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20 Organizational Chart Examples for Small Businesses

Written by: Raja Mandal

Are you looking for a small business organizational chart that fits your business? Then you have come to the right place. A good organizational chart can give hierarchy and structure to your business, and can help your team perform to its fullest potential.

However, there is no one-size-fits-all organizational structure that works for every small business. Therefore, we've put together 20 small business organizational chart examples and templates that you can edit using Visme's organizational chart maker .

Here’s a short selection of 8 easy-to-edit organizational chart templates you can edit, share and download with Visme. View more templates below:

Let's get started.

Table of Contents

What is an organizational chart, types of organizational charts, 20 organizational chart examples to inspire your own, does my small business need an organizational chart, how to create a small business organizational chart.

An organizational chart, also called an org chart, is a graphic organizer that helps you illustrate the employee hierarchy relations in your organization. It helps demonstrate roles and responsibilities, and who employees should report to within the team.

Many small businesses choose to not create one as their employee relationships are uncomplicated and clear. However, this is not a wise decision. A small business organizational chart is more than just the visualization of reporting relationships of the employees.

An organizational chart has many potential benefits in managing human resources issues. Let's look at 20 small business organizational chart templates to help you create your own.

As we mentioned earlier, there is no universal formula for creating an organizational chart that fits all the businesses. Therefore, before jumping into making the small business organizational chart, understand the types of charts available.

Below are some of the most popular types of organizational charts. Choose the one that makes the most sense for your business.

1. Hierarchical Organizational Chart

Also known as the line organizational chart, the hierarchical organizational chart is the most popular and useful one due to its simplicity. This type of org chart is ideal for sales, marketing, and engineering departments.

However, you can organize this chart by function, product, geographic location, or by many other companies. This type of small business organizational chart works well for defining roles and responsibilities and helps visualize the organization's employee hierarchy.

Look at the small business organizational chart below. The CEO comes at the top, then comes the VP of advertising, and then other managerial positions such as creative manager, product manager, art director and others.

2. Horizontal or Flat Organizational Chart

A horizontal or flat organizational chart is another popular chart. This org chart organizes its components in a more lateral grouping, ideal for small businesses with a lot of overlap in their roles.

A horizontal organizational chart is better for a startup or small business in its early days when employees wear many hats instead of an organization with lots of middle managers.

Use this type of org chart when you want your team members to take more responsibility and work independently while continuously communicating with each other. Furthermore, this chart helps improve coordination, increasing the speed of implementing new ideas.

3. Matrix Organizational Chart

A matrix org chart is best for visualizing a more complex organizational structure. This chart follows a matrix-shaped diagram, so the layout focuses more on relationships and communication, and less on the hierarchy of authority. Here is an example.

The best part about a matrix org chart is that it streamlines various teams and allows more accessible interactions. Furthermore, it gives you a clear picture of how an individual team collaborates. Project managers love this type of org chart because of its ability to make project management more efficient.

1. Team Organizational Chart

Let's start with the horizontal, simplistic organizational chart template. In this template, the CEO is at the top, then comes the directors, and then the managers and other employees. You can use this template to decorate your "Meet the Team" page.

2. Product Organizational Chart

Does your company deal with multiple products? Then you might have different teams set for each product. Use this small business organizational chart to display which team is responsible for which product and their roles and responsibilities.

This template will bring more transparency to your business operations and give your employees complete visibility into what they are building together.

3. Sales Department Organizational Chart

The structure of a sales force has a significant bearing on its success. Because sales is what ultimately generates revenue and helps the business grow. Use this sales department organizational chart template to build your sales org chart in minutes.

The template displays the most common sales structure: a sales director, distribution manager, regional sales manager, sales supervisor, channel supervisor and sales representative.

4. Editorial Department Organizational Chart

The editorial department of a newspaper organization is its heart and soul. In fact, the entire business of a successful newspaper organization depends on the effectiveness of its editorial department.

From gathering news and selecting which news and features should be published in the newspaper to editing and laying the news for print, the editorial department takes care of everything.

So, if you are a newspaper organization or planning to build one, use this organizational chart template to create the perfect structure.

5. Small Photographic Organizational Chart

You may have heard the phrase, "A Picture Tells a Thousand Words." Take your org chart to the next level by adding pictures and giving it a more personal touch.

Create a photographic organizational chart using this template. This org chart can be a handy tool for vendors, customers, job applicants, new hires and others who should be more familiar with your team.

6. Project Team Organizational Chart

The success of your project depends on the strength of your project team. Misaligned project management teams negatively impact the outcome of a project. So, create a project team organizational chart to determine the hierarchy and authority of people involved in your project.

The project team organizational chart template helps you define each team member's function and reporting relationships. Also, the chart allows you clearly understand which employees are part of which team.

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7. Small Business Organizational Chart

Edit this organizational chart template to create a perfect small business organizational chart. The chart follows a hierarchical structure where the owner is at the top, followed by the managers and the assistant managers.

8. Cross-Functional Organizational Chart

Does your team include diverse talent and responsibilities that are traditionally separated into different departments, business units, or teams?

Then this cross-functional organizational chart is for you. Customize this template to create a perfect org chart to help all your teams and departments work together.

9. Law Firm Organizational Chart

Are you a law firm business owner? Then you might want to consider our law firm organizational chart template. It will help you structure your organization's hierarchy of command efficiently.

The template includes your board of directors, president, legal manager, non-legal manager, treasury officer, general secretary and many others.

10. Police Organizational Chart

Police departments often publish their organizational chart to give the public a clear visibility of their structure. Visualize the reporting structure of your police department easily using this organizational chart template.

Here, the Police Chief is at the top with Sergeants, Lieutenants and other Officers arranged in a hierarchy, helping you visualize the whole department easily.

11. Restaurant Organizational Chart

Use this restaurant organizational chart to align jobs with necessary tasks for the success of your restaurant. However, since every restaurant operates differently, there may be some variations in the structure.

For example, a fast food restaurant, where guests order through a cashier, is different than a full-service restaurant, where guests are seated, served and cared for.

Customize every part of this template to create an organizational chart according to your business structure.

12. Church Organizational Chart

Like any other organization, a church needs a structure in place to be able to operate properly.

The structure helps the church point out the functions of each department and their reporting relationships and also allocates duties according to departmental functions.

A church structure is best illustrated with an organizational chart. Customize this stunning org chart template to represent the relationship between units or departments graphically.

13. Nonprofit Organizational Chart

Nonprofits, like for-profit organizations, can use organizational charts to highlight the hierarchy within the organization. It will help you define staff roles, responsibilities and relationships with each other to make the team more productive and efficient.

Furthermore, an org chart helps you market your nonprofit internally and externally. Use organizational chart this template to do the same.

14. Construction Organizational Chart

Most construction businesses, especially the small ones, don't have an organizational chart.

Owning and operating a construction company without a decision-making tool like an organizational chart is like trying to build a project without a set of plans. Consider using a small business organizational chart for your construction business to operate smoothly.

The hardest part of designing your organizational chart is knowing where to start. So, use this template to create an org chart within minutes.

15. School Organizational Chart

Since organizational charts are used to outline the roles and responsibilities of team members, they can play a vital role in schools. They can give you a bird's-eye view of your school's organizational structure, therefore, better work distribution.

If your school needs an organizational chart template, consider using this one. It contains high-quality components such as effective design elements and placeholder content, which you can easily customize to meet your org chart design needs.

16. Hospital Organizational Chart

Hospitals are the critical organizations that require precision in executing job roles and responsibilities and multiple layers of accountability to function effectively.

In order to achieve this, most hospitals follow a proper organizational structure with multiple layers of management.

Use this organizational chart template to ensure hospital employees know their responsibilities, reporting relationships, and who to approach in emergencies.

17. Startup Organizational Chart

Statistics revealed that over 50% of US startups shut their doors within five years. And one of the significant reasons for startup failure is poor team organization. Startups are unable to develop a group of people that will work together effectively on the same project.

So, to make a strong team and rapidly grow your startup, you need a proper organizational structure. Customize this template to create your startup organizational chart.

18. Marketing Organizational Chart

The recipe for marketing success depends on three ingredients: a breakthrough strategy, a strong execution plan and a great team.

How you organize your marketing team significantly impacts your ability to achieve your marketing plan and goals. Why? Because your marketing team is responsible for core marketing functions like content creation, social media, product marketing, ads and more.

Edit this template to design a great marketing organizational chart.

19. Project Organizational Chart

A properly designed project organizational chart is essential to your project's success. An organizational chart should be in your toolbox if you are a project manager .

It will help you assign tasks to different team members and help them understand their responsibilities and reporting relationships easily.

You can edit this template to create your own project organizational chart.

20. Digital Marketing Organizational Chart

Creating a digital marketing team can be tricky. Defining roles and responsibilities, the right mix of talent and strong leadership to keep the team in sync and aligned with the company's marketing goals is not an easy task.

However, an org chart can help you perform these tasks quickly and efficiently. Regardless of your team structure, this template can help you create a stunning organizational chart in minutes.

There are around 32.5 million small businesses in the US alone, which account for 99.9% of all businesses in the US. But what most startups struggle with is coming up with a scalable and stable structure that positively impacts efficiency and productivity.

As a business owner, you want to make the most of your small business. An organizational chart can help you drive efficiency and streamline business operations in many ways.

Here are a few reasons your business may need an organizational chart.

1. Visually Represent Company Structure

Imagine a newly hired employee joining your company and attending her first meeting with the management team. The newly hired may know the hiring manager and a few other members but not everyone on the team and the other stakeholders. Just imagine how the meeting will go.

Use a small business organizational chart to visualize the structure of your organization. It's like a map that shows job positions and helps clarify leadership paths.

2. Improve Communication and Collaboration

Did you know that 86% of employees and executives cite the lack of effective communication and collaboration as the root cause for workplace failures? On the flip side, a team that communicates effectively can increase productivity by 25% .

As your small business grows and more and more employees join the team, communication and collaboration become tricky due to various teams and departments. An organizational chart can help you solve this problem.

With working relationships visible in an organizational chart, every team member knows whom to communicate with when they need assistance instead of struggling alone. The organizational chart will help the team understand the responsibilities of all the employees, helping to reduce wasted time and increase efficiency.

3. Make Quick Data-Driven Decisions

Small businesses have come to rely heavily on data-driven decisions to improve sales and grow their business. As an owner of a small business, there are various areas that you want to improve and optimize. To do that, you need to use every piece of data in the context of the business structure.

Which team does a manager lead? How many employees are on the team? What are the roles and responsibilities of each team member? You need answers to these questions to solve any problem. And with the organizational chart in hand, you know where to look for.

What team does the manager lead? How many staff members are on the team? What are the specific functions of each team member? To solve any problem, you need context. And the organizational chart is the first place to start when using employee reports.

4. Manage Business Growth Effectively

As a small business owner, you might want your company to grow rapidly. However, you should always be prepared to manage your company's growth effectively.

Whether you are merging two teams into one or hiring more employees, you can map out all the movements beforehand using the org chart, helping you to predict the team's success or failure. Ultimately helping you manage the growth of your organization.

5. Streamline the Onboarding Process

One of the most challenging parts for the new hire during the onboarding process is finding the way around the office. However, your small business organizational chart will orient the employee to the chain of command and facilitate onboarding.

The organizational chart is one of the easiest ways to introduce all the roles and responsibilities of the coworkers to the new hire. In other words, the org chart is a cheat sheet for the new hire to understand whom to approach for what information.

Once you have decided on the type of organizational chart best for your business, it's time to create one. Follow these simple steps to create a small business organizational chart.

Step 1: Find the Right Type of Organizational Chart

Before making an organizational chart, you need to find the type of organizational chart that best fits your business structure. Whether it's a startup with 20-30 employees or a large business with more than 1000 employees, you can benefit from implementing an org chart best suited for your business size and work environment.

Choose the type of org chart from the types of organizational charts we have already discussed: the hierarchical, horizontal or matrix organizational chart.

