Comparing the Best Organizational Chart Software

Org Chart Software Definition: What are Org Chart Tools?

"Org chart" is a compound term made up of "organisation" and "diagram". This composition generally describes the graphical representation of organisational structures in companies. The visualisation is carried out using specific information containers or boxes and/or circles, symbols, connecting lines as well as text areas and images.

An org chart allows for the graphical representation of an organisation in companies: All employees can (ideally) immediately see where they and others stand within the overall structure. Managers and other colleagues can thus check the composition of each department (depending on the orientation of the org chart) in more or less detail and process these insights for various purposes.

With an org chart program, users get the chance to create and maintain corresponding organisational structures digitally. Org chart tools are either available as individual solutions or they are offered as part of larger diagram tools or HR platforms. Traditionally, org charts are painstakingly generated by hand. With a digital assistant, a lot of time and money can be saved here.

Why should companies use an org chart editor?

An org chart can be an important tool to support different company processes. At its core, of course, it is "only" a directory of employees and departments, showing where each employee has their place in an organisation and (ideally) what tasks are being performed there. The arrangement of positions illustrates hierarchical relationships to clarify who reports to whom, who is on the same level and who is responsible for a product, certain projects or other tasks.

In addition to this basic function (or arising from it), an org chart also helps to create transparency and improve cooperation within an organisation. For example, the org chart can be used when onboarding new team members to help them understand the structure of the organisation and recognise how they should fit into it. Later, they can use the org chart to find colleagues in other teams who they can then contact directly to work together more effectively on specific tasks, clarify questions, discuss ideas, and so on.

Additional typical uses for org charts include the following:

• Discussions with employees about career and development opportunities in the company.

• Demarcation of responsibilities between departments to prevent double processing or competitive thinking.

• Realignment and changes of strategies and processes in the course of change management.

• Presentation of the company to customers, partner companies, suppliers, banks and other stakeholders.

All of these are undoubtedly very important business matters. In order to create an effective org chart basis for this, it is generally no longer sufficient to quickly grab pen and paper.

The often high turnover in companies alone, the fast opportunities for advancement and last but not least constant growth, are weighty reasons for it becoming increasingly difficult to maintain an overview without a digital aid. In fact, the creation of org charts without software is now highly inefficient in most corporate contexts.

Fortunately, there are numerous tools - from lean freeware for org charts to powerful suites - that significantly mitigate these challenges for those responsible.

How does org chart creation with software work?

Each software for org charts works slightly differently. The best solutions largely automate the process of org chart creation. Users then only need to do fine-tuning. A typical process then looks like this.

1. Collecting employee data: Well-equipped org chart programs have import functions and/or interfaces to HR systems and other data-delivering software. Via these functions, users can transfer data collections - for example in the form of Excel files - into the respective system.

2. Data import for org charts: Once the data sources are established, the information needs to be transferred into the org chart software. This either happens automatically or via a manual import. Everything is now ready for the org chart creation. The desired org chart type still needs to be selected and the generation confirmed.

3. Generating and equipping the org chart: The imported data is displayed as an org chart. Users can add or delete fields as needed and equip the structure with photos, texts, different fonts, colours and more. Often, corresponding adjustments can also be applied to several containers at once.

4. Easy management and editing of the org chart: Org chart software generally allows for very uncomplicated management. For instance, employee data can often be grouped or added via drag-and-drop. New shapes can easily be dragged onto the workspace and filled in. Grouping by location, company affiliation or other attributes should be done with a few clicks.

5. Presenting and sharing the org chart: Using a presentation mode, an org chart can be displayed prominently directly via the program. Alternatively, the structure can be exported and called up or printed in other software. It is sometimes also possible to create a shareable URL or a page that can be accessed via the browser with special permissions. Also, org charts can be displayed in certain business messengers.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of org chart apps?

In principle, an org chart program allows typical work around the creation of corresponding company structures to be done very efficiently. Without such software, the generation and especially the long-term management of org charts are hardly imaginable anymore. These main advantages are accompanied by specific further benefits that are summarised below.

• Clear responsibility structure: Employees know via an org chart to whom they have to report and who they can contact when there is a problem to solve. They can get an overview of where their questions on specific topics will be answered, with whom upcoming collaborations are to be initiated, etc. This is particularly important in large organisations, where there are many departments. Someone from one area can thus get in touch with the responsible person of another department without having to search for a long time.

• Employee onboarding: New employees can get to know the people they will be working with before they have even met them. This, as well as the clear orientation in terms of responsibilities and contacts, can make it much easier for employees to connect.

• Resource planning: A well-managed org chart helps visualise the workload of individual forces. It supports the planning of personnel resources for possible additional production steps, new orders or projects, and other growth-related processes. You can quickly get an overview of who does what where and what (wo)manpower is available or needs to be added for further work. The visualisation of the structure allows for safer future planning. Those responsible can better allocate resources, determine the competencies of individual employees more quickly and compare all this with foreseeable developments.

