200 Words: Role Clarity

Working with a small operation (100 ppl) that is experiencing fierce competition and struggling with growth. Like most companies this size or smaller, people are wearing different hats and working harder than ever.

Being cross functional is a valuable thing, but it does mean crossing functions i.e. you have to have the actual functions defined. There is an inherent danger in this economy of merging jobs and losing function integrity.

Merging customer service, account management, and sales is a common one, especially as economies slow. But keep the integrity of each function, even if one person is doing the job of three.

What are the customer service processes and competencies that need development? How about sales? Are you marking activities into these functions and measuring results?

Or is it now a big mess? Take a step back and make sure you can see your teams operating to advance functions, even if you don’t have functional leadership.