What Is an Organizational Tree: Types, Benefits, and More

This article presents a detailed guide on the organization tree, its types, templates, benefits, uses, creation process, and much more.

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Effective business collaboration depends not only on your team's personality, the services you provide, or the products you sell. The most crucial factor that comes in is organization, which means how you manage your team to get the desired outcome and improve your business's collaboration. This is where most organizations struggle.

Whether or not your business can collaborate effectively largely depends on how well you organize things. The more people, products, or services added to the equation, the more difficult it will be to keep things together. This is the reason every company that aims to grow smoothly should develop a configured system in the beginning. This is where an organization tree plays its part. Let's learn more about the organizational tree chart.

What Is an Organization Tree?

A diagram designed to define an organization's internal hierarchy is commonly called a tree organizational chart, org chart, org structure, or org tree. This diagram identifies each job, its roles, and where to report within an organization. It shows how a business operates and helps a business grow by achieving the desired goals. The three key components an org tree focuses on are:

  1. Span of control
  2. Chain of command
  3. Centralization

An organizational tree determines which jobs are assigned to employees and which task needs to be improved. It sets how issues, requests, and proposals are communicated. In addition, this diagram establishes the authority to manage these activities. Moreover, an organizational chart arranges the process of decision-making and answers the where, who, and how of routine operations.

Setting the foundation for corporate growth is a prime function of an org structure. Furthermore, it guides each organization's member or employee on accountability. Last but not least, it provides you with a clear picture of who supports whom.

Types of Org Trees

This section presents ten different types of org trees. Let's take a look at them.

1. Functional Organization Chart

As the name depicts, this chart groups people based on their job roles or functions. It has a centralized structure that offers a greater number of communication channels.

You can apply the functional org chart to organizations of all sizes. Plus, it is easily scalable. The best thing about this chart is that it allows a high degree of specialization. At the same time, it assists you in enhancing innovation and self-sufficiency.

2. Hierarchical Chart

It is also known as a mechanical or bureaucratic structure. Organizations that use this chart follow more traditional methods and usually have less span of control. It follows top-down management, where someone is always seated on top. This chart can be categorized differently, considering the positions within the organization, such as function, market, geography, process, and product line.

3. Matrix Structure

This chart is different from traditional structures. It combines project-based and functional structures, which is why it is called a hybrid chart. The leading benefit of choosing the matrix structure is that it gives liberty to team leaders to select the best talent for each project. It assists you in assigning different roles to every employee. In addition, it enables employees to learn diverse skills.

4. Flat Org Chart

Organic positioning defines this org chart. This chart features flexible authority and promotes a smooth information flow. It offers balanced decision-making and consistent collaboration. In addition, the organic or flow org chart puts less hierarchy-related pressure. Moreover, it increases productivity and offers more opportunities to share resources. The best thing associated with this diagram is that all employees stay closer to the leadership.

5. Network Structure

It holds a non-conventional structure that focuses less on hierarchy. The structure of this chart is less flexible and flat. The managers control both internal and external relationships of an organization.

6. Circular Structure

Instead of following a hierarchical structure, this organizational chart emphasizes internal leadership that spreads outward. It helps you streamline organizational structure and visualize it clearly.

7. Product-Based Divisional Structure

According to this organizational tree chart, the roles and responsibilities of employees are decided considering the products being made and marketed. As the name depicts, products play a crucial role in this chart.

8. Market-Based Divisional Structure

As the name of this chart shows, the responsibilities and roles of everyone are decided considering the target market. It totally depends on the nature of the market and what kind of people need to be introduced.

9. Process-Based Divisional Structure

This organizational chart is created by considering the activities of every employee. How every activity interacts with each other also plays a major role in this diagram.

10. Geographical Divisional Structure

This is the perfect organizational structure for companies operating in different geographical areas. Considering the individual location, this chart decides what works best for a specific division.

