Structure is very important, isn’t it? You don’t have to be Frank Owen Gehry to understand that. (I bet you thought I was going to say Frank Lloyd Wright, didn’t you? You’d think the entire world was built by Frank Lloyd Wright, the way he monopolizes history texts and coffee table books. Well, look around, my armchair architects! Not everything is long, flat, and rectangular.) Anyway, structure – yes. Incredible buildings rely on solid structure, and the same is true for incredible businesses. Just like every piece of glass, every beam of steel, every bolt and nut- your employees must understand where they fit in the grand structure of the company.
And how do you do that? With an org chart. From the moment they set foot in the rotating lobby doors, the organizational chart lets your employees know in no uncertain terms that they are small and replaceable. In architectural terms, the org chart lets them know that they aren’t $1000-a-pane energy-saving UV-resistant tinted glass, but are rather more like one of thousands of inexpensive poly-molded fiberglass-filled ceiling tiles. The kind that buckle and warp and turn brown where there’s a leak. The kind that maintenance has stacks of down in basement storage.
Plus, the org chart is an excellent – and company-approved, I might add – opportunity to flaunt your superiority over your employees. Make certain they notice how high your box is on the chart compared to theirs. Your box is slightly bigger, isn’t it? And why wouldn’t it be? After all, if you can’t let some lowly peon know that he, his boss, his boss’s boss, and the Second VP of Compliance fall under your leadership, then what’s the point of even coming to work? It’s just one small perk the company provides for your benefit.
So get out there and show your employees who’s boss. Oh wait- you don’t have to! It says so right on the chart!
