Here’s a quick question: Do you have a job description?
And if you do… when did you last read it?
In most SMEs, the answer is something like: “Yes, but it’s a long list of tasks I never look at.”
The ‘laundry list’
That’s not surprising. Most job descriptions are written as laundry lists of activity: “attend meetings… manage budgets… lead team”. They’re about what you do, not what you’re accountable for.
And that’s a problem, because activity doesn’t equal impact.
When job descriptions are just about doing things, they quietly fuel a culture of overwork. They encourage long hours, too many priorities, and firefighting over focus. Everyone’s busy – but no one’s sure what success really looks like.
At senior levels, it gets even trickier. You’ve got people working flat out – but are they working on the right things?
Most of us end up defaulting to:
- What we like doing
- What we’re good at
- Whatever feels most urgent that day
It keeps the wheels turning – but it doesn’t move the business forward.
So, what’s the alternative?
Focus on output, not just activity. Redesign the job around clear, measurable outcomes.
Instead of:
“Lead the sales team and attend weekly sales meetings”
You end up with something like:
“Accountable for delivering:
- profitable new business
- a high-performing, motivated sales team”
See the difference? One is about doing the job. The other is about delivering the results the business actually needs.
Even at leadership level?
When you go through this process as a leadership team, the benefits multiply. Everyone gets clear – not just on their own role, but on each other’s too. You start managing by outcome, not effort, and you get your time, energy and focus back.
How to redesign a job description (and do it properly):
- Don’t do it solo. This is one for the team – with a skilled facilitator if possible.
- Start with the existing job description, responsibilities and activities.
- Group similar activities together into themes.
- For each theme, ask: “What’s the real output here? What is this job for?”
- Turn that into 4–6 short, clear outcome statements.
- Identify 4–5 key measures of success for each outcome, so it’s easy to track performance.
The end result is a simple, sharp definition of what the role is there to achieve, not just do.
You might end up saying something like:
“I’m accountable for:
- Profitable new business
- A high-performance, motivated team
- An efficient, best-practice operation
- Satisfied, loyal clients”
…each of these with a set of key measures of success by which you will know the job is well done.
And here’s the magic part: once you’ve done this properly, you won’t need to refer back to your job description. It lives in your head – and guides your day-to-day decisions, priorities and focus.
Final thought
If you’re running a growing SME and it feels like everyone’s busy but nothing’s moving fast enough, the problem might not be your people. It might just be their job descriptions.
Design for accountability, not activity – and everything shifts.
If you’d like help redesigning roles that actually deliver results, I’d be happy to talk it through.