Organizational Chart design - BLAH!

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Organizational Chart design - BLAH!

Started 2 years ago by herbsandspices / 7 posts

herbsandspices
Member
Posted 2 years ago #

Hey all,

Just recently discovered FlowingData - and I have a warm fuzzy feeling over me knowing that like-minded people have gathered and can discuss best practices (and complain about the lack thereof.. hehe).

Anyways, although I'm a graphic designer, I don't get the chance to put together that many charts, but just realized that one I do all the time is organizational charts (people on a team in a hierarchy, usually with team leader and/or client on top, and the rest trickling down below, usually in order of importance/relevance).

And I've been crazy with trying to think of a more interesting way of laying out an org chart, other than the traditional org charts that we see everywhere.

Anyone have any ideas? I was thinking about putting the "lead" person/client in the middle, but would that not make them seem/feel important when they saw the chart? (especially if it's a client of my company's, who don't really do the work, but rather a point person in my company would be the "real" lead.)

Thanks and let me know!

Best,
John
andycrellin
Member
Posted 2 years ago #

Nothing wrong with putting the client at the centre, even if they don't see that chart - it focuses attention at the right place!
hcpark
Member
Posted 2 years ago #

I did an interactive org chart using NetLogo once. It used "clusters" that was more nodal. As a bonus, you can click on someone, get more info. The bonus continued by allowing you to click and drag someone... this would "pull" the folks attached to that person. Practically speaking, some people liked it, some didn't. I think people are used to seeing a hierarchy. Still, it was useful when you wanted to separate out parts of the org (literally move them to one side).
Yard
Member
Posted 2 years ago #

Not revolutionary, but how about a pyramid design rather than a flowchart design?

It would show the leader as the "tip of the iceberg", supported by the staff beneath him/her.

It would show the bottom level as the "foundation" of the department, propping up the upper levels.

Might just be able to tickle everyone's ego...
herbsandspices
Member
Posted 1 year ago #

Hey, thanks guys! Still messing around with it, but it seems like an orgchart is an orgchart is an orgchart. Argh!
EllieK
Member
Posted 1 year ago #

Hi herbsandspices. I've designed a few IT and Data Managment division org charts, merely using Visio, which was very fun (nice change of pace from statistics at the time). Here are a few URLs to check for inspiration for innovative organization chart designs.

This one is good for ideas, and has lots of screen shots of unusual layouts. Most org chart apps make you pay or mess with "trial" downloads to even look. This site doesn't. orgchart.orgplus.com.

Also check Cogmap, the Org Chart Wiki. I've never dug very deep as there is so much. But it is a well-laid out site and might give you ideas for something totally different http://cogmap.com.

I don't know how many employees you need to include, but if it is a big company, like 5000+ people, you might want to consider the fancier data visualizations from vizhr.com. You'll find lots of screen shots and explanations.

I'd really like to see your final version, redacting names and data of course. If Nathan gave his approval, of course! I'd be curious to see if it's possible to design an innovative org chart that retains meaning.

Good luck!!!
tselalee
Member
Posted 9 months ago #

Visio is pretty good! But if your client is large say about 1000+ employees then I strongly recommend using humanconcepts
http://www.humanconcepts.com