We recently posted on proposal organizational chart basics, using org charts to show team evolution across project phases and using org charts to show project governance. This post explores other information suitable for showing or org charts.
About two thirds of people are visual learners. One way to tap into this preference for graphics over text is using available org chart space to reinforce key messages about your team and management structure.
Examples of org chart visuals
In addition to the ideas presented previously, consider these:
- Responsibility matrices: Show KI involvement in decisions, using a RACI chart or similar.
- Group participation: Show which KIs will participate on key decision making and advisory. groups, such as design-user, community outreach, environmental, board of directors/steering committee, etc. and why and how they will be involved.
- Contractual agreements: On a consortium-level org chart, show key agreements (design-build, services/O&M subcontracting, etc.) among team members, together with the division or assumption of risk by the relevant party/parties on the reporting lines. Consider further expanding on the agreements in a legend or table.
- Corporate resources: If your onsite team is supported by centralized resources (e.g. design, engineering, logistics, planning, cross-site lessons learned) include that central entity, including numbers of individuals in key specialties. Use dotted lines to show support for individual onsite KIs and teams.
Think outside the box
Do not feel bound to follow the typical arrangement of information (traditionally design on the left, construction at centre, services at right) if another structure allows you to tell a more powerful story and better reflects end client needs and the consortium’s internal structure. But be careful—do this only if another format makes a more compelling case; otherwise you risk forcing evaluators out of their comfort zones without providing compensating value.
Bottom line
Don’t let white space on org charts go to waste. Find ways to visualize your team’s key strengths in the very place evaluators are scoring your structure.
