How to use the view options on your organizational chart

The data you can add to any scenario is quite rich, so visualizing the data that's valuable for your organizational strategy is important.

 

 

Contents:

1. Org chart canvas

2. Org chart properties

3. Org chart filter

4. Org chart format
5. Org chart view menu

6. Org chart left-hand menu

 

 

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1. Org chart canvas

If your scenario doesn't contain many positions then you may not need to make any changes to the layout but the more positions you have the more important it is to get the layout and presentation right, to make it easier for you, and others, to view.

 

 

In this section:

1.a. Collapse positions

1.b. Color positions

1.c. Layout

 

1.a. Collapse positions

If you would like to just show certain positions on your org chart you can collapse all above and all below.

 

Steps:

1. Hover just above or below any position
2. Click the ellipsis
3. Select "Collapse above" or "Collapse all below"

 

 

 

1.b. Color positions

Coloring a position may be communicating something to others viewing your chart or maybe it's just to make your org chart look pretty. Either way, there are different ways to color positions.

 

Color a single position:

1. Click the ellipsis on any position
2. Select "color"
3. Choose a color or change your palette

 

 

Color multiple positions:

1. Hover just above or below a position
2. Click the ellipsis that that appears
3. Select "color all below"
4. Choose your color or change your palette

 

 

1.c. Layout

The more people you add to your org chart the more information there is for you to process. For that reason, streamlining your view will make it easier for you and others to view. Using the layout option on the internode menu will allow you to change the appearance of individual branches.

 

 

Layout options:

• Wide
• Vertical stacked
• Vertical condensed

 

Wide

If you don't want the perception of too much hierarchy where there isn't one and would like to show a more flat structure then you can set more sections to a wide layout.

 

Steps:

1. Hover below any manager
2. Click the ellipsis (three dots)
3. Hover over "layout below"
4. Select "wide"

 

 

Vertical stacked

When your org chart appears too wide and you want to be able to easily see more of the full picture then switching some branches to vertical stacked will narrow the view making it easier to fit more into the picture.

 

 

Steps:

1. Hover below any manager
2. Click the ellipsis (three dots)
3. Hover over "layout below"
4. Select "vertical stacked"

 

Vertical condensed

You may have branches that are too wide when in "wide" layout but also appear to go very far down the org chart when in "vertical stacked". In which case changing the appearance of some branches to "vertical condensed" will make positions smaller as well as appear vertically.

 

 

Steps:

1. Hover below any manager
2. Click the ellipsis (three dots)
3. Hover over "layout below"
4. Select "vertical condensed"

 

 

 

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2. Org chart properties

In the properties menu, you can select a whole host of different pieces of data to make visible for each position by simply clicking the cog icon near the top left, then "properties" and toggling them "on".

 

 

Available org chart properties:

• Person photo
• Person name
• Title
• Full time equivalent (Effort)
• Vacancy status
• Accountabilities
• Roles
• Team membership
• Total compensation
• Group calculations

 

 

 

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3. Org chart filters

Selecting the filter menu presents you with different ways to collapse and uncollapse branches of your org chart in bulk so that you don't have to take these actions on a branch-by-branch basis.

 

To access your org chart filters:

1. Click the cog next to the view menu near the top left
2. Hover over "filter"

 

In this menu:

• Top item
• Show

 

Top item

When you select "top item", you'll have the option to either use the shortcuts that exist for your executive team (the top two layers) or to search for a specific person, title, or group name. This will then collapse all positions above this item, giving you a focused view of that particular branch of positions.

 

 

 

Show

You can think of the "show" as an intelligent way to collapse or uncollapse many branches at once. You have the option to show "all" layers, layers by level e.g. 1, 2, 3, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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4. Org chart format

The format menu gives you the option to set a blanket layout across your whole org which can then be altered on an individual branch by branch to form a custom view and then be saved as a template for future use.

 

To change the layout of your org chart:

1. Click the cog next to the view menu near the top left
2. Hover over "format"
3. Click "layout"
4. Choose a layout

 

 

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5. Org chart view menu

In addition to being able to select the different views of your scenario like "people & positions" or "forecast", you can now access pre-generated template views for your org chart or your own saved views using the "view"menu.

