Every growing business needs an organizational chart, even if you’re starting as a solopreneur. If you want to grow, you need to know what roles you need in your business so you can hire smart and prepare for growth.
But if you’ve never built an organizational chart before, where do you even start? I mean, your chart isn’t going to look like the one from your old corporate life!
Make sure you grab my organizational chart examples to help guide you and then follow these steps to make it your own.
1. Know who’s in your organization now.
Identify who you have working with you right now and the roles they fill. If it’s just you, you’re filling all the roles. List what those are.
2. Break down your vision.
Your vision tells you where you want your business to be 10 years from now if all works out as planned. Pull back on that and identify where your business will be in 5 years, 3 years, 1 year. Be sure to write this down.
3. Identify the roles you need.
Each step in your vision needs different roles. Think about what roles you’ll need to fill in order to reach each part of your broken-down vision. Don’t worry about who will fill those gaps; right now the focus is on roles and function only.
4. Look for gaps.
You’ll likely have gaps between the role you have now and the roles you’ll need to meet those 1-, 3-, 5- year goals. Know what role(s) you need to fill next and make that a priority for the next stage in your planning horizon.
For example:
- You may need to increase a current role’s hours in Year 1.
- In Year 2, you may want to bring on a director of operations.
- In Year 3, think about what other roles you need to carry out the work that leads to your goal.
5. Fill in your aspirational organizational chart.
Once you know your vision and what roles you need to carry that out, you can use my template to begin customizing your own organizational chart. Keep in mind that it may change as your business grows, but it gives you a place to start.
Having an organizational chart is crucial if you’re looking to grow your business. It helps you, the business owner, stay in your own lane and allows you to hire well from the beginning. If done right, you’ll have the right team at the right time and be able to retain team members to grow with you.
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