Organograms for Small to Medium Businesses

Organogram sounds like a medical procedure or a Japanese art style, but it is not. It is a tool that helps entrepreneurs across small and medium enterprises to show how the organisation runs. Let’s get started with organograms for business

The term organogram is often used interchangeably with the term organisational chart. This visual tool represents the relationship between management and other reporting staff. It contains vital information about the employee like their name, job title (or skills), and contact information. You will also find that the diagram indicates the different departments and under which departments the various employees work.

These diagrams can be extremely intricate, or fairly easy to understand – it all depends on the type of structure the business has.

How are Organograms Used?

Apart from visualising the interdepartmental relationships in a business, there are multiple reasons why a business owner needs to consider using this tool.

Workforce Planning

As a growing business, a business owner must plan for the future. This means having an indication of what your current team looks like as well as future teams. An organisational chart can help you understand what the gaps in your workforce are for what roles you need to hire first.

Onboarding

When a new employee joins the team, using the visual tool helps team members to understand where they fit into the organisation. They will also see where their co-workers fit and understand when and who to reach out to.

Staff Directory

The organisational chart doubles as a staff directory. This is because the information is easy to access with details such as designation and contact information listed as well.

Cross-functional Teams

Organograms help to indicate to members from different departments who need to reach out to a counterpart in another team who exactly that person is.

Succession Planning

When it comes to succession planning, an organisational chart helps indicate possible strategies for promotion to human resource teams. These are usually kept private and only used within the team.

Benefits of Using an Organogram

There are multiple benefits to using organograms. Here are some important benefits.

Improve Visibility

Transparency is vital in business. It helps to increase trust and communication among peers. An organogram does this by indicating what the reporting structure is without the politics of needing to communicate it verbally.

Reinforce Company Culture

Company culture is reinforced as the visual tool indicates the opportunities for growth within the business.

Improve Communication

Communication immediately improves when employees across the board can see who the individual in a particular designation is. Not only is the diagram communicating internal relationships, but also facilitates effective communication because employees know who to talk to.

Growth and Retainment

A clear visual layout of the company structure can motivate staff members to advance their careers – be it vertically or horizontally. Workers can create a mental path that outlines what position they are working towards so they can focus on gaining a particular skill or type of experience.

Encourage Accountability

Through the chart, accountability is encouraged because it is clear who is responsible for various people and projects. It works both ways: helping leadership remain accountable and other staff to know where they are needed.

Types of Organisational Charts

Typically, there is one of four types that an organisation’s structure fits into. This includes the vertical, horizontal, matrix and creative structures.

1. Vertical Organogram

The vertical organisational structure is sometimes referred to as the hierarchical structure. This flows from the top down. It is most often seen in a business where there is one CEO, Owner or leader who has the most authority and decision-making power. Vertical structures are also the most common.

2. Matrix Organogram

Whenever a team or company has employees who will need to report to multiple team leaders. This can be seen in businesses where teams are cross-functional and work on multiple projects across departments.

3. Horizontal Organogram

A horizontal organogram is also called a flat structure, as it is a business that doesn’t have a long chain of command. It has the benefit of giving leadership a department-based view and is often found in small businesses or start-ups.

4. Creative Organogram

The creative organisational chart places an emphasis on collaboration and culture. It is usually arranged in a circular layout and uses colours, icons and non-traditional roles.

Set up Your Organogram for Your Business

Here are the steps to follow if you would like to create your own organogram from scratch.

Step 1: Identify Key Positions and Roles

Start by looking at all the employees and their roles. You will need to know who the leadership roles are.

Step 2: Choose the Right Structure

Based on the leadership roles, middle management and employees are, choose the structure that reflects this best.

Step 3: Use the Right Tools

To physically create your structure, choose tools that will enable you to reflect this structure well. This could be any digital tool like PowerPoint or Canva.

Step 4: Start at the Top

You will begin by writing the leader’s details down at the top. If there are multiple, you will indicate this. Next, you will write down the names and information about the people who report to them. Continue this line of reasoning until all of the employees across the various departments have been identified.

Step 5: Finishing Design Touches

The final step will be to round off your organogram with your company colours, font and any special icons that you would like to add.