What is Horizontal Organizational Structure
Unlike vertical and matrix organizational structures, a horizontal organizational structure has fewer layers, normally two or three. It doesn’t have many chains of command. The top position of the structure is the owner of the business. The second layer contains managers or team leaders who report to the business owner. The third layers are team members supervised by the managers or team leaders in the second layer. The horizontal org chart has eliminated many middle management levels, thus can be considered as an employee-centered with emphasis on teamwork and collaboration. Without going through complicated hierarchies, employees have more contact with managers and even business owner.
Matrix organizational chart is composed of functional departments and the project teams for completing some temporary tasks. It’s a double tunnel command system. People have different roles and report to multiple managers. For example, when a project team wants to develop a new product, they will need to use personnel from the functional departments, such as engineering, research, and marketing. The personnel is under command of both the project team and their own departments.
An org chart graphically depicts the internal structure and hierarchies of an organization. It enables one to visualize the roles, relative ranks and the relationships between individuals. It’s also called organizational chart or organigram.
What does it look like?
Org charts usually use the inverted tree structure, with small boxes representing employees and lines connecting the boxes. The boxes will be filled with staff information such as their name, department, position, etc. The horizontal lines connect employees with the same level, and the vertical lines indicate the reporting relationship between a superior and the subordinate.
What to include on an org chart?
An organizational chart can be used to show the structure of an organization as a whole or broken down by division or unit. It will include information on the individuals, which you may add their basic information such as name, age, position, department, team, and photo, depending on your own requirements.