Step 2: Choose an Organizational Chart Maker

Creating a small business organizational chart can be challenging, especially if you don't have any design experience. Fortunately, many free and paid tools are available in the market that can help you. One of the best among them is Visme's free organizational chart maker .

Visme offers a wide range of professional organizational chart templates that you can easily customize and make your own with a few clicks. Furthermore, the organizational chart maker comes with thousands of visuals such as icons, illustrations, lines, shapes, images, and much more.

Step 3: Customize an Organizational Chart Template

Once you have decided on the type of organizational chart that will best fit your organization, select an organizational chart template from Visme's template library to customize it.

With Visme, you can customize every aspect of your org chart template. Replace the employee names with yours, change the fonts, colors, shapes, lines, background and more.

Once you're satisfied with the organizational chart, download it in a high-quality PNG, JPG or PDF format. Moreover, you can share the chart or embed it on a blog or webpage using a unique link generated by the editor.

Read this article about how to make a flowchart to learn more about creating organizational charts in Visme.

Or, check out this video on how to make an organizational chart in Visme.

Create Your Small Business Organizational Chart Today

Now you know that an organizational chart helps visualize team structure, hierarchy or the reporting relationships that make your team more productive. So, create a small business organizational chart to help your employees find the right person to talk to, avoid bottlenecks and meet the growing needs of your business.

However, creating an effective organizational chart should not be difficult. Choose a template that matches your business type and customize it using Visme's organizational chart maker .

With Visme, your small business organizational chart is just a few clicks away. Create a free Visme account to get started!

Easily create an organizational chart with Visme.

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About the Author

Raja Antony Mandal is a Content Writer at Visme. He can quickly adapt to different writing styles, possess strong research skills, and know SEO fundamentals. Raja wants to share valuable information with his audience by telling captivating stories in his articles. He wants to travel and party a lot on the weekends, but his guitar, drum set, and volleyball court don’t let him.

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• How to create an organizational chart ( ...

How to create an organizational chart (with free examples)

An organizational chart outlines how your company functions in real time. This diagram shows the reporting relationships between job titles and the roles in your organization. We’ll explain the different types of organizational charts and provide free templates for you to customize your own.

You’re having a family dinner when your grandma pulls out the family tree. She uncrinkles the piece of paper and traces her name down the line. As she searches, her finger lands on a name. “See! There he is, right next to your cousin Charles!” She points to the name of your third cousin, proving that this name matches that of a famous poet. 

In this guide, we’ll explain how to make an org chart, the different types of organizational charts, and provide free templates so you can customize and build your own.

How to make an organizational chart

An organizational chart is a way to visualize your company’s structure. To create an org chart, you’ll need to gather team member information and decide how you’d like to build the chart. 

As you consider the reporting relationships in your organization, you can plan your chart from top to bottom. 

1. Define scope

You can treat your organizational chart like any other new project you work on. Defining the scope of your org chart can help ensure it clearly represents your team structure . The scope will determine the overall purpose of your organizational chart.

Consider these questions to get started:

Will your org chart act as a resource for team members to know who’s who within the company? 

Will you share your organizational chart with external stakeholders or partners? 

Will you need multiple charts for different levels of the company? 

Asking these questions from the start can help you gather the right information and map out your chart.

2. Gather information

Gathering information is the most important step of making an organizational chart because without the right information, you won’t be able to proceed.  You can gather information by surveying individual team members through email or working with your HR department. 

You’ll need up-to-date information about the people in your company, including employee names and their latest job titles. You’ll also need to understand reporting relationships throughout your company, such as the hierarchy between managers and direct reports. Consider gathering headshots of your team for added personalization.

3. Decide how to build your chart

Deciding how to build your organizational chart is crucial because different tools can make the process easier. Drawing out your org chart by hand isn’t time efficient and will make your results hard to share, so consider harnessing the power of a tool for this process. 

Using an editable PDF can save you time because the template is pre-built with placeholders. You can then easily share the PDF with the rest of your company. 

4. Plan for updates

After creating your org chart, use a team calendar to plan for regular updates. After all, it’s likely that your company structure and team dynamics will change often. 

People switch in and out of positions, new employees are hired, and reporting relationships change. With a digital org chart, it’s easy to update the structure and redistribute it to team members.

Organizational chart templates

Creating an organizational chart can be easier when building from an org chart template. Most companies follow similar structures, whether it’s a top-down structure or a matrix structure. 

You can use the org chart examples below as jumping-off points. To create your custom org chart, determine which organizational type best represents your company structure. Then, update the template to fit your unique team needs.

Types of organizational charts

There are four common org chart types. Each one of these charts uses a different chart design and represents a different way that a company might function. Since an organizational chart is basically a hierarchy chart—a visual translation of your company’s internal structure—the chart type you use should mirror your organization’s reporting relationships and decision-making procedures.  

1. Functional top-down

A functional top-down org chart is the most common structure, with the company functioning as a hierarchy. At the top of this organizational structure there is one team member, who usually has the title of president or CEO. 

Branching off from that team member are the leaders who are next in charge, like the company vice presidents. The organizational hierarchy extends further into departments and eventually branches into teams. 

2. Matrix organizational chart

The matrix organization is a more complex structure than the traditional top-down design. If your company uses this reporting structure, team members report to multiple managers. 

While employees likely have a primary manager they report to for their department, they may also report to a project manager . These secondary project managers also have department managers they report to, which makes the matrix org chart look rectangular instead of tree-like. 

3. Divisional structure

A divisional organizational structure is a high-level version of the traditional hierarchical structure. Divisional structures make sense for companies that have departments working independently from one another. 

For example, companies with separate product lines may work in divisional structures because each product line has separate IT, marketing, and sales departments.

4. Flat organizational chart

The flat organizational chart is unique because it shows few or no levels of management. This type of organizational structure may be present in a small business or a modern business that’s experimenting with no chain of command. 

With this type of organizational structure, the company promotes wide-spread team member self-management and decision-making. 

How to use an org chart

You can benefit your company by using an organizational structure because it provides a visual representation of different departments and job titles in action. This chart can help team members understand how to collaborate with one another and feel confident in their role and responsibilities. 

Visualize reporting relationships

As a manager, you may use an org chart to show work responsibilities and reporting relationships to new team members. When onboarding new hires, the org chart helps team members get to know their fellow teammates and what they do. It also helps new team members remember who’s who within the company. 

Manage growth and change

Organizational charts can also help the leadership team stay organized and manage growth or change within the company. For example, if a department head notices that one team has become larger than other teams, they can shift or hire new team members to create balance.

See where everyone fits

An org chart creates clarity by showing everyone in the company where they fit in the organizational structure. If a new member joins the team, they can glance at the organizational chart and understand that they have five other members on their team, two assistants below them, and a project manager above them. They can also see that their project manager reports to a department manager.

Improve communication

Having an established organizational structure for your company can improve communication because it makes reporting relationships clear. Without an organizational chart in place, team members may not know who to go to when they have questions. The org chart makes it clear who leads what, so team members can feel empowered to ask questions and collaborate with others.  

Create visual directory

An org chart is essentially a visual directory of your organization. You can  update the chart when team members get promoted or when they leave. Keeping a visual directory up to date keeps everyone informed of who’s working at the company and what their current position is.

Limitations of using an org chart

While organizational charts can increase communication among teams, there are limitations of using them. Knowing these limitations can help you find solutions to any potential issues before they occur.

Can get outdated quickly

Org charts can get outdated quickly as companies restructure and shift team roles. Team members must be mindful and keep the org chart updated with current company structure and staff names. 

Solution: Assign someone to regularly update and redistribute your organizational chart in order to maintain this valuable resource.

Only shows formal relationships

The organizational chart is a one-dimensional document, so it doesn’t offer much explanation beyond the reporting structure it provides. While it’s useful in visualizing the basic company structure, it only shows formal relationships. Many companies function and thrive on various informal reporting relationships that wouldn’t show up on a traditional org chart. 

Solution: Use an org chart as a jumping off point, but keep in mind there may be other working relationships that the org chart doesn’t capture.

Doesn’t display management style

While the org chart shows managers and the team members that report to them, it won’t show what each manager is like. For example, the org chart may show that one manager has two team members and another manager has five team members. Assumptions may be made that the manager with more team members is a stronger leader, but the org chart won’t show that the manager with less team members has a more hands-on management style . 

Solution: Use your org chart as a first point of reference, but be mindful that face to face contact is the best way to understand reporting relationships among internal teams.

Can be difficult to update

Not only can printable org chart worksheets or drawn-out organization charts become outdated quickly, they can also be difficult to update. After all, if your chart is created in a static tool, you’ll have to start from scratch every time your organization’s structure changes.

Solution: Instead of creating your chart in a fixed workspace, opt for a dynamic tool. Platforms like Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel are easily updated. Or, take it one step further with org chart software or a project management tool that uses integrations and apps to connect your team to data visualizers that map out workflows, like LucidChart and Miro .

Streamline your organizational structure with a chart

While there are limitations to organizational charts, these charts offer a helpful way to understand your company structure. It can also improve communication with upper management by clarifying roles and responsibilities. To build an organizational chart for your company, use our free editable PDFs and customize them as you see fit. 

Need help streamlining teamwork? Find out how Asana helps teams communicate effectively. 

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Blog Beginner Guides How to Create a Small Business Organizational Chart

How to Create a Small Business Organizational Chart

Written by: Letícia Fonseca Jun 09, 2023

No matter the size of your business, whether you’re starting out or already established, creating an organizational chart for small business planning is a necessary exercise.

There are numerous reporting relationships to visualize, especially when you have more than one manager in your small business.

Making an organizational chart can feel challenging, but this guide will make it easier to design an organizational chart that reflects many types of corporate structure.

Or you can customize a Venngage organizational chart template to create a chart that reflects your management structure in just a few minutes.

Click to jump ahead:

What is an organizational chart?

• Organizational charts for small businesses examples

What is the purpose of organizational charts for a small business?

How to make an organizational chart for a small business, faqs about organizational charts.

An organizational chart, or an org chart, provides a visual representation of an organization’s internal structure. It outlines relationships between departments and employees, establishes the chain of command in an organization, and defines the role of each staff member.

You can see how this hierarchical organizational chart example structures the employees of a company.

The most common structure has small business owners, or the chief executive officer, listed on the top.

Other C-suite executives or the vice president are listed below them. Department managers and team leaders are below them, followed by employees.

An org chart helps you navigate your company and can be included in onboarding documents for new employees to familiarize themselves with the organizational structure.

You can make the organizational chart your own by adding your branding to the diagram.

Venngage’s  My Brand Kit  feature imports your brand identity from your website so you can apply it to your designs.

Organizational chart for small businesses examples

There are two basic types of organizational charts for a small business:

• flat organizational structure
• hierarchical organizational structures

Flat organizational structure

A flat org chart or horizontal organizational structure is composed of limited or no middle management between lower-level employees and upper management, like in this  organizational chart example .

This type of organizational chart is common for small businesses and startups in their initial years of operation.

As this structure does away with several levels of management, it enables employees to quickly and independently make choices.

The decision-making power for the business is shared among employees on the same level, and they are held accountable for their decisions.

Hierarchical Organizational Structure

A hierarchical structure or top-down chart is shaped like a pyramid.

It is a traditional reporting structure adopted by most companies.

Hierarchy charts look like this:

A single person or a group is seated at the top, followed by managers in the middle and the rank-and-file employees at the bottom.

The organizational chart is divided into different departments with each employee reporting directly to a supervisor. This is most commonly used by large organizations and government units.

Create the right type of organization chart for your business with Venngage’s real-time collaboration feature. With a  Venngage business account, you can add team members, and share comments and feedback simultaneously.

An organizational chart offers a number of advantages to small businesses. 

We share the biggest benefits of creating org charts below.

An organizational chart improves communication across teams

When a small business starts growing, people’s new job titles can become confusing.

