Organisational Charts Sorting out your structure…

Organise yourself! Have a quick go on this game – you need 75% minimum!game

The structure Organisational charts are used by businesses to show …. –The chain of command –Hierarchy – the different levels of authority in a business – those at the same level have equal authority –Departments and or functions (more later) –Span of control –Channels of communications

Span of Control This relates to the number of subordinates directly under a manager It is only those people who directly report to you that are in your span of control.

Chain of Command This is the structure in a company that allows instructions to be passed down from senior management to lower levels in the company. The chain of command shows who can delegate to whom.

Advantages of charts What do think are the main advantages of organisational charts? –Shows how everyone is linked –Show communication channels –Informs employees as to who is accountable to whom –See your own position in the organisation –Shows links between departments –Gives a sense of belonging

Tall and flat structures Tall structures are usually narrow and have long chains of command. People in the company tend to have a narrow span of control. Flat structures are usually wide and have shorter chains of command. There are often wide spans of control.

Advantages of short chains What do you think are the advantages of a shorter chain? –Quicker communication? –Top managers are less remote –Wider spans of control – managers have more subordinates Why is this a good thing? –It encourages more delegation –Less direct control of each worker so they feel trusted, able to make decisions and obtain more job satisfaction

Issues with flatter structures As well as advantages there are some disadvantages, what could they be? –More people in your authority can cause loss of control –Mistakes can be more common

Application Erlend was not enjoying work as a Telephone Operator at a large mobile phone company’s call centre. He worked in a team called Team A with other colleagues, Sam and Sam. They were supervised by Jessica who was under the authority of Stephanie. There were two other similar teams who had supervisors that also reported in to Stephanie. All calls are recorded and supervisors could listen in to make sure workers were polite and helpful to their customers. Operators were only allowed to perform certain tasks. Other jobs had to be referred to their supervisor or manager. Each operator had a target of answering 20 calls an hour. No wonder Erlend was bored! 1.Draw an organisation chart for the business 2.What is the span of control for the supervisors? 3.What would be the advantages and disadvantages of removing the supervisors altogether? Refer to: a)Chain of command b)Delegation c)Span of control