In my 2nd post on maximising data-ink, I have written about how an organisational chart can be redesigned. You can see my attempt below on how I minimised data-ink for an organisation chart:
For this post, I will be sharing on creating an org chart with an Euler diagram. You can learn more about the diagram on its Wikipedia page. Basically, I am borrowing its 'square-ish' and 'encircling' elements.
Non-filled Version:
Filled Version:
Why the design?
Although there may be some that prefer one version over another, I think that design choice is another discussion as I want to address how this org chart may be better than the traditional one.
1. Clear hierarchy. The hierarchical order of units is shown by the alignment of the boxes. It does the job of an org chart well like the traditional one whereby lines need to be traced to find out who is leading which teams or units. Anybody reporting directly to anybody is clear.
2. Colourfully marked. Borders can be added to photographs of a traditional org chart to do the same. Not only does the placement of the boxes help, but the colour-coded boxes also provide a sense of how each unit's leader is ranked. Perhaps, a red for a Director and an orange for a Manager for example. This helps to resolve any lack of clarity about who should be listening to who. Additionally, if users feel the positioning of the charts and colour does the same thing, the colour marking can be used to mark other information like job families, salary ranges, age, year of experience etc.
3. Proper grouping. Who's who in the teams becomes clear when each individual can also be placed in the boxes of the org chart. There become no doubt as to whose responsibilities certain tasks are with the help of the org chart in this format than following lines that may split in different directions in a confusing manner.
4. Visually sized. Each box can represent the sizes of each unit. This allows an obvious way to see the number and types of subordinates under each leader.
5. Replicable template. In cases which see the powers that be keen to conduct a reorganisation, the chart provides a simple format to draw. Boxes can be dragged, expanded and filled with ease. People can be put in places where they belong by shifting around on a screen (e.g. PowerPoint) or whiteboard (e.g. sticky pad or magnetic box cutouts).
Conclusion
All in all, the org chart with the Euler diagram is able to do what a normal org chart can do with extra elements added to supplement further information about the teams and staff. Nonetheless, the chart is still a diagrammatic representation of an organisation. If the reporting structure is unclear, then any illustration will not help in providing clear working relationships and allocation of tasks between departments, groups, and individuals. Therefore, the above points describe what this type of org chart can do, and not how this type of org chart can change a company.