When merging with larger organizations with several teams and departments, in this example, it becomes crucial that the structure is tracked.

Understanding the hierarchy in the workplace is essential, so you know who your immediate supervisor is and whom to approach in case some issues arise.

A matrix organizational chart makes it easier to see which employees are involved in a project, and who the project manager or executive is. This improves efficiency across the entire organization.

Organizational charts enable easy onboarding for new employees

For new hires to find their way around the office can be quite challenging.

But presenting your organizational structure, like the template below, will facilitate the  onboarding process  and orient the employee to the chain of command.

Organizational charts can also help guide new hires through the specific functions and work responsibilities of coworkers.

The diagram serves as a cheat sheet, showing them the person to whom they should go for what information.

Organizational charts boost employee productivity

A matrix organizational structure expedites processes in the workplace as it shows the roles and responsibilities of each employee.

This helps reduce the time spent looking for the right people for the right task.

This organizational chart template also includes assistant managers so employees don’t need to go to the top managers for simple problems.

Instead of wasting time searching for information that would otherwise be found in an org chart, the employee becomes productive and efficient.

The organizational chart also prevents overlapping and duplication of work as it identifies positions and tasks assigned to each individual.

These details in org charts also help forge relationships among other employees.

An organization chart facilitates business growth

Employers can also get a clear view of the organizational structure, like in the template below.

They will know where an employee is positioned and the tasks they undertake. This makes it easier for the employer to determine which part of their organization needs improvement.

By taking a step back, owners can see which department is in need of additional manpower and which is overstaffed.

An org chart helps executives organize their workforce and ensure that managers have enough workforce to achieve company goals and objectives. Additionally, it can assist in tracking the distribution of small business loans across departments, leading to better growth.

Create your small business’ organizational chart by following these simple steps.

Step 1: Determine the structure you want your business to follow

The first thing to do when making an org chart is to determine the corporate structure it will follow.

Choose the one that best suits your business needs from the two types of organizational structure discussed above: the flat org structure or the hierarchical organizational chart.

Step 2: Choose an org chart software

Creating an org chart might come as a challenge to some. But there are numerous free or paid tools online that can help. One of the best solutions is Venngage’s organizational chart maker.

We have plenty of professional smart org chart templates that can be easily edited with just a few clicks. Our library of visuals includes 40,0000+ icons as well as over 4 million high-quality free stock images. 

Step 3: Fill out the organizational chart template with your information

With the necessary data you have compiled, you can start filling out the chart templates from Venngage’s online org chart maker.

Collaborate with your team in real-time with a  Venngage business account . And once you’re done, you can download the chart as a high-quality PNG or PDF.

How can you create a small business organizational chart with Venngage?

Sign up for a free Venngage account using your email, Google, or Facebook profile.

Choose one of Venngage’s wide array of organizational chart templates for small businesses. To add information, titles, and visuals to your org chart, use Venngage’s drag-and-drop smart editor.

Then customize your org chart easily. Add or remove nodes in your org chart by clicking on the ‘+’ or ‘-‘ buttons. When you change the text or images, the nodes automatically resize to fit the content. Then you can download your organizational chart as a PNG or PDF file. Or share your design directly with your team through a private link.

What is a good organizational structure?

An organizational structure is deemed good when it helps a business reach its objectives. It should also be designed to aid individual employees’ growth. Additionally, org charts should reduce conflicts between individuals and team members, and remove duplication and overlapping of work.

Make your org chart for your small business today

Streamlining communication and driving efficiency has never been easier than with the help of organizational charts. It is an effective management tool that can help improve team performance for planning purposes. Org charts also act as a visual personnel directory.

To help you organize your teams and ultimately lead them to success, use the organizational chart examples that we’ve shared in this post. These Venngage templates will help your company’s overall performance in the long run.

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How to Create a Small Business Organizational Chart in 4 Easy Steps

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Whether you're just starting out or have been in business for a while, creating and maintaining a business organizational chart can be an extremely helpful way to illustrate how your company operates and can also be used to show how you're going to grow and change in the future.

What is a small business organizational chart? A business organizational chart, sometimes also referred to as a "business org chart," is a visual representation of the structure of your business—it outlines the role of each employee and clarifies who reports to whom within your company. In many cases, developing and updating this chart will fall under the purview of your small business HR department, but if you don't currently have a separate human resources branch (or even if you do) it's worth understanding how these tables work and how to create one.

In this guide, therefore, we'll explain exactly how to create a business organization chart in four simple steps—discussing the various types of diagrams you can choose from, as well as the different goals you should consider when making an org chart for your company.

How to create a business organizational chart

Although looking at business organizational chart examples can be overwhelming, creating one of these diagrams for your company can be broken down into four easy steps. By taking this process one step at a time, you'll be able to decide which type of chart is best for your business and ultimately, develop a table (like many other operational documents you have) that can be utilized throughout the lifecycle of your business. With this in mind, let's get started:

Step 1: Decide how to structure your business organizational chart.

The first step in creating an org chart for your business is deciding what type of chart you want to use. Generally, there are four popular designs to consider and you'll want to choose the one that best suits your business's needs.

Hierarchical business organizational chart

To begin, a hierarchical diagram starts at the top of the business and works its way down the chain of command (as you can see below). A vertical line between individuals indicates that the employee above directly supervises the employee below. Hierarchies also show lateral relationships, where two people are on equal footing within the business framework, but may still collaborate or share responsibilities—these charts use horizontal lines to connect lateral workers. The business organization chart here shows how the company is structured starting with the CEO and progressing through the rest of the company.

Overall, most small businesses use a hierarchical organizational chart because it’s the simplest option. This being said, you can use this type of business org chart even if you only have a few names to fill in—as your business grows, it's easy to add new employees.

Functional business organizational chart

Next, you might consider a functional business organizational chart if your company is large enough to divide employees into departments. This type of diagram shows the head of each department and all the individuals who report to them. A functional chart is not entirely distinct from a hierarchical chart, but it does have a slightly different emphasis based on the different departments.

You can use this same information in all small business organization charts:

Name of employee (leave blank if the position is open)

Department (sales, marketing, accounting, operations, etc.)

Position or job title (sales representative, supervisor, account manager)

Description of duties (a brief phrase or two should be sufficient)

Location (if you have more than one office)

Contact information (physical address, phone number or extension, business cell phone number, work email address)

Photo (to recognize each other with ease)

As you can see, although the functional small business org chart is fairly similar to the hierarchical option, this diagram can be useful for distinguishing departments, giving a larger insight into how your company functions in this specific way.

Matrix business organizational chart

The third option, called a matrix or cross-functional business organizational chart, is useful if workers report to multiple supervisors. Like hierarchical graphs, matrix org charts illustrate the immediate supervisory relationships between employees, but they also show the project manager, team, or department to which an employee reports. Solid lines once again indicate that an individual is the primary manager of the person below them. Dotted lines demonstrate a less direct, but nonetheless important, reporting connection.

As this org chart from the Project Management Institute shows, the matrix small business organizational chart is often used by companies with project managers that work across different teams. Similarly, you may find that product, research, and engineering-based companies are more likely to utilize this type of diagram to illustrate their business structure.

Circle business organizational chart

Finally, the last option to consider is the circle business org chart. The circle diagram has become increasingly popular, especially among startup small businesses that wish to discard traditional business hierarchies. The idea behind these graphs is that all teams—and the employees that comprise them—play an equally important role in the company.

Once again, although this example shows dummy text, you can see how you would complete the chart based on your business's information. Each department makes up a spoke in the wheel and the employees within are listed in each section. As we discussed above, you would fill in essential information for each employee—name, job title, brief description, contact information, etc.

Ultimately, this first step may take time—you'll want to consider your business as it exists now and how you want it to grow—that way, you can determine which of these four org chart options will work best for illustrating your company structure.

Step 2: Collect employee information and categorize the data.

Now, once you’ve decided on the type of business organizational chart you’ll use, the rest of your chart development is fairly straightforward.

For your next step, therefore, you'll want to write a list of all the employees at your company and include the pertinent information about them that we mentioned above.

If you selected a hierarchical chart, you'll place each individual in their proper order on the list. The business owner occupies the first tier, anyone who reports directly to them belongs on the second tier, and the chart progresses from there. If you chose a functional or circle chart, you'll organize your list by each department, as shown in the examples we explained above. Finally, if you opted for a matrix small business org chart, you'll want to be sure to make note of all supervisory relationships.

Step 3: Decide how you'll complete your business org chart.

After you've gathered all of the information you need for your employees and categorized it based on the chart type you've selected, you'll want to determine how you're going to complete your chart. As you saw in our examples above, there are images and small business org chart templates you can download and edit using a software program like Adobe Photoshop.

On the other hand, you might choose to create your business organizational chart in a simple, reliable program you might already own, like Microsoft Office (Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, or Word) or Google Sheets. You also have the option to purchase a template from a provider like SmartDraw or Lucidchart. To make the most out of your investment, however, you might consider purchasing an HR or payroll software that includes this functionality (among other features). As an example, Gusto's all-inclusive platform allows you to create an org chart within their system, as well as manage your essential payroll and HR tasks.

Although technically , you could diagram your small business org chart by hand, if you use an online template or software, you can modify your graph with ease as your business expands and staff changes.

Step 4: Fill in your business organizational chart and file it securely.

Finally, once you've chosen how you're going to complete your org chart, you'll be ready to actually fill it in.

With the data you've compiled, you'll fill in each box or branch of the chart that you’ve picked. Once again, if your diagram is hierarchical, you'll start with the owner or CEO of the business at the top. Then, you'll create a box below the owner for each person who is an immediate report, and draw a solid vertical line down from the proprietor to each of these supervisees. You'll continue this process for each layer in the company chain of command, and move down the corporate ladder until you’ve placed every employee on the chart.

If your graph is a functional design, you'll fill in the primary boxes with the information for the head of each department and the remainder with the information for every individual they directly manage. You'll follow the same procedure with a matrix chart—with this chart, however, don't forget to include secondary managers to the side of each department, and make dotted lines (or some other distinction) between boxes to represent those additional supervisory relationships.

Last, with a circle chart, you'll add the information employees and duties of each department to the corresponding pie slice, and your diagram is complete.

Once you've completed your small business org chart, you'll want to be sure you save it in a secure location—if you're not utilizing an HR software or another program that allows you to save it within that system. You'll want to keep your organizational chart on hand to update as your business grows and changes.

Along these lines, it's also helpful to store a copy of your org chart on a shared company server, drive, or employee portal so that everyone in your company can see it (but not change it)—this way, everyone in your organization can understand how the company is structured and refer back to the chart as needed.

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Small business organizational chart templates

If you're not ready to invest in a software platform to build your diagram, you may be interested in exploring different small business organizational chart templates. As we mentioned, there are well-known solutions, like Microsoft Office, that offer org chart templates that you can download and use for your business. Let's look at a few examples:

Microsoft Office : Within the templates section of the Office website, you can find various, free business org chart templates that you can download for free and customize within PowerPoint, Word, or Excel. For a simple hierarchical chart option, you might start with this "Minimal organization chart."

24Slides : Among other business template options, 24Slides offers free small business org chart templates that you can copy and edit within Google Slides. They also offer these templates in different types including the classic hierarchical chart, as well as the circle chart.

Canva: Image editing and graphics platform Canva allows you to design and customize your own business organizational chart (for free, you just need to sign up for an account) using their system.

Vizzlo : Although Vizzlo does offer paid plans, with their free version, you can access over 100 different chart types, including small business org templates. Plus, you have the option to edit your template within Vizzlo, or create your chart direct in PowerPoint or Google Slides using a Vizzlo integration.

Of course, these are only a few options—there are numerous additional templates and examples you can find by searching and browsing online.

The benefits of a business org chart

As we've shown through our four-step guide, creating a business organizational chart can be a fairly straightforward and simple process. However, if you're just starting out, or don't have a dedicated employee or department to work on developing this graph, you may be wondering if you really need an org chart. Ultimately, the decision is up to you—but, to this end, it's worth highlighting some of the benefits of one of these diagrams and why they can be so useful for your small business.

