Using my own job as SmartDraw’s Community Outreach Manager as an example, this is what I would normally be given as soon as I joined the organization:
This is a pretty basic organization chart—it shows whom I report to, along with a few other tidbits about other related aspects of the organization. This isn’t SmartDraw’s full org chart, but it makes my point clear. This org chart tells me whom I report to and little else. Org charts are capable of so much more than this, and I will explain how to get more mileage out of them in this article.
We’ve been talking a lot about human resource issues, such as the need for developing concrete roles. And it’s only natural that we talk about some of the tools for putting those HR practices into place—org charts being one such tool.
The premise here is that org charts are not only a blueprint for your organization’s growth. They are also helpful instruments for the purposes of training and the institutionalization of knowledge. Thus, here are four ways to make your org charts more useful:
1. Link to Job Descriptions for Each Role
Provide links to the job descriptions associated with each role—this is the best thing you can do to make your org charts more valuable. Remember that annoying organization / communication gap left by “traditional” org charts? Well, linking to the job descriptions of all of the roles listed on your org chart is the best way to fill it!
So if I’m a brand new Community Outreach Manager and I’m handed an org chart with links to everyone else’s job descriptions, I can quickly figure out that I need to talk to the webmaster in order to have those handy email bulletins built and distributed. And ask a plethora of questions regarding which roles the “Community Outreach Manager” role depends upon.
I don’t know much about being able to use hyperlinks in other org charting programs. But I know that SmartDraw’s supported this capability for quite a few years now.
2. Put a Face and Name to Each Role
Here’s a familiar example from the SmartDraw Org Chart library:
I know why most companies don’t include names or photos on their org charts: they don’t want to take the time to update them whenever personnel change. That’s a poor excuse. Think of it this way: you can save your employees a lot of trouble by putting a name and face to every role in the organization. This is especially true for new employees, who know little (if anything) about your organization when they first report for work.
3. Leave Workgroups and Teams off the Organization Chart
You should define an org chart hierarchically, by who reports to whom. Every person on the org chart should report directly to the person who sets his or her salary. Every organization has teams and workgroups, which are groups of individuals assigned to handle activities specific to a project but not the organization as a whole.
Let me make this clear—don’t mark up your organization chart with dotted lines and line hops because you want to include all of the workgroup/team relationships within your organization. That stuff doesn’t pertain to the structure of the organization and it belongs on its own team chart instead.
4. Organize Your Direct Reports Vertically on the Org Chart [Aesthetic Tip]
Many people are tempted to draw their org charts with all of their direct reports organized in a horizontal fashion. This is not only wasteful, but it’s hard to read—instead, organize your direct reports in a vertical fashion, like this:
Click here for a full-sized version of this org chart.
Initially, you start with the CEO at the top of the org chart and have one horizontal layer of management. Beneath each manager should be a vertical list of all of his or her direct reports—not a horizontal one. This makes it easier to put your entire organization onto a single page, which it makes it easier to distribute your org chart as a printed handout to employees.
If you follow these four tips, you’ll have org charts that contain more information, look better, and take up less space. If you’d like to try some of these tips yourself, please download a free trial of SmartDraw and have a go at it.
