The following activity will help you chart the structure of the whole organisation (in terms of resource, activity and value).
Allow 45 minutes
You are allowed to cheat: if you already have access to a pre-prepared diagram issued by your organisation, print that out or use it as a basis for this activity – but be prepared to change and amend it. Unlike many organisational charts, yours will present a richer ‘picture’ of the organisation, putting the case for each of its main sub-units and answering:
Step 1: List the main functional units of your organisation. You might want to use an existing list or structural chart, but be sure to consider whether the list is accurate and useful. For example project teams may not be listed on the chart but if they are a meaningful entity to you, list them; some departments may be large, and in terms of your interaction with department members it may be useful to split the department into sub-units for the purposes of the activity.
To complete the next part of this activity you are invited to use an interactive whiteboard tool again, see Figure 8 . The tool will save whatever you draw here on this site so you can return to it during your study. If you would rather perform this activity on a large piece of paper please do so, but keep it safe to refer to in future activities.
Click ‘View’ to access the interactive whiteboard tool. There are a number of shape tools available to choose from, as well as the ability to enter text. Once you have created an element of the map you can use the ‘Select’ option to drag and drop it, the Order ‘Up’ and ‘Down’ buttons to move it to the foreground or background, or the ‘Delete’ option to get rid of it entirely. After you have mapped the stakeholders you can save your final map here and also export a copy to print off.
Step 2: Once you’re happy with your list, arrange the units in labelled blocks to form an organisational landscape. Traditionally the arrangements of organisational charts are made on the basis of management levels: who is in charge of what and who reports to whom. That arrangement could be highly useful (particularly if you’re a director or senior manager!) but here you are urged to take a more innovative approach. Here are some ideas:
Step 3: Once you have a chart, answer the following three questions for each unit block. You may like to use different coloured text or different style text boxes so you can link your three responses to the relevant place on your organisational map.
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