Clarify management structure

If you're just starting your business the process necessary to construct a business organizational chart forces you to officially distribute tasks and flesh out the roles of each individual and the purpose of each department in your enterprise. This avoids confusion later, as your business grows. Of course, you can always restructure your business organizational chart down the road—however, if you outline the expectations for each position early on, you’re already a step ahead in the entrepreneurial process.

On the other hand, if your company is more established, a business org chart helps both new and existing employees to understand where they fit within the company’s framework, which clarifies any questions regarding the chain of command. This transparency saves time and increases efficiency, as workers can consult your organizational chart and determine exactly who to speak with when faced with a given issue. Plus, if your business organizational chart is well-structured, your employees will already know not just the name of the proper individual to consult, but also what position they hold and what responsibilities they oversee.

Increase operating efficiency

Another benefit of creating and maintaining a small business org chart is that by doing so, you can examine your company’s current structure and unearth potential ways to improve it. Are certain employees responsible for too many tasks, and others too few? Is there unnecessary overlap between individual workers? Are there any duties that fall through the cracks? Should you reorganize in order to meet those needs, hire additional workers, or possibly even outsource these assignments? You may find that you can better utilize the workers you already have, and thereby increase productivity.

A business organizational chart can also improve cross-functional communication throughout your business, which leads to more effective project management. It’s easier to accomplish tasks that involve multiple workers or teams when the reporting structure is clear, and everyone knows who to talk to about what.

Demonstrate current success

Even if you think that your business wouldn’t benefit from an organization chart, you may find that potential lenders want to see one when you're applying for financing. Similar to a business plan, banks, institutions like the SBA, and potential investors want assurance that you’ve carefully considered the structure of your business, as such preparation is often an indicator of future success.

As financial professionals, they’ll also want to ensure that the business organizational method you’ve chosen is one that they believe is likely to prosper—so that you can pay back your potential business loan on time.

Facilitate future planning

Finally, a small business organizational chart can help you prepare for the evolution and expansion of your business. In this vein, we'd recommend that you create two versions of your organization chart: one that reflects your current company structure and one that shows your growth objectives. You might even consider additional charts that indicate how you might reorganize should unexpected changes occur, like reductions in funding or the sudden departure of a key employee.

Your second business organizational chart, of course, will have a lot of blank spaces—room for all the positions you’d like to fill in the future as implement your business growth strategies. In this way, you can use your chart to find possible holes that exist in your current staffing, and you’ll have a built-in roadmap for future hiring.

LLC Formation

The bottom line

At the end of the day, taking the time to plan and create a business org chart can be extremely beneficial for your small business—now and in the future. Whether you develop this diagram yourself, or work with your team to do so, you can follow our four simple steps to complete the process relatively quickly and easily.

Plus, if you already utilize a payroll or HR software, you can check to see if your platform already includes an org chart builder. If it doesn't, you might decide to use one of the templates we've discussed here. On the other hand, if you don't have an HR or payroll software, you might consider exploring some of the top options out there—Gusto, Zenefits, etc.—as any of these solutions will not only allow you to create a small business org chart, but will also help you efficiently and effectively an important part of your day-to-day operations.

This article originally appeared on JustBusiness, a subsidiary of NerdWallet.

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How to make an effective organizational chart

No matter what design challenge you're taking on, your team needs context—starting with organizational structure. Once you understand organizational roles and responsibilities, you can achieve efficient workflow, clear communication, and informed decision-making. But with many companies shifting to hybrid remote and in-person teams, it's not always easy to tell who's doing what on a project.

Organizational charts can help dynamic teams flex roles and navigate responsibilities. Read on to find out:

• What is an organizational chart and when to use one
• Key benefits of organizational charts
• How to make your own with FigJam's organizational chart templates

What is an organizational chart?

An organizational chart (also known as an org chart, organogram, or organigram) is a visual representation of a company's internal structure. At a glance, you can see roles, responsibilities, and relationships across an organization.

Org charts came into use during the industrial revolution, and they're still evolving to reflect new types of organizational structures. Picture a startup where everyone pitches in when needed, no matter their rank. A flat organizational chart sharing team roles can boost collaboration and prevent overlap.

Design your organizational chart in FigJam

FigJam's free org chart template makes it easy to get started.

4 key benefits of organizational charts

Getting a bird's eye view of your company structure helps you understand the chain of command for decision-making. That way, you can involve key players and communicate across different departments. Updated organizational charts help capture changing players and roles in real time, helping your team in four key ways.

• Clarify the chain of command: Hierarchical structures aren't always obvious in modern organizations. But to get approvals, you need to know who's in charge of what. Org charts get everyone on the same page, in large organizations and small startups alike.
• Promote communication: With teams spread out across offices and time zones, you might not know who to go to for what. Org charts capture names, roles, and contact information, facilitating effective communication.
• Aid decision-making: Leaders can consult org charts to make informed choices when delegating work, distributing resources, and managing performance.
• Capture changes in reporting relationships: When a company is restructuring or expanding, org charts can capture how these changes impact employee roles and responsibilities. Clear, updated org charts help make transitions smoother and more transparent.

When to use organizational charts

Organizational charts make team planning and collaboration easier, especially at four crucial moments.

• For budgeting: Say your team takes on a new project. Who on your team has bandwidth for extra work? Do you need to hire contractors or outsource work? A glance at an org chart can help you see who you need to fill key roles, so you can allocate resources to meet project goals.
• During hiring and onboarding: An organizational chart helps human resources teams spot staffing gaps and hire new employees to meet changing needs. During onboarding, these visual aids help new hires understand their responsibilities, meet their teams, and settle into their roles.
• In project management: Project managers use organizational charts to manage resources across projects. Org charts help managers figure out who's the best fit for tasks, who reports to whom, and who grants approvals.
• In company restructuring: Updated organizational charts are crucial to guide teams through major changes. Teams rely on them to grasp their changing responsibilities, new reporting relationships, and how they fit into the big picture.

4 key types of organizational charts for modern organizations

What type of org chart is the best fit for your organizational structure? That depends on your company’s size, goals, and culture. Try on the four popular org chart examples below, and you may find a close fit.

1. Hierarchical org chart

Hierarchical organizational charts are especially common in large companies and government departments. Here the flow of authority and responsibility is often top-down—from the C-suite to the most junior employees, and from the presidential cabinet to aides. Leaders sit at the top, with support staff ranked in tiers below.

2. Flat org chart

Flat or horizontal organizations typically have fewer layers of middle management, so their charts have fewer layers and employees have more autonomy. Flat org charts are popular among startups and small businesses for tight teamwork and quick pivots. Entry-level employees may report directly to top management and have direct relationships with vendors.

3. Matrix org chart

A matrix organizational chart groups employees into departments by skill and role. A matrix structure makes sense for many creative teams, who handle multiple projects simultaneously for different teams and project managers. In these cases, rank and title are less relevant than skillsets and assignments. For example, a designer’s time may be allocated by a creative director to projects across departments, from product to marketing.

4. Divisional org chart

A divisional structure (or multi-divisional form ) is often divided into geographic regions or product lines. Each division has autonomy, while still working towards shared organizational goals. For example, a global brand could have international divisions with unique org charts, while maintaining global brand standards and company values.

How to make an organizational chart in 5 steps

Create an organizational chart to understand roles and manage resources with this step-by-step guide.

Step 1: Define the purpose of your org chart.

Is your goal to improve communication, streamline decision-making, or manage organizational change? Jot down your goal as a reminder of what you're trying to capture and why.

Step 2: Choose the appropriate org chart type.

Browse org chart templates to find the best fit for your project purpose and organization's structure. Choose from hierarchical, flat, matrix, or divisional structures.

Step 3: Collect organizational data.

Gather names, job titles, and reporting relationships to fill in your template with key details. Job descriptions, the employee directory, and previous organizational charts can help.

Step 4: Get creative with online tools.

Make your org chart modern and memorable with online tools, including this popular org chart widget .

Step 5: Update regularly.

Keep your org chart current to reflect changes in your organization. An outdated chart can lead to confusion, while an updated one promotes transparency.

Pro tips for an effective organizational chart

Apply these tips to excel at org charts:

• Incorporate handy details. Boost transparency and usability with useful employee info, such as contact information, photos, and department functions.
• Use color coding. This simple trick makes departments and roles easy to tell apart at a glance—and makes your chart more memorable and appealing.
• Make it easy to find. Upload your org chart to a shared drive, intranet, or a tool like FigJam .

Jumpstart your organizational chart with FigJam

Boost transparency and collaboration with compelling, accurate organizational charts created with FigJam's online collaborative whiteboard . Use it to:

• Brainstorm , design, and chart reporting structures
• Guide project team members to success with clear roles and reporting lines
• Explore design options to add brand elements to your organizational chart
• Browse org chart examples from the Figma community

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What Is an Organizational Chart? (+Examples and Free Template)

March 22, 2019

Whether your business has 5 employees or 5,000 employees, organizational charts are a vital visual representation of your company’s internal structure.

It’s easier to understand the benefits of an organizational chart, colloquially known as an org chart, when you imagine your business as an upside-down tree. A startup business might resemble a small birch tree with a few branches and an enterprise might resemble a large redwood tree with an abundance of large and small branches.

Org charts, like trees, spread out into supplementary branches and leaves that define each individual’s role in a company. An org chart paints a detailed picture of the internal structure of a business. If you’re restructuring roles or if you just want to give your employees added transparency, org chart software is an easy opportunity to map each employee in a straightforward view.

What is an organizational chart?

Let’s start by covering the basics of an org chart.

Organizational chart definition

An org chart is a diagram that shows the internal structure of a business. The chart helps visualize the hierarchy of business units and employees to better understand the rankings (levels) and relationships within the organization.

There are no hard and fast rules for making an org chart. As long as the chart is organized by rank with clear branches exhibiting employee relationships, the diagram itself is open to many creative possibilities depending on the industry, the number of employees, and the number of rankings.

Types of organizational charts

While the hierarchical org chart structure is the most well-known, there are other notable org charts to mention, as well. These include the following:

Hierarchical organizational chart

Typically in the shape of a pyramid, a hierarchical org chart features the first-in-command, or the highest-ranked employee or collectively ranked group, at the top of the chart. Some common first-in-command examples include a managing board or a CEO (chief executive officer). Lower-ranked employees are featured below the highest-ranked employee or group on the chart. Each employee is connected to another employee or group that they report to.

Matrix organizational chart

Matrix org charts are similar to hierarchical org charts, except they’re ideal for employees or teams that have multiple managers that they report to. For example, if a marketing team often collaborates with a sales team, they may need an org chart that visualizes the connection between separate project managers and project members.

Flat organizational chart

Flat organizational charts, also known as horizontal organizational charts, reflect a hierarchy with little to no middle management. Small companies typically benefit from using a flat org chart where employees report directly to the top department executives.

Organizational chart relationship visualization

While each org chart type differs slightly, they each require the same visual representation of the chain of command (line relationships) and same-level connections (lateral relationships). These connections visually tell a story about each employee’s status in the company.

Line relationship visualization

An example of a line relationship visualization is someone with a higher ranking than another employee being placed above the employee, with a line directed toward the lower-ranking employee.

Lateral relationship visualization

An example of a lateral relationship visualization is simply employees located next to each other on the chart due to their having the same rank.

Lines are the most common symbol used to identify employee relationships, but feel free to get a little creative with the symbol you use. For charts that are more complex, it’s not out of the ordinary to use dotted lines and solid lines with different meanings. As long as the symbols you use in your org chart map the journey of authority in a clear way, there are no hard-set rules to follow when creating your org chart. Feel free to use photos and unique shapes when creating yours!

Why should you use an organizational chart?

