Structure: It's more Than an Org. Chart

Business structure is more than just an organizational chart, it is the foundation whereupon to build every aspect of your present and future business. It is a reflection of your business model and vision which enables you to plan your future state and how to get there. Your structural design dictates how you build your teams and how to ensure you get the right people at the right time. Your structure is the framework that provides clarity and accountability for your entire organization which empowers people and gets everyone headed in the same direction. Your structure enables you to be profitable, grow revenue, and become a great company.

However, you still need an organizational chart, but not merely a diagram that no one references or utilizes. Instead, it must be a living, breathing, dynamic tool intricately constructed to elaborate on the nuance of your business, including how you do what you do and who does what, how you define and measure success, and how you plan and achieve growth. When done properly, your organizational chart will be designed based on how you ideally want to operate, strategically and day-to-day, in the long-run - not necessarily the same as how you've always done it. An adequate chart will inform a plan to transition from current to future reality, it is the guideposts on your journey to the summit.

One of the most useful benefits to come from proper configuration and congruous planning is the lucidity gained around team building. Your new ideal structure, with it’s explicitly prescribed functions and areas of responsibility, will illuminate a clear path to scale your team. Once you’ve defined where you are going and how to get there, you can determine the milestones required to grow your team - knowing when and where to put resources that will provide the greatest return. This allows you optimize profits throughout growth and maintain or improve margins when you scale. 

Perhaps the greatest value from a proper organizational structure is the ability to remove the ambiguity and complexity that prevents focus - which is needed to operationalize strategy, optimize operations, and build a sustainable business. Focus is achieved when everyone is on the same page, when people across functions are all aiming for the same target(s) and operating in concert. Clearly defining success, both individual and organizational, sanctions the empowerment required to succeed. When people understand what they are accountable for and how it fits into the big picture, they are more effective - independently and collectively. 

Bottom line, you must identify and establish the structure required to achieve your vision if you want your business to flourish. Without the organizational framework in which to operate, including delivering product promises with sustainable margins, you cannot optimize your operations for efficiency or profitability. Without clearly defining the roles that make up the structure and what each is accountable for, you can never measure progress or performance to know if everyone is focused on achieving the same vision. Without creating alignment between structure and strategy, any attempts to set and achieve goals will be ineffective. But, when you understand what your ideal structure should be, and what it takes to get there, you can concentrate energy on building a great company…knowing that the foundation is solid.