An organizational structure report is a document that displays or describes a company’s authorization hierarchy. The report often has use when a company needs to assess its managerial effectiveness. The organizational structure report starts with input from the board of directors or executives, a review of the organization’s operations and filling out boxes to represent positions in the organization. Different types of structures are possible in an organization, such as tall or flat. The report can be a diagram, a written assessment or both.
Owners and executives typically are responsible for creating an organizational structure report. This report usually is complete before the start of a company’s major operations, but organizations can create the report at any time. A decision is necessary to decide which report format will work best. In many cases, a chart represents organizational structure best, with descriptions or short explanations added to the diagram. Owners and executives might seek insight from operational managers when filling out the chart for certain departments.
A review of an organization is necessary when starting the organizational structure report. If there is a discovery of multiple management layers, a tall structure report is necessary. Fewer management layers and more employees in autonomous positions will result in a flat organizational structure report. The report originator will need to draw boxes to represent each position in the chart. The size and style of the boxes do not necessarily matter; there should be only one box for each position, however.
The next step in the organization structure report is to fill in the boxes with positions in the organization. At the top, the boxes will contain the board of directors, owners and executives. From there, the chart must show all managers between the upper management and employees. A few options exist for separating the divisions or departments in the organization. For example, the chart might have separate lines based on organizational divisions, products or a hybrid of these two methods.
A box is necessary in the organizational report for every position in each separate division in the chart. This must continue until all positions in the company are represented on the chart. In addition to the physical diagram of the organization, the company can place a written paragraph or other verbiage to describe the nature of the structure report. Again, the design and flow of the chart is subject to the company’s demands. Altogether, the diagram and verbiage will represent on paper all physical positions that affect the company’s operations.