Mueller - The company organizational chart

The new calendar year is off and running -- we should all have our business strategies and goals well defined, our systems and processes in place. Maybe, maybe not? I know that often I have clients who have these plans successfully working and yet they are missing a key ingredient -- a clear organizational chart.

Oftentimes, people come together in business and everyone knows what everyone is responsible for, and then we blink and the scopes of our positions and the associated knowledge the position requires has tripled. New people in the organization do not know who to seek out for certain information, and even the longtime employees yearn to really understand their place within the organization.

Just as we create our strategies and goals for success, we must regularly examine the "places" everyone holds in our businesses.

There are several ways to approach this process. Most people start at the top leadership position and put names/titles inside a box, and then draw lines going down and sideways, connecting all of the names/positions in a flow-chart style. This is a quick easy way to understand the positions within the organization. It is not, though, the only information an organizational chart should contain.

In addition to the names and positions each box represents, there are three identifiable factors for each position. The first thing is a comprehensive list of the tasks or duties that the position involves. Include anything and everything that the person holding this position will be required to do at any given time.

Next, we should identify the body of knowledge that the position holder is required to possess. This is important to identify for the behalf of others, so that they know where to direct questions, or know with whom they may need to collaborate on a specific project.

And the third factor to identify per position is the expectations of that position. It should include more than the other two lists-think of it as the desired outcome list. This is a very important factor to identify. Often employees are very good at doing tasks and busy work without accomplishing a positive and profitable outcome.

By doing this exercise, everyone in the company should understand their necessary contribution to the organization and who can be relied upon for particular knowledge and actions.

The added bonus to this type of process is that now we have most of what we need to create a performance evaluation for each position. We have essentially generated a list of duties, knowledge, and desired outcomes that should be clearly understood by each position holder. Everyone in the organization should know at any time how he or she is doing in his or her job performance. Coupled with personal and professional development goals, this is a more comprehensive approach than many organizations take the time to develop in a regular performance review.

We can copy this chart and draw colored lines, dashed lines, etc to plan everyone's desired path within the organization. One chart can be for the leadership team to work on, one can illustrate the individual's expressed desired path during their performance reviews.

I also recommend that we label each person with an "A," "B" or "C." "An "A" means they are competent on their current position; "B" means they are not competent, but have potential; "C" means we do not see potential. This is a very basic and visual way to plot growth and critical paths for the organization's employees.

Sometimes it is great to start with the customer at the top of the organizational chart and work in that direction. This exercise is a great way for customer service reps to understand the chain of command that they must follow when handling problems and challenges with customers and clients. It also instills the idea that "the customers write our paychecks!"

No matter how we do it, we need to have a "people and position" plan on paper and reviewed on a regular basis. It is through this type of careful planning and goal setting that we can truly be successful.

Sharon Mueller is president of Success Skills, a staff development and training company committed to the success of a client's enterprise through improving the performance of employees and processes within the client's organization. She can be reached at 332-0900 or smuellerk@hotmail.com.