Does your team know who owns what? Or does it all come back to you?

Answer 25 statements about how your team works today and rate eight areas, from role definitions to succession. You'll see which stage your structure is in, what to fix before you add people, and three areas to focus on this year.

  • Free
  • About 8 minutes
  • Results as a PDF

The five stages of team structure.

Your stage tells you what to put in place next, not how good your people are. A small team can run well at an early stage.

Founder-ledStage 1 · Everything runs through you

Most questions, approvals and problems end up with the owner.

The work of this stage is getting who does what out of your head and into people’s hands.

DefinedStage 2 · Roles on paper

Each role has a written description that people recognize as their actual job.

The work of this stage is making every task and decision belong to someone specific.

AccountableStage 3 · Owners for outcomes

People are measured on results, and they know the measures.

The work of this stage is connecting each role to results people can see and act on.

AlignedStage 4 · Structure fits the work

The org chart is current and gets revisited when the business changes.

The work of this stage is designing the structure around the work you’ll have, rather than the people you happen to have.

ScalableStage 5 · Built ahead of growth

Key roles, the owner’s included, have a successor or a plan for one.

The work of this stage is making the team strong enough that growth, turnover or your absence doesn’t stall it.

The eight areas on your team wheel.

Part 2 asks you to rate each area from 0 to 10. Your three lowest become your focus areas for the year.

  • Role definitions

    Whether each person’s responsibilities are written down, current and understood.

  • Reporting lines

    Who reports to whom, and whether managers can support the people they have.

  • Decision rights

    Who can decide what, and how much has to go through the owner.

  • Workload and capacity

    How work is spread across people, and whether you can see it and plan for it.

  • Handoffs and collaboration

    How work and information move between people and teams.

  • Accountability and feedback

    Measures, one-on-ones and performance conversations.

  • Hiring and onboarding

    How you define roles before hiring and bring new people up to speed.

  • Development and succession

    Cross-training, growing people and covering key roles.

Questions about the Team Clarity Check

A free self-assessment for owners and leaders. You answer 25 statements about how roles, decisions and work are set up in your business, then rate 8 areas from 0 to 10. It shows which of five stages your team structure is in and what to work on next.

About eight minutes. Your progress is saved in this browser tab, so a refresh won't lose your answers.

Each stage has five statements, scored 2 for Yes, 1 for Partly and 0 for Not yet. A stage counts as in place at 8 out of 10 or more. Your stage is the first one that isn't in place yet.

Your stage, a score for each stage, the gaps to close first with a practical fix for each, what the next stage asks of you, a team wheel of your eight ratings, three focus areas for the year and a downloadable PDF of all of it.

It's free. We ask for your name, company and email before showing results. Origamic Solutions receives those details and your answers, so we can follow up if it's useful. We don't sell or share them.

Every six months, or quarterly if you're hiring or reorganizing. The numbers recalibrate as you move up a stage, so a lower rating later can mean you're holding yourself to a higher standard.

No. It's a development tool to help you decide where to focus. Confirm people decisions with your HR advisor or attorney.