 

In this section:

5.a. Organizational chart template views

5.b. Saved views

5.c. People and positions

5.d. Functional chart

5.e. Forecast sheet

 

5.a. Organizational chart template views

Template views allow you to quickly select pre-generated views for your org chart that we have created for specific use cases. Each one includes different data and layouts that make it easier for you to use the org chart for that particular purpose.

 

To access template views:

1. Click the "view" menu
2. Click "hidden"
3. Select a template

 

Standard org chart (Default)

This layout is the default layout that appears for you or anyone whenever the org chart is opened. Anytime you make a change to your org chart, a red button will appear next to the view menu that will allow you to save the view at that moment as the default.

 

Wide org chart

Wide chart has the same data on each position as the standard org chart but it changes the layout so that all visible layers are switched to a wide layout.

 

Accountability chart

Changing to the accountability chart will keep the same layout as the standard chart but it enables the "accountabilities" property on all positions, allowing you to access the functions tab on the left-hand menu and assign them to anyone on the chart as accountability by dragging and dropping them.

 

Hiring chart

While keeping the same layout as the standard chart, the hiring chart reveals properties that relate to hiring such as vacancy status, full-time equivalent and title. 

 

 

5.b. Saved views

Anytime you save a view it will appear in the list of saved views on the view dropdown, allowing you to quickly access your org chart as you had it laid out in previously.

 

Save a view using the "save for everyone" dropdown:

1. Make the desired changes to your org chart
2. Click the dropdown next to "save for everyone"
3. Select "save a new view"
4. Input a name for your view
5. Click "save" or hit return

 

 

Save a view using the scenario "view" menu:

1. Click the view menu near the top left
2. Select "add a view" at the bottom of the menu
3. Input a name
4. Change the top item if not using the default
5. Click "save"

 

 

 

 

5.c. People and positions

"People and positions" presents everything that's in your scenario in a table view that can be grouped and ordered by the data that you have added. The org chart makes it easy to quickly show what a certain structure looks like or will look like, whereas the people and positions table provides a view of the underlying data which can provide deeper insights.

 

 

5.d. Functional chart

If you chose one of our pre-generated functional libraries for your scenario, you can see this library when you load the functional chart. In short, it is a set of activities that an organization completes to keep it running effectively.

 

 

5.e. Forecast sheet

Forecast sheet brings together multiple pieces of data such as compensation, start and end date, vacancy status, and can be viewed through multiple time dimensions to provide a picture of what your organization will look like from a headcount and operational budget perspective in the future.

 

 

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6. Org chart left-hand menu

While the left-hand menu is present on both the people & positions and org chart view it carries additional controls on the org chart.

 

 

In this section:

6.a. People
6.b. Roles
6.c. Functions

 

6.a. People

This is a list of all people that have been added to the scenario either via an import method such as CSV or integration, or by manually adding them. You can use the search field at the top to search for a person and all people who have been imported are sorted into two folders; "not in this chart" and "in this chart".

 

Not in this chart

People not in the chart have been added into the product but don't yet appear in the org structure. You can easily add them to the org structure by dragging and dropping them from the left onto the org chart or by adding a position then searching for their name on that new position.

Using the ellipsis to the right of their name you can edit the person which will allow you to update their name, email, and avatar, and you can also delete the person entirely.

 

 

 

In this chart

Hovering over any person who is "in this chart" will make their position expand slightly to highlight them on your chart but if your chart is a larger one then clicking on the person will zoom in and take you directly to their position.

If you click on the ellipsis to the right of their name you can; edit the person including their name, email, avatar, position title, delete the person, view information on their position, remove or delete the position entirely.

 

 

6.b. Roles

If a functional library has been selected when you click on the "roles" tab then a list of roles associated with that library type will appear. By clicking on any role you can view and edit its associated responsibilities, view list of people it has been assigned to and assign it to additional people.

 

 

6.c. Functions

Functions are units of work that an organization needs to complete in order to run effectively, and they can be assigned as responsibilities using roles. If you're doing in-depth strategic planning then mapping functions will give you a clearer picture of where work should be allocated to help your organization run more effectively.