There are a multitude of benefits to creating an org chart for a business of any size. First and foremost, it establishes authority and strictly enforces the expected communication routes within the organization. This prevents miscommunication and helps employees understand where they are in the hierarchy of the company. Additionally, companies that restructure their hierarchy owe it to their current employees to be transparent and upfront about changes in communication and authority by illustrating those changes with a new org chart. Above all, it helps everyone in the company to be on the same page in terms of who is responsible for what.

Disadvantages of an organizational chart

While the benefits of org charts are clear, there are a few drawbacks. For example, org charts require a lot of upkeep. Promotions, resignations and general title changes happen all the time in all industries, making org charts out of date very quickly. However, using a template that is easily changed can prevent editing headaches. Additionally, org charts can be frustrating for organizations that are highly collaborative. Even though matrix org charts help mitigate this, it can be rather difficult to portray the formal communications between employees that collaborate with many different departments. This can be remedied to an extent; for example,  detailed symbols can help visualize the nuances.

How to make an organizational chart

Before starting a company org chart, it’s important to take some time to figure out everyone’s position in the organization and how each position interlinks with others. Once this information is attained, the next step is to decide whether a hierarchical, matrix or flat organizational chart fits your needs. Next, take a look at our free templates to get started on making your very own org chart!

Free organizational chart template

If you have access to PowerPoint, you can download this PPT template. This will give you a good base for your org chart. Feel free to expand on it!

You’re ready to create an organizational chart!

Businesses thrive when transparency and accountability are available to all employees involved. By sharing the inner workings of individual branches and connections within a business, employees have a collective sense of who they report to, who they communicate with, and who oversees specific operations. Even if your company is considered to have a “small tree,” there are endless opportunities to showcase the ever-growing branches and leaves in an organizational chart.

Interested in learning about more charts for your organization? Check out these articles on Gantt charts and PERT charts .

Tricia is a former research analyst focusing on office and design software. Tricia started at G2 in October 2018 after spending nearly five years in the competitive intelligence industry, which led to extensive market research knowledge and experience. She is currently maintaining the integrity of her space by building out new categories and writing data-driven content. Her coverage areas include office and design. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, attending concerts, and gaming.

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Free Small Business Organizational Chart Templates

By Kate Eby | March 9, 2022

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This article features a collection of organization chart templates that department heads and HR pros can use for listing organizational structures. You’ll find organization charts that meet the needs of a variety of business scenarios. 

Included on this page, you’ll find templates for a simple small business organizational chart and matrix . You can also download a presentation version of a sample small business organizational chart template and a basic horizontal organizational chart for sharing the chart with a larger group.

Simple Small Business Organizational Chart Template

Download Simple Small Business Organizational Chart Template Microsoft Excel | Microsoft Word | Microsoft PowerPoint | Google Slides | Google Sheets

Use this simple small business organizational chart template to identify and detail your business's personnel structure. Space for names and titles enables you to diagram reporting relationships for divisions, departments, and teams to see who reports up the chain to whom. Highlighting the reporting structure in this manner makes this organizational chart template ideal for presentations, planning, and personnel directories. 

Find tips for creating an organizational chart in Word when mapping the employee structure of your small business.

Small Business Organizational Chart with Pictures Template

Download Small Business Organizational Chart with Pictures Template Microsoft Excel | Microsoft Word | Microsoft PowerPoint | Google Slides

Putting a face to a name helps your employees communicate and assume responsibilities more efficiently and effectively. Use this small business organizational chart with pictures template to help employees learn more about their division, department, or team structure. This customizable template allows you to add profile pictures to names and titles to promote familiarity and clarity for reporting.

Basic Small Business Horizontal Organizational Chart Template

Download Basic Small Business Horizontal Organizational Chart Template Microsoft Excel | Microsoft Word | Microsoft PowerPoint

Use this basic small business horizontal organizational chart template to map the workflow with fewer levels in your business's hierarchy. This template maximizes space and identifies areas that need improvement along your organization's linear process. Copy-and-paste the color-coded blank icons to add names and titles for a complete employee listing in this basic organizational chart template. 

Use any of these free organizational chart templates in Excel to highlight your employee roles and their reporting relationships to management.

Small Business Horizontal Organizational Chart with Pictures Template

Download Small Business Horizontal Organizational Chart with Pictures Template Microsoft Excel | Microsoft Word | Microsoft PowerPoint

With fewer middle management levels, a small business horizontal organizational chart displays your structure without wasting space. Use this template to add images of executives and staff to their names and titles so that it’s easier to identify people during presentations, planning, and directories. Add pictures, names, and titles by copying and pasting the color-coded icons to illustrate your organization better.

Small Business Matrix Organizational Chart Template

Download Small Business Matrix Organizational Chart Template Microsoft Excel | Microsoft Word | Microsoft PowerPoint

With shifting reporting relationships in a matrix structure, this small business matrix organizational chart template easily tracks multiple reporting structures. Use this template to illustrate and simplify complex systems where people report to more than one manager and multifunctional work occurs. Track team members as they move between projects and reporting responsibilities.

Sample Small Business Organizational Chart Template

Download Sample Small Business Organizational Chart Template Microsoft Excel | Microsoft Word | Microsoft PowerPoint

Use this sample small business organizational chart template to replace the sample information with your organization's names and titles. You can add profile pictures and additional blank icons to illustrate your small business's organizational structure. This customizable template is ideal for charting your executive, division, department, and team structures for your small business's directory, planning, or presentation.

Small Business Partnership Organizational Chart Template

Download Small Business Partnership Organizational Chart Template Microsoft Excel | Microsoft Word | Microsoft PowerPoint

This small business partnership organizational chart template allows you to illustrate reporting relationships and responsibilities in a business partnership structure. Use this template to copy and paste blank icons to add a partner name and title atop your small business hierarchy. This organizational chart template keeps partners aware of their roles and responsibilities, which helps promote seamless collaboration.

What Is a Small Business Organizational Chart?

A small business organizational chart is a visualization of a business's structure. It charts a small business's hierarchy and illustrates employee reporting relationships to determine work responsibilities. A small business organizational chart lists employee and management names and titles. 

New employees can use small business organizational charts to learn who reports to whom in their department, making onboarding easier . Employees of all tenures can use organizational charts to familiarize themselves with the names and titles of coworkers and executives. Managers can use these charts to define how employees function within a small business. The utility of an organizational chart goes beyond illustrating reporting structure. Organizational charts can also be helpful in the following ways:

• Managers use organizational charts to strategize growth and assign new projects across departments.
• Small business executives use organizational charts to plan and evaluate restructuring.
• Small business organizational charts allow managers to track workloads to identify workplace inefficiencies.

Most small business organizational charts are pyramid-shaped and best read from top to bottom, with the highest-ranking employees listed at the top. Rows represent management levels, so organizational charts widen at the small business's lower employee levels. Lines connect chart shapes to represent reporting relationships.

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Writing the Organization and Management Section of Your Business Plan

What is the organization and management section in a business plan.

• What to Put in the Organization and Management Section

Organization

The management team, helpful tips to write this section, frequently asked questions (faqs).

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Every business plan needs an organization and management section. This document will help you convey your vision for how your business will be structured. Here's how to write a good one.

Key Takeaways

• This section of your business plan details your corporate structure.
• It should explain the hierarchy of management, including details about the owners, the board of directors, and any professional partners.
• The point of this section is to clarify who will be in charge of each aspect of your business, as well as how those individuals will help the business succeed.

The organization and management section of your business plan should summarize information about your business structure and team. It usually comes after the market analysis section in a business plan . It's especially important to include this section if you have a partnership or a multi-member limited liability company (LLC). However, if you're starting a home business or are  writing  a business plan for one that's already operating, and you're the only person involved, then you don't need to include this section.

What To Put in the Organization and Management Section

You can separate the two terms to better understand how to write this section of the business plan.

The "organization" in this section refers to how your business is structured and the people involved. "Management" refers to the responsibilities different managers have and what those individuals bring to the company.

In the opening of the section, you want to give a summary of your management team, including size, composition, and a bit about each member's experience.

For example, you might write something like "Our management team of five has more than 20 years of experience in the industry."

The organization section sets up the hierarchy of the people involved in your business. It's often set up in a chart form. If you have a partnership or multi-member LLC, this is where you indicate who is president or CEO, the CFO, director of marketing, and any other roles you have in your business. If you're a single-person home business, this becomes easy as you're the only one on the chart.

Technically, this part of the plan is about owner members, but if you plan to outsource work or hire a virtual assistant, you can include them here, as well. For example, you might have a freelance webmaster, marketing assistant, and copywriter. You might even have a virtual assistant whose job it is to work with your other freelancers. These people aren't owners but have significant duties in your business.

Some common types of business structures include sole proprietorships, partnerships, LLCs, and corporations.

Sole Proprietorship

This type of business isn't a separate entity. Instead, business assets and liabilities are entwined with your personal finances. You're the sole person in charge, and you won't be allowed to sell stock or bring in new owners. If you don't register as any other kind of business, you'll automatically be considered a sole proprietorship.

Partnership

Partnerships can be either limited (LP) or limited liability (LLP). LPs have one general partner who takes on the bulk of the liability for the company, while all other partner owners have limited liability (and limited control over the business). LLPs are like an LP without a general partner; all partners have limited liability from debts as well as the actions of other partners.

Limited Liability Company

A limited liability company (LLC) combines elements of partnership and corporate structures. Your personal liability is limited, and profits are passed through to your personal returns.

Corporation

There are many variations of corporate structure that an organization might choose. These include C corps, which allow companies to issue stock shares, pay corporate taxes (rather than passing profits through to personal returns), and offer the highest level of personal protection from business activities. There are also nonprofit corporations, which are similar to C corps, but they don't seek profits and don't pay state or federal income taxes.

This section highlights what you and the others involved in the running of your business bring to the table. This not only includes owners and managers but also your board of directors (if you have one) and support professionals. Start by indicating your business structure, and then list the team members.

Owner/Manager/Members

Provide the following information on each owner/manager/member:

• Percentage of ownership (LLC, corporation, etc.)
• Extent of involvement (active or silent partner)
• Type of ownership (stock options, general partner, etc.)
• Position in the business (CEO, CFO, etc.)
• Duties and responsibilities
• Educational background
• Experience or skills that are relevant to the business and the duties
• Past employment
• Skills will benefit the business
• Awards and recognition
• Compensation (how paid)
• How each person's skills and experience will complement you and each other

Board of Directors

A board of directors is another part of your management team. If you don't have a board of directors, you don't need this information. This section provides much of the same information as in the ownership and management team sub-section. 

• Position (if there are positions)
• Involvement with the company

Even a one-person business could benefit from a small group of other business owners providing feedback, support, and accountability as an advisory board. 

Support Professionals

Especially if you're seeking funding, let potential investors know you're on the ball with a lawyer, accountant, and other professionals that are involved in your business. This is the place to list any freelancers or contractors you're using. Like the other sections, you'll want to include:

• Background information such as education or certificates
• Services provided to your business
• Relationship information (retainer, as-needed, regular, etc.)
• Skills and experience making them ideal for the work you need
• Anything else that makes them stand out as quality professionals (awards, etc.)

Writing a business plan seems like an overwhelming activity, especially if you're starting a small, one-person business. But writing a business plan can be fairly simple.

Like other parts of the business plan, this is a section you'll want to update if you have team member changes, or if you and your team members receive any additional training, awards, or other resume changes that benefit the business.

Because it highlights the skills and experience you and your team offer, it can be a great resource to refer to when seeking publicity and marketing opportunities. You can refer to it when creating your media kit or pitching for publicity.

Why are organization and management important to a business plan?

The point of this section is to clarify who's in charge of what. This document can clarify these roles for yourself, as well as investors and employees.

What should you cover in the organization and management section of a business plan?

The organization and management section should explain the chain of command , roles, and responsibilities. It should also explain a bit about what makes each person particularly well-suited to take charge of their area of the business.

