Growing Pains - Part 2 of 3 - The Right Seats

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Perhaps you can remember when you were a solopreneur who wore all of the hats - sales, production, accounting, marketing, IT, and even maintenance. You might be well past the one-person show. If you lead a team, are all of the crucial functions filled? Are all of the team members working at their highest and best use? Even when you have the right people, they need to be sitting in the right seats. This post is part 2 of a 3-part series inspired by Jim Collins' book Good to Great. 

If your business is growing rapidly, chances are that your organizational chart is a bit out of date. It might even be completely obsolete! You might observe symptoms of an incomplete or obsolete org chart like:

  • One person is consistently struggling to deliver work on time, despite ample training and what appears to be a great attitude. Deliveries or invoices might be going out late, and that hits you straight in the wallet.
  • Conflicts arise because two people are talking to team members about the same things, and their messages do not align with one another. The team wonders who is really in charge, so they delay in their follow-through until they can figure out the politics and determine what is really needed from them.
  • The CEO has little time for life outside of her work life, and it's wearing on her. The team is noticing it.
  • The CEO is overly involved with minor details being covered by another individual, and it is creating frustration and resentment on the team.

Certain functions don't need to be turned into org chart "blocks" with one designated assigned person until your business reaches a certain size. But if you don't have the seats filled when you need them, lack of the necessary functional resources will slow your business growth. If the org chart is left unattended too long, problems big enough to sink your company can arise. Lack of functional accountability can adversely impact your customer experience, cash flow, or your relationships with your vendors. That said, let's do a quick check on it.

  1. List the functions in your company- (See the first paragraph above to get started)
  2. Identify who on your team is accountable for each function. (Accountable means they are in charge of keeping track of the results, even if they are not physically the one who performs the function.)
  3. Look for overlaps. Do you have more than one person sitting in that seat? If you do, you are risking miscommunication and conflicts. Not everyone can be accountable. One person. One has the bell around his or her neck for this function (see #2 above).
  4. Look for gaps. Is there a function that needs to happen regularly that nobody is accountable to complete?
While you are looking at your org chart during annual planning, project what seats (functions) you will need to add, and at what benchmarks they will become necessary. You can start building cash flow and reserves, office configuration, etc. now to be prepared to move on needed new seats on a timely basis. The org chart should be reviewed quarterly as you review your performance and select priorities for the next quarter. When you make the org chart part of your planning rhythm, you help to build the structure upon which sustained growth can be built.

ProActive Leadership Group can help you establish greater functional accountability, clearer priorities, and better execution. Contact us for a complimentary Organizational Health Assessment





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