Organizational Tree Templates

Creating an organization tree from scratch is not as easy as it seems. You need to put a lot of effort and suggestions to finalize the chart. Suppose you are someone who has never created a similar diagram and wants to create it on priority. Don't worry. Pre-built templates play a key role in this regard.

Searching online will find you a number of ready-made templates. You can edit and customize them according to your requirements. The top-grade diagramming tools, like Wondershare EdrawMind, come with hundreds of free organizational tree templates that are super easy to access.

Apart from that, hundreds of other tools are available in the market to make appealing org charts, including Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

After accessing an organizational chart template, you just need to put your organization's details and customize it however you want. It is a matter of a few minutes only.

How Is an Org Tree Chart Beneficial?

Well, this is a popular question being asked frequently worldwide. It could be the question in your mind, too. Isn't it? A tree organizational chart offers a series of benefits. Let's look at some potential advantages it offers.

  • It assists you in showing the visual picture of hierarchies and the internal structure of organizations.
  • An organization tree helps employees when a problem occurs and tells them who to report.
  • The org chart identifies tasks and works clearly. This is how you can avoid duplication or overlapping.
  • Employees can understand their responsibilities and roles with the help of an org chart. As a result, employees' performances are enhanced.
  • As a manager, you can manage your workload effectively with an organizational chart.
  • New employees can learn about the organization quickly by using this diagram.

What to Consider When Selecting a Tree Org Chart for a Remote Team?

The COVID-19 pandemic, without a doubt, had a huge impact on the world of remote workers. People in many countries, including the US, have worked remotely during this pandemic. A greater portion of the world explored the online way of working during this time.

Nowadays, hundreds of business owners are trying to find an answer to the question of whether or not their organization should adopt the culture of remote working. If you have the same query in mind, you should definitely allow your employees to work from home one or two days a week, depending on your needs.

If you want to make an organization tree for remote workers, don't forget to consider a few important factors that can play a vital role in making your business stand out. Make sure to create a chart that boosts communication and empowers effective collaboration. In addition, your org chart should clearly show who will be responsible and accountable for what. Moreover, it must allow managers to keep an eye on the progress regularly.

How to Make a Perfect Organization Tree?

Making a tree organizational chart is something that many of us can do within minutes. But when it comes to creating a perfect chart, many people are not sure whether they can do so or not. If you want to make your organizational chart perfect, you must consider a number of factors, as listed below.

  • Make sure your chart fits on one page.
  • Choose one box for the people with the same designation or title.
  • Ensure that the size of all boxes is the same and introduce even space between them.
  • Always use a sidebar to show assistants below the team manager.
  • Write the designation or title first in the box and then put the name of the employee occupying that specific position.
  • If one person occupies multiple positions, use multiple boxes to show them because an org chart is purely based on the position of employees and not their names.
  • You can use dotted lines to show specific relationships.
  • If you have the employee's data, you can import it directly to make the chart. Tools like EdrawMind allow you to import data and create your chart instantly.
  • If you want to add a detailed guide about a specific position or person, you can introduce hyperlinks in the chart.
  • If your chart is too big, you can break it into smaller parts to make it easily understandable.

Uses of a Tree Organizational Chart

This section presents the principal uses of an organizational tree chart. Let's look at them.

  • You can use it to show your management structure.
  • It helps you show other hierarchies like business ownership.
  • It can be used to plan and visualize reorganizations of the company.
  • An org chart can also work as an employee directory by carrying employee details.
  • You can use an org chart to assist your employees in understanding their roles.

Final Words

An organization tree is the visual representation of your company's internal structure. It clearly shows how your business works and how your employees work to achieve certain goals. This diagram is of multiple types, like matrix chart, hierarchical chart, flat chart, and more, as discussed above.

When it comes to making an org tree for your company, you can use free organizational tree templates to get the job done quickly. These days, dedicated tools like EdrawMind have made it super easy to make engaging organizational charts. They assist you in doing more in less time.

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EdrawMind Team
EdrawMind Team Dec 12, 24
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