Depending on the situation, org charts are sometimes actually a disadvantage. Here are the main difficulties that arise.

• Actual structures often remain hidden: An org chart cannot always show the actual relationships in the informal organisational structure. While an org chart is indeed a reflection of responsibilities and hierarchies, many companies do not strictly follow these. Who is really the right contact person in which context can be strongly narrowed down, but cannot be defined 100 percent accurately despite an org chart. Often, org charts are oversimplified. Important details about areas of responsibility and connections within departments are missing. The inclusion of temporary project responsibilities is also difficult. If the approach is too superficial, org charts cannot fully exploit their potential.

• Underrated maintenance effort: Org charts only work if they are up to date. An outdated org chart is almost worthless. Keeping these images up to date can still be quite laborious, even with software - especially for large organisations. Employees move departments within a short period of time, leave the company, are assigned a new role, new areas are created, etc. All these changes must be kept in mind by one or more people responsible and transferred to the org chart (the org chart software cannot do this).

How do you choose the right org chart software?

Just choosing any org chart freeware and getting started will not actually meet most corporate requirements.

Those responsible should take the time to select the best org chart software for their purposes. The more accurately the solution fits, the better an org chart can work for a company.

The following factors should be particularly considered during research.

Define goals for org chart software Before deciding on an org chart software, you should think about the respective goals with the tool. Of course, the primary intention when purchasing an app for org charts is the creation of such organisational structures.

However, those interested should think one step further and ask themselves: "What should the org chart do for my company?" There are various processes that an org chart can massively support. Similarly, the market offers softwares that are better suited for one goal or another. The following concerns are among the most common:

• Onboarding
• Company analysis
• Finding colleagues
• Resource planning
• Optimising processes and workflows
• Report support

Manual vs. automated org chart creation The workload for creating an org chart with software is still considerable. It largely depends on whether the process is manual or automated - and of course on the size of the organisation.

An automated approach is always faster - provided the data used is ideally prepared. Sometimes, however, manual creation is the better solution. This is particularly the case when an org chart has to be created to support a very business-critical matter or also with a smaller organisational structure.

In these contexts, one should not forget: The possibility of a largely automated generation is often associated with significant additional costs. Therefore, one should carefully consider whether corresponding features are needed.

Which data are to be included? Many org chart softwares only allow the inclusion of data from a single source - usually from an HR system. However, many companies find, when dealing more closely with the topic, that they need information from multiple sources to create an accurate and complete org chart.

This could involve different HR components, collaboration tools, management programmes and similar software. Those responsible should therefore find out as early as possible which data needs exist and then specifically look for a solution that can really serve them. Otherwise, they may have to buy twice or switch very quickly.

Determine access possibilities There are more ways to access an org chart software and share org charts than most people think.

Interested parties should now in particular have remote capability in mind. More and more employees are working in the home office - and they too should of course be able to access an org chart or edit it as smoothly as possible.

Here are some of the typical access options - there are indeed org chart softwares that cover all of them:

• Access on the work computer
• Downloaded remote program
• Use via the web browser
• Mobile optimised application
• Native org chart app
• Embedded in the intranet
• Via business messenger
• Via HR software

Static vs. dynamic, interactive org chart Static org charts are now clearly a thing of the past. Many of today's org chart programs offer features that allow those responsible to make corresponding company representations more vibrant and user-friendly.

Features for more dynamics and individuality should definitely be considered. They can significantly boost the effectiveness of an org chart. Not least, org charts equipped in this way tend to be used more intensively.

Consider desired or necessary customisations When purchasing a software that is used by many employees for different processes, there are inevitably aspects that a company wants to adjust to comply with their work methods.

This can range from branding to specific org chart fields to unique workflows. Once again, it is important to determine early on what is needed and to look at which solutions deliver accordingly.

Assess systems that should be integrated with the org chart software With every system that is connected with an org chart software, it can become more powerful and valuable: From the integration of HR software to the linking with collaboration tools to the inclusion in business messengers and project coordination systems, there are many options that make sense in certain contexts.

It is important to find out exactly beforehand which programs are compatible with the individual org chart softwares. One should definitely ensure that all relevant intentions for integration are enabled.

What does org chart software cost for companies?

The costs for a well-equipped org chart software depend on many factors. The prices are particularly determined by the following conditions:

• Functions
• Automation
• Number of interfaces
• Security functions
• Simplicity of configuration
• Support
• Provision: cloud or web-based, on-premise software or org chart software with open source licence

Under these conditions, org chart programs are available in a price range of about two to 200 euros per month and user.

You can indeed also use org chart freeware. However, those who want to use such freeware to create org charts should be prepared for a strong limitation in functionality. For most companies, therefore, an org chart program with a free licence is not an option.