Here’s the takeaway: Each department needs to own their structure.
The first question is always, “Is it the right structure?” Without thinking about people or titles, are each of the seats on your leadership team responsible for 3-5 critical functions in the organization?
Remember, people need to know what they’re really expected to do, so that they can be held accountable for it. Once your leadership team knows what they’re going to be held accountable for, they can structure their own departments in a way that will allow them to perform to the best of their abilities and stay on track.
Just as the senior leadership team needs to collaborate to build the right structure, often, so do the individual departments. Many times, the department heads may need to bounce some ideas off the leadership team or even work one-on-one with the Integrator. But the rules for creating the structure for each department are the same. If at all possible, simpler is always better and no position should have more than seven direct reports. If the department is structured in a way that makes the leader feel as if they don’t have enough time or that they are constantly under-performing, it may be the wrong structure. It could also mean that currently, the wrong people are in the wrong seats. As long as the structure is addressed, the position and roles are clarified, and leadership begins to elevate folks to their natural gifts, issues will be addressed long before the team begins to burn out.
Each department needs to work through the seats in that department, and go through the same process with their own direct reports. Is each team member responsible for 3-5 critical functions? If not, clarify and delegate. Do this with each level of the department until every seat is held accountable for specific tasks.
When you’ve done this, you’ll be ready to start putting the right people in those seats, based on what that seat’s critical functions are. When leaders can delegate appropriately, they empower their staff by giving them responsibilities and skills that elevates those staff members’ careers.
In the next post, we’ll look at a tool for delegating and elevating so that people can do what they really love while growing their business.
If your organization needs help structuring your departments clearly and intentionally, reach out anytime and we’d be happy to help.