Example Reflection – Visualization

1. Challenge

In my company, I play a role akin to an internal management consultant, working between the CEO,  COO, Head of IT, Head of HR, and all of the business unit heads.  In 2014, the company was approaching  an organization restructure which would involve looking at some fundamental elements of organisation  design, including management span of control, and the number of organizational layers.  I had attended  a few senior leadership meetings leading up to this point and could tell there were a number of looming  problems, most notably that each senior executive had a slightly different view of the problem and of  the definition of spans and layers.  For example, many thought that an organizational “layer” was the  same as a job grade – ie. that if we had a grade structure from Grade 1 to Grade 8 to which each  employee was allocated, that we therefore had eight organizational layers. They did not understand the  distinction of reporting layers.

The company was on a path of business decline and this reorganization project was critical to ensuring,  in the short term, that the organization was at least “right sized” and cost effective before an upward  transformation could begin.  A major consulting firm had produced a report the year before with lots of  data, statistics and charts, but it was clear most executives had either not read it in detail, or did not  understand what it was saying.

2. Selection

Based on the above situation, I needed a way to rapidly visualize the problem for the senior executive  team.  Until they understood the fundamentals or organization design (spans, layers, reporting  relationships etc), we would not be able to advance the discussion on where we stood now (ie. we  would not be able to accurately define “what is”).  The easiest way to do this I felt was to show the  executive team an organization chart.  But no ordinary org chart.  If you have ever had to draw an org  chart, you will know it’s tedious and, once you get beyond, say, 50 employees, it does not even fit on a  page.  We would likely have to produce org charts for more than 30 business units, and more than 10  countries!  So, to address both the issue of drawing org charts and presenting them, I purchased some  org chart software, and a large-format printer that would allow us to print on paper that was 30” wide  and as long as was needed (it came off a roll).

The org chart software was excellent.  It allowed us to merge our HR system data in excel with the  software’s org chart builder.  Furthermore, it allowed us to clearly colour code each role based on any  criteria we chose.  The criteria we selected was firstly by job grade, and then by country.

3. Application

We started to print our first org charts – some were 20-30ft long!  We arranged a few in a workshop to  take the senior executives through, sticking the large charts to a wall for easy review.  I was nervous that  this would be overwhelming, but when the day came, the results were excellent.

As the senior executive team wondered along the lengthy org chart, they started to notice a few things.   “Wow, look how many Grade 2 VPs we have!” one said.  “And look how many of those VPs have few or  no direct reports!” another followed up.  These were typical of the observations.  It also became clear to

all present what the definition of a “layer” was, as the org chart diagrams clearly stratified employees by  reporting lines, showing the layers below the CEO.

After this we continued to roll-out more workshops and more org charts.  Over a period of two months,  we covered all business units and all countries.

Exhibit A: Example output form org chart software – shows name, job type, location and grade (the coloured circles clearly show the grades –  red/orange G1/G2, green/dark green G3/G4, and Blue/Dark Blue G5/G6

Exhibit B: Example of one of the main workshops I conducted, showing a 20ft long org chart, with executives able to see in one picture the  scope and scale of their organisation, make notes, discuss etc

4. Insights

Besides the overall number of executives and managers the current organization had, and the small  spans of control (we averaged around 1 manager for every 2.3 employees, whereas we had in mind a  leaner organization with a ratio of 1:7!), the charts also revealed a few things we had not expected.   Firstly, we noticed how many times senior roles appeared down at layers 5 and 6 (orange dots clearly  visible down in lower layers on our charts).  This implied that some people had been promoted but not  given higher responsibilities that come with the grade.  So, as a result, their grade was senior, but they  appeared five or even six layers below the CEO, doing more routine work.  Our company had a  promotion path problem!

Secondly, the charts also revealed how often reporting lines came back to our headquarters from other  countries, and not just for senior roles, but even for very junior roles.  This illustrated how the company  was imbalanced and how headquarters teams had always commanded that control came from the  centre.  Our headquarters was a very high cost country.  Work was being done here that could be done  in other countries.  It also left less-senior people in other countries unsupervised as their team lead was  in our headquarters’ country and on another time zone.  Okay for senior leadership roles, but not for  regular team roles.

Thirdly, charts revealed that, on average, we were operating on around eight layers.  From a hierarchy  point of view, this was not as bad as the perception that we had 12 or more layers before we started  this project.  In fact, external benchmarks suggested that eight layers for an organization of more than  15,000 people was not bad, and that our biggest issue was our “fat” management layers (ie. too many  managers).

Same-grade reporting (where one person reports to another person with the same grade), and our  Assistant Manager role (first promotion to manager but almost 96% had no direct reports) were other  issues identified from the visualization analysis.

Overall, the visualization and related analysis showed us that while we did have a problem of too many  managers, it also showed us we had issues with our promotion philosophy and the role of our  headquarters.

5. Approach

If I had to run this analysis again, I would expand its demonstration to lower level managers.  I think the  senior executives bought in but, as we subsequently experienced when implementing change later that  year, lower levels of management were very protective of the status quo and we had to spend time  backtracking to convince them.  It seems we also needed to illustrate to these people the problem and  how bad the current situation was.


