Roles and responsibilities – sounds a little dry, right? But working in the world of startups, I’ve come across too many employees who simply don’t know what they’re supposed to be doing.
You know: the green as grass operations associate, who scurries round the office sheepishly asking how they can help…
Equally I’ve see plenty of employees lauded with praise, but nobody quite understands what they do. You know: the self-titled growth hacker, who always says smart things in ideation sessions but never delivers any tangible work.
I’d say 9 times out of 10, it’s because they don’t have a proper job description. It’s either written on the back of a fag packet, painfully out-of-date, or simply doesn’t exist. And whether the employee is well-meaning or taking liberties, you can’t really blame them. After all, it’s up to founders and senior leaders to ensure HR processes are fit for purpose.
Trust me, I’ve been in the position of not having a clear remit. Until I took the initiative to craft my own job specification and agree it with my superiors, I didn’t feel settled in my role.
What are the benefits of clearly defining roles and responsibilities?
1) Increased productivity
Once someone fully grasps what’s expected of their role, they’re free to roll their sleeves up and knuckle down. Of course there’s still a learning curve, but a list of responsibilities guides them towards what they need to learn. Far from being limiting, as skeptics might argue, I believe defined responsibilities actually encourage people to take the initiative. High performers see a well designed job specification not as a to-do list, rather as a framework to operate within – even expand upon. You ultimately enable effective delegation by clearly defining responsibilities across teams and the company as a whole.
2) Clearer accountability
Clear responsibilities and reporting lines make for clear accountability. If an employee knows what they have to achieve, it’s reasonable for you as a manager to expect them to achieve it. Therefore, if they fail to do so you can hold them to account. And, more importantly, you can intervene before a failure occurs to support that employee. You must ensure you allocate responsibilities at all levels of the organisation, from C-suite to interns, to support positive accountability.
3) Higher morale
Lack of clarity around responsibility can lead to a toxic work environment, where everybody looks to blame someone else for their shortcomings. Clarity around responsibility enables a healthy environment, where everyone knows what they must do, who to seek help from if they’re struggling, and what to do if things don’t work out. Clear roles and responsibilities, pulling the team towards common goals, enable a thriving culture where morale is high.
How do you define roles and responsibilities in practice?
Of course, you have to find a balance between being clear and being overly prescriptive. The more junior the role, the more you need to spell out requirements. The more senior the role, the more leeway you must allow an individual to use their unique skills and experiences to help achieve the company goals. Get started with the following exercise:
Identify tasks and quantify the work you need doing
- What are the discrete tasks you need to complete?
- How long does it take to complete a task? How many times does the task need repeating?
- What are the softer, less tangible things that need to be done?
Some tasks are easy to quantify, like dealing with customer support tickets. For less concrete task you’ll need to use your discretion, like employee performance management.
Group tasks into roles based on relevant skills and experience
- Which tasks can an individual with a given experience level and skillset complete?
- How many hours can that individual work? And, therefore, how many of them do you need?
- Which tasks don’t readily fit a role and would perhaps be better for you to outsource?
If you’re starting from a blank canvas, try not to make assumptions about the roles you need. Approach the exercise with first principles thinking. However, if you already have employees in place, you may need to think creatively about how to redefine existing roles.
Develop team structures to incorporate the individual roles
- Which roles naturally fit together under the same functional umbrella?
- What kind of leaders do you need, and what should reporting lines look like?
- How will those teams and structures need to adapt over time as you scale?
There’s no perfect solution, so your answers will be unique to your company and leadership style. But I encourage you to take a step back from what you have today, and think about what would be optimum in future to achieve your company’s mission as you scale.