In creating a presentation, one should be aware of all the tools they have at their disposal in order to maximize its effectiveness. One tool in particular that will greatly assist in this is the organizational chart. An organizational chart (org chart for short) is a valuable tool that helps display hierarchy structure within a company/organization. Additionally, org charts can assist in establishing a clear and concise visual representation of a company’s chain of command by illustrating who reports to who.
Org charts in PowerPoint should be used appropriately and when done so, they can aid in conveying a large amount of information about a specific company or organization’s inner structure. By having a visual representation of this, the amount of words per slide can be reduced as a result. This will in turn make the PowerPoint much more palatable, as word-dense slides can be difficult to take in during shorter presentations. PowerPoint org charts are also an inclusive way to draw in visual learners as many find having graphic aids helpful to quickly refer to.
With the benefits of having an org chart in your PowerPoint established, below is a step-by-step tutorial on how to embed one in your next presentation. Keep in mind, this can also be done in a Word document as well.
Selecting your org chart
- First, we will navigate to the ‘Insert’ tab on the tool bar at the top of the screen.
- Secondly, select the ‘SmartArt’ option. This will launch a pop-up where we will select the ‘Hierarchy’ tab on the left side.
- Select the first option in the newly displayed menu titles ‘Organizational Chart’.
- Hit ‘okay’ on the bottom, and your PowerPoint org chart template will now be displayed.
Below is what your org chart will look like after following the previous steps.
Now that you have your org chart displayed, it is time to fill out the chart itself with the organization/company’s information. We can do so in either 1 of 2 ways.
Text block method
The text block method is typically the easiest way to fill out your org chart in PowerPoint. All we must do is simply click the blocks marked ‘[Text]’ and enter our information.
The text block method is straight forward and the most used method of filling out a PowerPoint org chart template, however, it is important to be aware of both methods.
Pane method
In certain circumstances, when editing your org chart, it may become difficult to type directly in the text block depending on its size. In this situation, one should resort to the pane method, where you fill out the information in the pop-up pane that is launched by clicking the arrow to the left of the org chart.
Conclusion
An organizational chart in PowerPoint can be an effective tool in a presentation. If used properly, it can communicate a substantial amount of information, draw visual learners in and help in producing a more polished PowerPoint presentation.