A Sturdy Structure
Back in the day before my employer had stumbled upon business operating systems and things like efficiency, we used to have meetings that would go a lot like this: there would be a sales meeting, and everyone would show up. Because there was no sales team. Just a lot of people who dabbled in sales, but also in marketing and design and anything else that needed to be done. I attended the sales meetings, even though I was firmly settled into a role where my primary focus was bookkeeping. It was disorganized, to say the least.
Fast forward to now, when each department is clearly defined. Each member of the department knows which functions and accountabilities belong to them in their role. And those departments run with absolute precision because there is no ambiguity about who is doing what.
Oh yes, it is all possible. You just need to create the right structure.
“Structure not only increases our chance for success, it makes us more efficient at it.”
- Marshall Goldsmith
Meet the Lineup Card: a functional org chart. Moving left to right, you have the CEO, the COO, and the three main departments 99% of companies need to succeed - Sales/Marketing, Operations, + Finance. In each of those departments, you have the lower level staff. It creates clarity on who reports to whom, and the flow of business through the company.
In each box, or role, you have functions - accountabilities that belong to that person and that person only. Because if everyone is accountable, no one is accountable. Each person owns that role that sits in their box.
