the Accountability Chart with specific, measurable roles.

Start by listing all the tasks she currently performs. Then, categorize them into logical functional areas. You will likely find that her tasks fall into administrative support, finance, and operations. You must decide which of these areas is her primary function.

Typically, this seat should be defined as an Executive Assistant seat reporting directly to you or the Integrator. Her five major roles should be highly focused, such as calendar management, travel coordination, meeting preparation, and administrative support.

If she is also handling bookkeeping, those bookkeeping roles actually belong under the Finance seat. If she is doing customer support, those roles belong under Operations. You can temporarily put her name in those other sub-seats if she has the capacity, but keeping the roles distinct on the chart allows you to see where you actually need to hire. This prevents her seat from becoming a catch-all bottleneck and ensures that as you scale, you can easily transition those non-administrative tasks to dedicated specialists, making your business far more structured and appealing to a buyer.