Company organization charts are designed to clearly and transparently depict organizational structures, hierarchies, and relationships. Here you will learn what an organization chart is, what types of organization charts there are, what data is relevant for visualizing a company, and how to create a professional organization chart.
The word “organization chart” is a graphical representation of the structure of an organization. Specifically, it is the visualization of roles, responsibilities, hierarchies, and reporting lines within companies. As early as 1855, the manager Daniel McCallum created the first modern organizational chart, which referred to the New York and Erie Railroad.
Until the 1920s, organizational charts were mainly used in engineering. However, it did not take long for them to become established in the business world and human resources management. Today, it is impossible to imagine businesses without them. In the future, organizational charts will increasingly have to reflect flexible structures that are constantly changing due to agile working methods. Companies are also increasingly interested in simulating potential organizational structures and workflows in organizational charts and weighing them against each other. Only when this is possible do organizations fully exploit their potential, which lies in the combination of flexible organizational design and data-supported future planning.
An organization chart is always a vertical or horizontal representation of the organizational structure. Visual stylistic devices such as boxes, arrows, and lines make connections and relationships in the company visible. Generally, there are three types of organizational charts.
In the hierarchical organization chart, one person or group is at the top. All other elements represented have less authority or power. Due to the visual representation from top to bottom, this organization chart variant is similar to a pyramid.
The flat organization chart is sometimes also called a horizontal organization chart. It has few or no middle management levels and usually consists only of the areas of managers and employees. It is often the case that the latter is given an exceptionally high level of responsibility in the company. For example, they are also directly involved in important strategic decisions.
The matrix organizational chart is always used when employees have more than one supervisor. For example, a company may have a team of programmers who are all assigned to a lead programmer. At the same time, however, each of them also works on projects for individual business units within the company. These are usually led by a line manager or project manager, so the programmers report to at least two managers.
When considering what type of org chart your business needs, the type of organizational structure must be taken into account. For example, there are person hierarchies, job hierarchies, department hierarchies, and other forms of company organization. Therefore, an agile representation is becoming increasingly important, and the time dimension must also be planned for more and more. The question is: what does my organizational structure look like yesterday, today, and tomorrow? The latter, in turn, requires the ability, as mentioned above, to simulate.
More about this topic
The Evolution of the Org Chart
Map responsibilities, visualize reporting lines, show structures: For a long time, organizational chart software was primarily used for the graphical representation of company structures and was considered a useful tool, especially for HR managers.
In addition to the data on the structure of the organization, the content of an organizational chart varies from company to company. As standard, the organization chart includes the name, function and often also contact details such as telephone numbers and email addresses. Depending on the size of the company, photos of employees may also be included in the organizational chart. Special task profiles such as first aiders and data or fire protection officers as well as special absences, for example due to parental leave, can also be shown in the organization chart. Information on birthdays, company affiliations or hobbies of individual employees may also be included – depending on whether it makes sense and adds value. The more structured data is shown in the organization chart, the more profitable it will be for the company. Nevertheless, it should remain clear and easy to understand.
Overview of the current state
Secured Governance
Better planning
Bringing potential to life
Positive influence on communication
Before the implementation comes the strategy! This means you first need to consider the purpose of your company’s organizational chart. In the past, organization charts were primarily intended to show hierarchies, but today they should serve much more for visual HR control. Of course, simple variants of organizational charts can be created with Word or Excel.
However, these quickly become outdated because they are not linked to data sources. The trick is to automatically incorporate updates in the master data into the organizational chart. Anything else will increase manual effort. This may still be feasible in smaller organizations, but it becomes an avoidable Herculean task in larger companies.
With the help of special software solutions, organizational charts can be created and maintained much more easily and quickly. The advantages of organizational chart software such as Ingentis org.manager are apparent:
You can save time
Updates in the master data are automatically added to the organization chart. The manual effort is nearly zero.
The org chart is always up to date
Outdated organization charts are a thing of the past. Automatic updates result directly from changes in master data. The organization chart is directly linked to data sources such as HR systems.
The data quality is significantly higher
Manual modifications are often not only time-consuming, but also error-prone. The use of professional software significantly increases the overall data quality.
You can share content
The organization chart can be easily shared with other employees. Thus, export as PDF and exchange via Inter- and Intranet with authorized colleagues is possible.
You will be informed in good time
Automated email reports point out grievances or need for action.
Data protection is a top priority
Sophisticated rights concepts and access protection allow administrators to determine which employees need which information and access for their work.
Analyze the current state
Well-maintained and equipped with various visualization options such as dashboards, charts, and Big Data graphics, the organization chart is a valuable basis for HR controlling and people analytics.
Design target states
Simulations and re-organizations are no longer a problem with innovative software solutions
Powertool Org Chart
Practical guide to organizational chart software
The latest posts by Ingentis