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Organizational charts explained: a beginner’s guide

Make your company’s org chart work as hard as you do

By the team at Slack July 19th, 2024

An organizational chart maps out a company’s workforce, including its team structure, workers’ reporting relationships and employees’ responsibilities.

Done well, an org chart can be a lot more than just a map. A good organizational chart (org chart) can streamline business processes and help employees excel in their roles. It can be a resource for support, collaboration and team building.

Read on to take an in-depth look at org charts and to learn how to make a successful one for your company.

What is an organizational chart?

You might hear organizational charts referred to as org charts, organograms, organigrams or hierarchy charts. They all essentially refer to the same thing: a visual representation of a company’s internal structure.

An org chart maps out the employees within an organization, grouping them by team and showing how employees relate to each other.

Org charts illustrate reporting relationships and chains of command to give a simple overview of a company’s organizational structure, its hierarchy and how each employee fits into the big picture.

What should an org chart include?

An org chart contains information on verticals, teams, reporting relationships and individual employees. For each employee, an organizational chart might show their:

• Contact information
• Responsibility

The chart may use lines, arrows and other symbols to illustrate professional relationships and hierarchy among individual members.

Why are org charts important?

An org chart gets new hires up to speed, keeps longtime employees informed and builds confidence among investors. Having an organizational chart is particularly handy for companies with remote workers because it maps out the whole distributed workforce, including each remote employee’s role and the overall chain of command.

Any employee should be able to turn to the chart to answer questions such as:

• Who’s on the leadership team?
• How do I fit into my company’s organizational structure?
• Who can answer my questions about (insert specific subject)?
• Who reports to whom?

Organizational charts should also tell employees how downsizing, promotions and other organizational changes might affect them. When it’s designed well, a chart can even communicate a company’s values and philosophies, such as its positions on inclusivity, collaboration and hierarchy.

Limitations of organizational charts

• Org charts can easily become outdated as companies restructure and employees shift roles
• Charts may only show formal reporting relationships, excluding the nuances of informal professional relationships within a company
• Updating an org chart can be laborious, complex and time consuming, depending on the tool used to create it
• Organizational charts may not clarify management styles, communication methods and how each manager interacts with their team

Types of organizational charts

We all know how powerful graphics can be. A picture is worth a thousand words, right? (Well— if you use the right picture.)

To get the most out of an org chart, you must first decide on its design and how to visually represent your company’s organizational structure.

Hierarchical/top-down

This type of org chart starts with one person—typically the company’s president or CEO—at the top. It then takes on a pyramid shape that represents the workforce hierarchy. The higher you’re represented on the pyramid, the higher you are in the hierarchy.

• Pros: This format offers clarity on the lines of authority and communication. Employees can easily understand their roles, teammates and reporting relationships. A hierarchical org chart also provides employees with a defined path for professional growth.
• Cons: This structure offers limited flexibility in terms of hierarchy and may create silos that could hinder cross-functional collaboration and innovation.

Divisional structure

This layout is similar to the hierarchical chart but breaks down a large company’s structure by product line, geographic location or another grouping method. Large companies with independent departments that control their own resources often use divisional structure charts.

• Pros: Divisional structure provides more flexibility to respond to market changes. It also gives more autonomy to each division within a large company.
• Cons: Like top-down org charts, divisional structure charts could lead to siloing, hinder cross-functional collaboration, and make it difficult to spot duplication or overuse of resources.

A matrix org chart uses a grid to show relationships among cross-functional teams. This layout illustrates how employees work with others from different departments and how they report to multiple supervisors. It gives managers visibility to select people from different departments to work on a project.

• Pros: This structure helps break down silos and foster cross-department collaboration.
• Cons: Reporting to more than one manager or business unit can create confusion or conflict among employees.

Flat/horizontal

A flat or horizontal organizational chart takes the focus away from employee hierarchy. All members have a similar amount of power, with fewer hierarchical levels in the company. This design is most common among small businesses with simple structures, where employees often have more responsibility, wear many hats and are more directly involved in decision-making.

• Pros: This approach encourages closer relationships between executives and employees and empowers all team members to take leadership and be decisive.
• Cons: Companies have limited potential to scale within this structure. As organizations grow, they often move to hierarchical or matrix org charts.

How to create an organizational chart

Let’s run through the step-by-step process of creating an org chart for your company.

Determine your company’s organizational structure

Clarify your organization’s structure before you begin building a chart. Lay out how your company’s departments relate to each other on a high level.

Identify roles and relationships

Understand your company’s chain of command. Identify each employee’s span of control, and outline each business unit’s specialization. Then, map out reporting relationships among all employees. You can gather this information by surveying team members or working with the HR department.

Choose the right organizational chart type

Now that you understand your company’s structure on both a high level and an individual employee level, it’s time to pick an org chart design.

Your chart should mirror the organization’s reporting relationships, reflect decision-making processes, and comply with the company’s size and growth plan.

Know your audience

Understanding the audience for an org chart can help you decide how much detail to include. For example, an org chart containing details on each individual in the company may be limited to internal use. A simplified, high-level version might be more suitable for external parties.

Best practices for designing org charts

Keep your org chart simple, uncluttered and easy to understand. Use shapes, colors and line styles to distinguish hierarchy, relationships and process flows.

Highlight key roles and functions to help readers quickly identify critical personnel and understand the company’s organizational structure. Regularly update the org chart as the team and structure evolve. An outdated chart could cause confusion and errors.

Best tools and software for creating org charts

Various tools and applications can help you build and maintain an org chart. Any tool you use should integrate with your company’s existing productivity platform to ensure that everyone has access to the org chart for efficient communication and collaboration.

• BambooHR works well for small businesses and HR departments
• ClickUp incorporates an org chart tool into its management platform
• Deel lets users apply filters to understand how teams work together and who can answer their questions
• Lucidchart offers intuitive features and is best for large organizations
• Slack Atlas uses profile pictures, location information and fun facts to build a well-rounded portrait of each member of a Slack workspace .

How to use an org chart

A good organizational chart promotes collaboration and makes it easy for colleagues to find and understand each other’s roles. You can use a well-made org chart to:

• Onboard new employees : Demonstrate employee responsibilities and reporting relationships to new hires
• Manage growth and change: Visualize how teams grow and interact to inform hiring decisions
• Improve clarity: Understand how employees fit and interact within their company’s organizational structure
• Enhance communication: Empower team members to ask questions and take initiative by providing a deep understanding of various roles and reporting relationships
• Facilitate resource allocation: Allocate resources based on team structure and capabilities
• Streamline processes: Identify redundancies and inefficiencies in the organizational structure

Maximizing the power of organizational charts with Slack

Organizational charts do more than map out a company’s workforce. They can provide powerful context to help employees collaborate and communicate effectively.

Providing context with Slack Atlas

Slack Atlas uses profile pictures, location information and fun facts to build a well-rounded portrait of each member of a Slack workspace . Employees can use Atlas to learn about a colleague before direct-messaging them on Slack . Informing employees about one another helps build strong professional relationships in remote workplaces , boosting both morale and productivity.

Integrating organizational charts in Slack

Atlas provides searchable profile information and a dynamic org chart to encourage connection and promote transparent collaboration in Slack. Employees can learn about their colleagues and their company’s organizational structure right in Slack, where they’re already working.

Tracking org chart changes and updates in Slack

Atlas syncs with HR tools to populate employee information via Slack’s SCIM API , ensuring that every profile stays accurate and up to date. Workspace administrators can make specific profile fields editable for employees to add their unique spin.

Org chart security in Slack

When you’re handling employee information, data security is a must. Atlas uses the same enterprise-grade security and identity-management capabilities central to the Slack platform, focusing on security governance and risk management. 

The power of an org chart at your fingertips

Slack Atlas is available in all markets and languages supported by Slack. You can access Slack Atlas on the Enterprise Grid plan at no additional cost. It’s also available as a paid add-on to the Business+ plan. Learn more and start using Atlas today .  

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Small business organizational charts

A small business organizational chart is a visual representation of your business structure. It outlines employee roles and demonstrates who employees report to within the company. There are multiple types to choose from and many reasons why you should create one for your business!

Before getting started, it’s critical to establish goals for your organization chart (also known as an org chart) to help you decide which type to use and what information to include.

Does my small business need an organization chart?

You know who everyone is in the business, what they’re supposed to be doing, and the appropriate chain of command, so why would you spend time creating a chart that details all that information? There are several reasons such a chart can be a powerful tool for your company. Here’s how:

• Clearly defines management structure, which is helpful in a complex business
• Helps increase operating efficiency
• Shows current success
• Facilitates planning for the future
• Allows for at-a-glance engagement with the right contacts

Types of organization charts

Understanding the types of org charts available allows you to choose the one that makes the most sense for your business.

Line organizational structure

Also known as a hierarchical organizational chart or a top-down organizational chart, this is the most common structure due to its simplicity. The top of the chart features the executives, then directors (for larger businesses) followed by the department heads, and the employees each department head or manager is responsible for. This traditional hierarchy is simple and rigid. Information flows through each layer of the organization in turn, and the structure doesn’t allow for collaboration between teams or “open door” access to upper management.

For small businesses with few employees, this type of chart is the least complicated, with the owner at the top, shift or department managers in the middle, and other employees under them.

Functional organization structure

Similar to the line organizational structure, the functional organization structure offers more lines of communication. It enables directors and managers to collaborate with one another over teams they don’t directly control, for better information flow and flexibility.

In a small business, you’re likely to have separate teams with a great deal of interaction; the sales department  may have daily interaction with administration and with shipping. This type of chart establishes a hierarchy in each department while allowing for cross-communication.

Line and staff organization structure

This organizational structure is best for companies working in specialist fields. The staff in this situation refers to experts advisors providing technical information, opinions, and advice, who may be allowed to authorize certain activities and assist with reports that bear weight in decision-making. Staff and line positions have different objectives and are often at odds. Conflicting expectations can be confusing for bottom-tier workers and result in lower productivity.

Project-based structure

If your business operates with projects that are different from one client to the next , and from one brief to the next, this structure is the ideal choice. The chart changes as needed for each project. While it’s helpful to be able to mix and match personnel based on project needs, it does mean teams have to adapt to new managers and colleagues for each assignment. Managers must be able to handle a variety of functions across multiple departments.

At the top, you have a director who appoints the project manager for each project. The project manager chooses a team of people to work on the project based on their skills and expertise. When the project is complete, managers and team members are assigned to other projects.

For a small business, projects may internal, for example marketing campaigns or charity events. Project charts can help track teams for each initiative.

Matrix structure

The matrix organizational structure combines several types of organizational structures to create a customized solution to meet specific needs. A matrix organization is characterized by more than one chain of command, with project team members reporting to two or more managers. It’s ideal for businesses that are project-based, where teams must also follow a functional structure.

In this case, team leaders are assigned a representative from each functional area that applies to the project. The functional team member reports to the project manager and the functional manager of that area.

The functional manager oversees the employees and activities to ensure they’re in line with company standards and policies, while the project manager or team leader ensures the project is completed as planned. As with a line and staff structure, conflicts and confusion can arise when reporting to more than one boss.

Circular structure

In a circular structure, there is still a reliance on hierarchy. Higher level employees occupy the inner rings of the circle and lower level employees occupy the outer rings. The executives aren’t at the top of the structure, but rather on the inside to allow ideas to spread outward. The structure is intended to promote open communication and the free flow of information between all parts of the organization.

In practice, the structure is often confusing because it can be difficult for people to figure out where they fit within the organization and who they are supposed to report to. However, in a business where communication is encouraged on all levels, this allows employees to seek advice from any available supervisor, as opposed to a rigid chain of communications.

How to create a small business organizational chart

First, choose the type of chart that best suits your company’s needs. To prepare for the chart creation process, make sure you have a list of all employees available with any pertinent information, such as supervisory relationships. Gathering this information ahead of time will speed the process of filling in the chart.

