Design the roles before you match the people

When a UK B2B SaaS business I worked with this summer asked what its team should look like as it grew, I drew the organisation without a single name on it.

Seats at each ARR stage

I built organisation charts for three ARR milestones, with the seats each one needs: 9 at the first, 14 at the second and 24 at the third. Each seat came with a remit and one measure. People came in only once the seats were agreed, through a skills consultation with each member of the team.

Why names come last

A chart drawn around the current team carries today’s gaps into tomorrow’s structure. Roles get shaped to fit whoever holds them, and the seat the business is missing never shows up because nobody is sitting in it. Take the names away and the missing seat is obvious.

The charts also give the board a hiring sequence tied to ARR. Each hire is triggered by revenue reached, so the conversation moves away from how busy the team feels.

Try it on your own chart

Take your current organisation chart and remove every name. Write down the seats you’d need at your next ARR milestone, each with one measure. Map your people to those seats afterwards, and look at which seats stay empty.

Related: why a repeatable sales process comes before a senior sales hire, or read the case studies.