Example Reflection – Visualization 1 . Challenge In my company , I play a role akin to an internal management consultant , working between the CEO , COO , Head of IT , Head of HR , and all of the business unit heads . In 2014 , the company was approaching an organization restructure which would involve looking at some fundamental elements of organisation design , including management span of control , and the number of organizational layers . I had attended a few senior leadership meetings leading up to this point and could tell there were a number of looming problems , most notably that each senior executive had a slightly different view of the problem and of the definition of spans and layers . For example , many thought that an organizational “ layer ” was the same as a job grade – ie . that if we had a grade structure from Grade 1 to Grade 8 to which each employee was allocated , that we therefore had eight organizational layers . They did not understand the distinction of reporting layers . The company was on a path of business decline and this reorganization project was critical to ensuring , in the short term , that the organization was at least “ right sized ” and cost effective before an upward transformation could begin . A major consulting firm had produced a report the year before with lots of data , statistics and charts , but it was clear most executives had either not read it in detail , or did not understand what it was saying . 2 . Selection Based on the above situation , I needed a way to rapidly visualize the problem for the senior executive team . Until they understood the fundamentals or organization design ( spans , layers , reporting relationships etc ) , we would not be able to advance the discussion on where we stood now ( ie . we would not be able to accurately define “ what is ” ) . The easiest way to do this I felt was to show the executive team an organization chart . But no ordinary org chart . If you have ever had to draw an org chart , you will know it ’s tedious and , once you get beyond , say , 50 employees , it does not even fit on a page . We would likely have to produce org charts for more than 30 business units , and more than 10 countries ! So , to address both the issue of drawing org charts and presenting them , I purchased some org chart software , and a large - format printer that would allow us to print on paper that was 30 ” wide and as long as was needed ( it came off a roll ) . The org chart software was excellent . It allowed us to merge our HR system data in excel with the software ’s org chart builder . Furthermore , it allowed us to clearly colour code each role based on any criteria we chose . The criteria we selected was firstly by job grade , and then by country . 3 . Application We started to print our first org charts – some were 20 - 30 ft long ! We arranged a few in a workshop to take the senior executives through , sticking the large charts to a wall for easy review . I was nervous that this would be overwhelming , but when the day came , the results were excellent . As the senior executive team wondered along the lengthy org chart , they started to notice a few things . “ Wow , look how many Grade 2 VPs we have ! ” one said . “ And look how many of those VPs have few or no direct reports ! ” another followed up . These were typical of the observations . It also became clear to all present what the definition of a “ layer ” was , as the org chart diagrams clearly stratified employees by reporting lines , showing the layers below the CEO . After this we continued to roll - out more workshops and more org charts . Over a period of two months , we covered all business units and all countries . Exhibit A : Example output form org chart software – shows name , job type , location and grade ( the coloured circles clearly show the grades – red / orange G1 / G2 , green / dark green G3 / G4 , and Blue / Dark Blue G5 / G6 Exhibit B : Example of one of the main workshops I conducted , showing a 20 ft long org chart , with executives able to see in one picture the scope and scale of their organisation , make notes , discuss etc 4 . Insights Besides the overall number of executives and managers the current organization had , and the small spans of control ( we averaged around 1 manager for every 2.3 employees , whereas we had in mind a leaner organization with a ratio of 1:7 ! ) , the charts also revealed a few things we had not expected . Firstly , we noticed how many times senior roles appeared down at layers 5 and 6 ( orange dots clearly visible down in lower layers on our charts ) . This implied that some people had been promoted but not given higher responsibilities that come with the grade . So , as a result , their grade was senior , but they appeared five or even six layers below the CEO , doing more routine work . Our company had a promotion path problem ! Secondly , the charts also revealed how often reporting lines came back to our headquarters from other countries , and not just for senior roles , but even for very junior roles . This illustrated how the company was imbalanced and how headquarters teams had always commanded that control came from the centre . Our headquarters was a very high cost country . Work was being done here that could be done in other countries . It also left less - senior people in other countries unsupervised as their team lead was in our headquarters ’ country and on another time zone . Okay for senior leadership roles , but not for regular team roles . Thirdly , charts revealed that , on average , we were operating on around eight layers . From a hierarchy point of view , this was not as bad as the perception that we had 12 or more layers before we started this project . In fact , external benchmarks suggested that eight layers for an organization of more than 15,000 people was not bad , and that our biggest issue was our “ fat ” management layers ( ie . too many managers ) . Same - grade reporting ( where one person reports to another person with the same grade ) , and our Assistant Manager role ( first promotion to manager but almost 96 % had no direct reports ) were other issues identified from the visualization analysis . Overall , the visualization and related analysis showed us that while we did have a problem of too many managers , it also showed us we had issues with our promotion philosophy and the role of our headquarters . 5 . Approach If I had to run this analysis again , I would expand its demonstration to lower level managers . I think the senior executives bought in but , as we subsequently experienced when implementing change later that year , lower levels of management were very protective of the status quo and we had to spend time backtracking to convince them . It seems we also needed to illustrate to these people the problem and how bad the current situation was .