With the type of chart in mind, choose the tool you’ll use to build the organizational chart. While there’s always the option of hand-diagramming your chart, this time-consuming process isn’t conducive to making quick and easy changes as your organization grows or people leave. If you prefer this option, there are plenty of organizational chart templates  available for download.

You can use a number of free tools such as Microsoft Office or Microsoft Excel to create your chart. There’s also the option to use drawing and presentation programs such as Google Slides or Microsoft Powerpoint.

You can also use org chart software such as Pingboard  to create your chart. Though it is a paid tool,  there is a free version comes with limited functionality that you can use to get started. Some HR and payroll systems, including Success Factors , Zenefits , and Justworks  offer the ability to generate organizational charts using the current employee data in your system.

Ideally, you’ll want something that offers the ability to color code your chart, search by name or job title, and drill down to locate more detailed employee information so that it is easier to interpret, use, and update.

With all the information assembled, fill in the information to complete the chart. You’ll want to at least include the name of the person in the position – leaving it blank if the position is open, along with the department, the role or job title. If there’s enough space, you can also include the location, which is particularly helpful when working with a geographically diverse or remote team. It’s also a good idea to include a photo of the person along with contact information.

Some organizational chart software solutions offer additional functionality so that your chart can also function as an employee directory on  your business website . Those options allow you to enter details that are only visible to the employee and upper management, such as emergency contacts, t-shirt size, and dietary restrictions, which can be useful for company functions and rewards.

For your small business organization chart to ultimately serve its purpose and aid your business, you must be able to update your chart as needed and effectively share each version of the chart with your entire team. Access to an organizational chart facilitates daily communication among staff members and employee efficiency, contributing to smoother business operations, so it’s well worth investing resources into the process. It’s a good idea for small business owners to operate with two versions of their chart; one forward-facing for all employees to see, and one behind the scenes to plan for future growth and vacant positions.

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Table of Contents

What is an Organizational Chart?

Organizational charts explained.

An organizational chart (or org chart) outlines how your company operates. It can be used to show the structure of a company, the relationships between departments, or the chain of command. Generate your own with our org chart maker , or read on to discover more about the various types and how they can be used.

What should an org chart include?

Org charts are also sometimes known as organogram charts (or organigrams). These corporate structure charts show people’s relationships inside of an organization. They’re similar to family trees or kinship diagrams but show working relationships rather than familial ones. In an org chart, the boxes represent employees. These boxes often include the following information:

• Names (and sometimes photos) • Contact information • Roles and job titles • Responsibilities • Professional relationships between individuals

Lines and arrows connect these boxes together, showing where individuals sit in the company hierarchy and how they relate to each other.

Types of organizational charts

Organizational charts come in different structures and formats. Here are some of the most common.

Functional top-down organizational chart

A functional top-down chart offers a hierarchical structure to your business. It starts with one team member at the top of the chart (usually the president or CEO) and feeds down to other employees based on their roles in the company. For example, underneath the CEO, you might have the head of sales, head of marketing, and head of product. Under each of these heads of department, they’ll have a team that reports to them. This format offers clarity to employees. They know what their role is, who they’re working with, and who they report to. The chart also provides a clear path for professional growth. One of the key challenges of this type of org chart is communication siloing . With each department responsible for its own work, cross-functional communication can often go amiss. To make sure this structure works efficiently, teams need to communicate effectively across the business (which is where using a collaborative platform like Miro can help).

Flat organizational chart

A flat org chart (or horizontal organizational chart) shows few or no levels of management. With this type of organizational structure, the company promotes widespread team member self-management and decision-making. This org chart encourages less supervision from management and more involvement from employees. It can be empowering for employees, but it is a tricky structure to scale as a business grows. Flat org charts are more common for smaller businesses that don’t require a clear chain of command. It’s not unusual for growing businesses to move from a flat org chart to a functional top-down chart as they develop different departments.

Divisional organizational chart

A divisional org chart is a top-level version of a hierarchical structure, allowing different areas of the business to control their own resources. Divisions can be split in a variety of ways. These include markets, products, and even geographic locations. Divisions can operate like their own mini business within the company. For example, they can have their own marketing, IT, and HR sales teams. This approach offers flexibility to respond to industry changes, encourages autonomy, and allows divisions to offer a customized approach for their consumers. These structures are best used by larger organizations with areas that work independently of each other. However, as with the functional top-down org chart, divisional structures can often be subject to siloing. Cross-functional communication can be difficult, which could lead to duplication and overuse of resources.

Matrix organizational chart

A matrix org chart is a grid that shows cross-functional teams. Because of this cross-functionality, team members work with colleagues from different departments and report to multiple managers. A matrix org chart is a more complex structure than a simple hierarchical chart, but it allows managers to easily pick people from different teams to work on specific projects. However, this can also cause some conflict regarding capacity and who’s available for certain projects.

What is the best organizational structure?

First, let’s clarify the difference between an organizational chart and an organizational structure. An org chart is based on people, while an org structure is based on functions. Org structures outline the responsibility, accountability, and authority for each role in the company. Unlike org charts, they don’t change often. They’re based on the overall function and vision of the business, so regular changes are rare. When it comes to finding the best org structure for your business, there are two main types to consider: mechanistic and organic. Mechanistic structures are hierarchical and top-down (like the functional top-down chart). Departments in a mechanistic structure will usually follow a clear set of rules, which includes clear responsibilities for the employees and fields of action. Organic structures represent a more collaborative, flexible system (like the flat chart). They have more cross-functional workings, a wider span of control, and more decentralization. The best org structure depends on how you want to work as a business. If you want flexibility and more autonomy for employees, an organic structure would be best. If you prefer clearly defined roles and responsibilities within a hierarchy, mechanistic structures are the better choice.

Uses of org charts

Here are some situations in which creating an org chart can be helpful for your business.

To identify the chain of command

Clearly outline where each team member sits in the company hierarchy. Everyone can see their location in the structure and who they report to.

Miro's fully customizable chain of command template is tailored specifically for this.

To outline cross-functional relationships

Clarify how different departments work together to streamline cross-functional collaboration.

To allocate resources

By having everything laid out in a visual manner, you can effectively allocate resources based on team structures and capabilities.

To restructure

Whether restructuring a project team or an entire business, org charts allow you to plan and map an entirely new business structure.

For growth planning

Use an org chart to plan new hires as the business grows. Clearly identify where you’ll need new employees and what their roles should be.

To support new employees

Org charts are helpful during the onboarding process. You can familiarize new employees with the company structure, who their colleagues are across different departments, and who they should report to.

What is the importance of an organizational chart?

There are many reasons why businesses use organizational charts. To understand their company hierarchy, to pinpoint areas of improvement, to offer clarity to employees, and to improve communication between departments are just a few examples. Let’s look at these benefits in more detail.

To understand your company hierarchy

Having a solid grasp of the hierarchy of your business is beneficial for everyone at the company. For leadership, it helps visualize how teams work together and where everyone sits in the company structure. For employees, it shows who they need to report to and how they fit into the bigger picture. Simply put, an org chart helps companies better understand how to communicate effectively and how to work together to achieve company goals.

To pinpoint areas of improvement

With an org chart, you can highlight inefficiencies in your company structure and identify how to make improvements. You’ll identify how your team works together and where the structure can be improved, and you’ll be able to make the necessary changes based on this information.

To provide clarity

An org chart clarifies everyone’s role in the company or project. Whether it’s hierarchical or horizontal, everyone knows how they fit into the bigger picture, who’s on their team, and who they can go to for advice and guidance.

To improve communication

Offer a better line of communication between team members by clearly mapping out formal relationships. This is particularly helpful for cross-functional teams, where individuals may not know exactly who to reach out to. With an org chart in place, it’s clear who team members can contact from other departments.

Are there any drawbacks to be aware of?

Although org charts provide clarity and structure to a business, there are some challenges you might face throughout the process.

They can quickly become outdated

With new hires, internal movers, and employee turnover, it’s inevitable that your org chart will change over time. This means they constantly need to remain up to date, which can be time-consuming. Fortunately, using Miro makes this process quick and easy. With our online charts, you can update your company information in a matter of clicks, and your changes will be instantly visible to the rest of the company.

They focus solely on professional relationships.

Org charts don’t show how individual team members work together or whether they have a good working relationship. They also don’t show management style, and they don’t map all the methods of communication. All of this information is important to the success of your business, so take this into account when creating your org chart.

They don’t always show the full picture

Org charts are a streamlined representation of your company, meaning they can only provide so much detail. As a result, they can paint a misleading picture of the importance or influence of people at your company. If you do require more insight, you could use an organigraph, which offers more detail.

How to make an organizational chart

Take a look at this step-by-step guide to creating a well-structured org chart for your business.

1. Define your scope

Start by confirming why you’re creating the chart in the first place. Will it be an internal document for employees to use to visualize the company structure? Is it for management to identify areas of improvement? Will you show it to investors and key stakeholders to show how you plan to grow the business? You need to know the purpose of your org chart to make sure that it includes the right information and that it’s structured the right way.

2. Gather relevant information

After clarifying the purpose of your org chart, it’s time to collect all the information you need. This includes identifying employees, their role in the company, and their responsibilities.

3. Pick your org chart format

Choose the org chart format that best suits your company structure. If you want a hierarchical structure, the functional top-down chart or divisional chart could be a good choice. For something with more flexibility and fewer hierarchical levels, consider the flat chart.

4. Choose the right platform

Creating an org chart can be a tedious process, particularly if you have a complex company structure. To make the process easier to manage, be sure to use platforms that offer the right features and structure for your business. Take Miro as an example. Our digital workspace has features that allow teams to create custom org charts. Add your own branding, share the board with members of your team, and upload your own files and images.

5. Input the information

With your platform in place and all the information ready to go, add all the employees to your board. Include as much or as little information as you think is necessary. For example, some teams prefer to add contact information and photos of employees, whereas others simply use their names and job titles. Choose what works best for you and your team — there’s no right or wrong, so long as you have their name and job title.

6. Group teams together

Start to add structure to your chart by grouping teams together. Exactly how to do this depends on the structure you’re using. Refer to our “types of organizational charts” section to learn how to organize your teams based on your chosen organizational chart.

7. Identify relationships and the chain of command

When teams are grouped and you have some structure in your org chart, it’s useful to identify relationships within teams. It’ll help everyone familiarize themselves with who’s on their team and how each person relates to one another in the overall hierarchy. It’s also a chance to pinpoint cross-functional relationships across departments and lateral relationships between management.

8. Share it with your team

When the chart is complete, share it with your team or any relevant stakeholders. If you want to collect feedback on the chart, Miro’s workspace allows users to add comments and suggestions directly to your workspace. That way, you can instantly see their feedback and make any necessary changes to the chart.

9. Keep it up to date

As mentioned, company structures aren’t set in stone. New people join, current employees move positions, and some inevitably leave. To keep your org chart useful and relevant, be sure to update it when changes happen. If you use an online org chart, you’ll be able to simply make changes virtually, and everyone will be able to access your amendments in real time.

Examples of organizational charts

Take a look at some organizational chart examples to give you some inspiration for your own org charts.

Business organizational chart

A business org chart outlines your company structure. It shows your reporting structure, how different departments relate to one another, and how corporate functions work inside your business. A business org chart is often used for companies that want to either restructure their business or wrap their heads around the existing structure. It’s also especially helpful for new employees, as it allows them to familiarize themselves with your company and see the bigger picture.

Create a business org chart →

Project organizational chart

A project org chart structures the personnel of an upcoming project. It allows project managers to see what each person’s role is, the hierarchy of everyone on the project team, and the chain of command. This chart is also a great tool for identifying project roadblocks — such as potential resource gaps — as it allows project managers to visualize any issues and make the necessary improvements.

Create a project org chart →

Organizational change map

An organizational change map is slightly different than a traditional org chart, but it’s a useful example nonetheless. It gives you an overview of the different activities you can take to reorganize your business. If you’re planning to restructure your business or project, this chart is a great way to cover all your bases. You can visualize scenarios, map different stakeholders, and plan exactly how you anticipate the new system will work. When the map is complete, you’ll have found your ideal route for organizational change.

