Organizational Design & Structure
Mintzberg typology, span of control, RACI, and Greiner's organizational life cycle for a founding league.
1.1 Span of control and subcommittee architecture
Henry Mintzberg's organizational typology identifies the community league as a "missionary organization" — coordinated through shared values and norms rather than formal authority. As subcommittees multiply, the President's primary structural risk is span-of-control overload.
- Optimal direct reports for a volunteer leader: 5–7 (beyond this, coordination costs exceed capacity)
- Each subcommittee needs: a charter, a chair with decision rights, and a defined reporting rhythm
- Use a RACI matrix (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) for every major process from day one
Source note
"How to Manage a Team You Didn't Build" — Michael Watkins (HBR, 2019). Establishes the first 90 days of leadership as foundational for structural credibility.
1.2 The organizational life cycle
Organizations at founding face predictable crises (Greiner, HBR Classic, 1972 — one of HBR's most-reprinted articles). The community league is in Stage 1: Growth Through Creativity.
| Stage | Characteristics | Leadership imperative |
|---|---|---|
| Stage 1 | Informal, founder-driven, creative energy, few documented processes | Document before delegating — undocumented processes cannot scale |
| Stage 2 | Growth crisis: need for professional management; roles become unclear | Install RACI, meeting cadences, and committee charters before you need them |
| Stage 3 | Delegation phase: empowered subcommittees operate semi-autonomously | Shift from directing to coaching; set outcomes, not methods |