Create an org change map →

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The quick guide to making a team charter, what is a functional structure, what is a matrix organization, organizational chart examples, types of organizational structures, get on board in seconds, plans and pricing.

Organizational Chart Maker

Create and visualize organizational charts, easily create organizational charts to visualize the reporting structure of your organization for effective hr planning and management..

• Simple drag and drop interface and automatic drawing to create organizational charts faster
• Unique color themes and styles, and image import options for quick customization
• 1000s of customizable organizational chart templates to visualize hierarchical structures
• Multi-user editing & live mouse tracking to collaborate in real-time with others

• Multi-user editing & live mouse tracking to collaborate in real-time with others

Organizational Chart Templates

Org Chart Starter Template

Replacement Org Chart

Org Chart Template

Org Chart Template with Responsibilities

Hotel Organizational Chart

Department Organizational Chart

Circular Organizational Chart

Company-Organogram

What is an Organizational Chart?

Organizational charts, also known as hierarchical charts and organograms, are traditionally used to show the structure of an organization and the different relationships between workers or various departments within the organization. However, they can also be used to identify gaps in your organization, highlight the performance of your employees, track their performance goals, and highlight roles and responsibilities.

How to Make an Organizational Chart

Based on whether you are creating the organizational chart for a project team, department, or the entire organization, identify each and every employee that should be represented. This may include a fair bit of research, especially if it’s a large organization. Talk to team heads or supervisors to understand the job roles and the reporting relationships between the employees they are leading.

While you can start right away with one of Creately’s prebuilt org chart templates, you can enable the organizational chart shape library and start from scratch. If you are collaborating with other departmental heads, simply add them to the workspace as collaborators or share an edit link with them. With real-time previews and live mouse tracking, you can track their contributions to the org chart and stay synced even if you aren’t in the same room.

With the company, department, or team head at the top of the organizational chart, add the rest of the members based on hierarchy and the reporting relationships.

Drag and drop or import images of your employees right from your device to personalize your org chart.

You can store additional details on each employee (such as their contact information, the projects they are working on, etc.) with the shapes’ custom properties and data fields. This way you can build a record base for further reference.

Once completed, export your org chart in PDF, SVG, or PNG format to embed it in any intranet or site, or share it with others.

Organizational Chart Articles

All the organizational chart examples listed below can be edited online using our org chart software. Once you’re done you can export them and add them to your presentation, website or document...

The hierarchical model is the most popular organizational chart type. There are a few models that are derived from this model....

A growing company brings more than one challenge to any leadership team. Going from a 3 person team to a 10 person company to then growing to 20 or 50 people brings about extremely different sets of challenges...

Think that this is probably just a one-off example we cracked our brains at? Think again. Let’s consider a marketing department where you are the boss. You have two executives working for you on various research projects....

HR managers in companies have been using organizational chart software for decades to fulfil a very basic but significant function. These managers have used org charts to form the modus operandi of a company...

FAQs About Organizational Charts

What are the uses of an organizational chart.

An org chart can be helpful in a number of ways.

• Org charts help highlight internal organizational structures and hierarchies
• Help better understand the reporting relationships within the team or department
• Centralize employee details including contact details in one place
• Help identify talent gaps and help with workforce planning
• They help new hires understand the roles and responsibilities of their colleagues and how they fit in

What are the most important elements of an org chart?

By adding certain elements to your organizational chart, you can improve its use and turn it into a powerful human resource management tool. When drawing an org chart you can include the following elements,

• Photos - help people get to know each other by connecting names to faces
• Contact information - streamline better communication by making contact information easily available
• Core responsibilities - helps everyone understand what their tasks are and skills
• Locations - help clarify the different time zones of remote employees

What are the top tips for creating an effective org chart?

Whether you are using an organizational chart maker such as Creately or drawing it manually, here are some tips for creating effective organizational charts.

Keep your org chart at the right size; not too large, not too small. A larger org chart may confuse and overwhelm the reader, therefore you can break it up into smaller org charts visualizing the hierarchies of different departments separately. With Creately’s organizational chart maker, you can link up the secondary-level org charts to the main one and create an easy navigational path.

Be consistent with the shapes and colors you use for your org chart. You can use one shape to represent higher-level employees and another shape to represent mid-level employees. And you can use different colors for each department.

Include all relevant information in an easy-to-retrieve manner. While key details such as name, designation, and responsibilities can be displayed on the org chart shape itself, additional details such as contact information or specialties can be stored under shape data or notes in Creately. This way it won’t clutter up the organizational chart with a lot of information at a glance.

For more best practices, refer to our article here .

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Business Organizational Chart

Organizations use many metrics to get validated learning. They use actionable metrics, business models, department charts, analytics, and a lot more. But still, there is one thing that can improve the organizations' decision-making because they give an abstract view of the whole organization. By the end of this article, you will learn about business organizational charts , their importance, and some examples for businesses.

1. What is a Business Organizational Chart?

A business organizational chart is an abstract view of the whole organization, which tells us the relationship between multiple entities working inside the organization. Moreover, dozens of departments work in an organization and work cross-functionally.

To track those organizations and avoid uncertainties, excellent and well-known organizations never forget to make the business organizational chart, which tells the business owners, board of directors, stakeholders, employees, managers how the whole business is functioning.

Let us tell you the importance of a business organizational chart . Take an example of an employee working in an organization with a complex hierarchy. Suppose an organization doesn't contain the business organizational chart or assume they have and never published it to the whole firm. In that case, an employee will never know who is above him and to whom he should report.

Why do Companies Need Organizational Charts?

Some endless reasons and situations make companies have a good business organizational chart. Some of the critical cases are listed below.

It Communicates the Responsibilities

Business organizational charts tell everyone about their roles and responsibilities, why they are being employed, how they will perform their functions, and if any uncertainty strikes, then what they must do.

Employees Know to Whom They Report

Business organizational charts tell the employees to whom they must communicate or report. If an organization doesn't have any organizational chart, employees will never know their true importance or position.

Decision Making

As described above, an organizational business chart helps the managers, board of directors, CEO, or C-suite take important business decisions. It provides business leaders a sense of how they must lead to make the business sustainable at all levels.

2. How to Create a Business Organizational Chart?

Business leaders must know the importance of business organizational charts. Whether you are starting a business or working in a company that has imposed on you a leader-level position, then you must know how to make a perfect business organizational chart. This section will get a general and high-level overview of making a perfect and complete business organizational chart. Readers can follow the listed steps.

2.1 Identify Organizational Chart Types

The first step in this vital process is identifying the business organizational chart that best fits your business case. There are four types of business organizational charts that managers, C-Suite, board of directors must know. The four types of business organizational charts are listed below:

Hierarchical organizational chart: A hierarchical organizational chart is a chart that helps organizations that have both complex and straightforward hierarchies. Many entities say that organizations spread across multiple departments should only make hierarchical organizational charts. But, a small business can also make a hierarchical business organizational chart. A hierarchical business organizational chart starts from the C-suite and then falls to the low-level positions of the organizations. The connections in hierarchical business charts tell that an employee must report or communicate.

Functional organizational chart: A functional organizational chart is the same as a hierarchical business chart, but there are still many differences. It is best for an organization with departments spread across multiple locations and work cross-functionally to track them with a functional business organizational chart. The functional business organizational chart includes both the positions and departments. The position depicts the leader or head of each department.

Matrix organizational chart: The matrix organizational chart depicts the employees or departments who have multiple supervisors. This organizations have the most complex hierarchies, and so the matrix organizational charts are best to handle these organizations. The matrix organizational chart also depicts the managers who work in multiple departments of the same organization.

Circle organizational chart: It is also a hierarchical chart that includes the leading positions at the circle's core. In contrast, the low-level positions are listed above the top places.

2.2 Order the employee data

The next important step is to gather and organize the employee data and arrange them according to the type of business organizational chart best for your business case. All the charts discussed above have connections and little to more hierarchies, so after listing every employee, connect them according to whom they communicate or report.

2.3 Make your chart look perfect

After identifying, listing, and connecting every employee in the business organizational chart, try to search for an answer to this question, how can this chart be completed? You will find the answer in the tools or products used extensively in business diagram-making.

There are hundreds of tools available on the Internet organizations use to make the charts for their business. You can see or use Microsoft Office (Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Word) or Google Sheets. But the best practice is to choose efficient tools in many ways and boost productivity. The best and trending tool that has been used for diagram-making for two years is EdrawMax , which is consistently iterating to make the business procedures easy and quick.

2.4 Use the tool and complete the chart

Find the best tool according to your business use case, and it is time to use it and fill the business organizational chart. You can take help from multiple people in the organization to avoid errors. The best practice is to start from the template to avoid mistakes and boost your production.

After you have completed the chart, take it to review by your supervisors and then pass it to the C-suite, who will approve it and share it with everybody to make the consensus. If it succeeds, then the chart must be shared across the organization.

3. Business Organizational Chart Examples

To help you make your concepts clear about the business organizational chart, we have gathered some practical use cases that show how they can be implemented.

Example 1: Organizational Chart for Small Business

This business organizational chart can provide many helpful insights in decision-making for small businesses. As described above, to avoid confusion, small businesses can use the hierarchical business organizational chart to map the entities working inside the company. The chart shows from top to bottom how the business is working. In this top-to-the-bottom business organizational chart, every entity is connected indirectly. Still, all the departments get the notes from one department that is the COO of the organization. This chart also helps employees to understand positions.

Example 2: Big Business Organizational Chart

If you believe that your business is big and has many departments and complex hierarchies, you can use this big business organizational chart. An enormous business organizational chart includes both positions and departments working inside the company. The chart shows the connection representing the relationship between each position and department which helps in complex decision-making. You can also take ideas from this chart while making a big business organizational chart. You can also include a short description of every employee listed on the chart.

Example 3: Startup Organizational Chart

The diagram perfectly defines the startup organizational chart. Most of the time, the startups don't have many hierarchies and departments, and this chart is for these types of startups. The startups which belong to a parent organization have a different organizational chart or structure. The chart can be made using a hierarchical business organizational chart. Every department or entity in the chart is connected indirectly and communicates to a single entity called the co-founder of an organization. When the startup grows into a sustainable business, all the entities share it with the COO.

Example 4: Organizational Chart for Partnership

If the entity in the organization wants to manage the organization's partnership, then an organizational chart can also be made for this purpose. Take the idea from this organizational chart for partnership which shows both public and private partnerships. The public partner of the organization is the financial advisor and legal representative; meanwhile, the private partner includes the objects which reside inside an organization. If you are worried about how you would manage the partners of your organization, then you can start with mapping the partners in business organizational charts.

Example 5: Sole Proprietorship Organizational Chart

A Sole Proprietorship, also known as a sole trader, is an unincorporated entity or business with a single leader or manager. He is responsible for paying personal income tax from the gains earned from the sustainable enterprise. An organizational business chart can also be made for this. Usually, the business that includes the outside partnership is also included in the business organizational chart. Still, in this situation, the chart ends at the above single position like this pinned sole proprietorship organizational chart.

Example 6: Manufacturing Company Organizational Chart

Every business logic can be mapped to the business organizational chart. Take the concept from this construction business organizational chart. The chart is made with the help of a hierarchical business organizational chart framework because a construction company has many departments, and sometimes they work cross-functionally. The organizational chart also includes the regulatory body department of the ISO center. The chart starts from the board of directors and ends at the low-level positions of the organization.

4. Best Business Organizational Chart Maker

The mistakes in business organizational charts can harm both the reputation and daily operations of the business. So, every action should be taken to avoid errors in the chart. EdrawMax Online provides hundreds of tools and more than five thousand diagram-making symbols to help you make business organizational charts and other diagrams ideally. The application is straightforward and has all the tools and templates to help you avoid mistakes in business organizational charts and boost your productivity.

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