What is a project organogram?
An organogram is a chart of a team. Each box is a role. Lines show who reports to whom. A project organogram does this for one project: the project manager, the officers and coordinators, field staff, and the support staff who work on it part of the time.
It is a simple document, but a missing one causes real confusion.
Why does a project need one?
Projects often mix people. A finance officer reports to the finance lead but spends half the week on your project. A driver belongs to the logistics pool. A partner’s coordinator works with your field team daily. Without a chart, nobody is sure who gives instructions, who approves leave or who raises a problem.
An organogram helps in four ways:
- New staff understand the team in their first week.
- Managers see gaps and overloads.
- Donors and auditors can compare the staff plan with the budget and see who is in charge.
- Partners know whom to contact.
What should it include?
Add these items to each box and to the chart as a whole:
| Item | Why |
|---|---|
| Role title | Roles last longer than people |
| Name | Makes the chart useful day to day |
| Location | Useful for field sites and remote staff |
| Reporting line (solid) | Who manages the person |
| Secondary line (dotted) | Technical or shared reporting |
| Percentage of time on the project | Matches budgets and staff costs |
| Vacant posts | Shows gaps and recruitment needs |
| Partner roles | Clarifies shared work |
| Version date | Prevents use of old charts |
How do you draw one, step by step?
- List the project roles from your approved budget and staff plan.
- Mark each role’s line manager. Draw solid lines to them.
- Add dotted lines for technical supervision or shared roles, for example a MEAL officer who reports to the program lead but supports your project.
- Show support functions such as finance, logistics and HR as boxes beside the team, with the contact person named.
- Add partners with their coordinator and the agreed link to your project manager.
- Mark vacancies and expected start dates.
- Date the chart and store it in the project file.
Keep it to one page. If it cannot fit, split by site or component.
What mistakes should you avoid?
- Showing only job titles. Add names and locations.
- Too many dotted lines. If everyone has two managers, nobody does. Allow one solid line per person.
- Leaving out support staff. The finance officer who clears your payments is part of the real team.
- Never updating. An old chart is worse than none.
- Mixing up authority and importance. A line shows who manages a person, not who matters more.
Write the decision authority for the project, such as who approves budget moves, in your project charter, and the task-level ownership in a RACI matrix.
When should you update it?
Update the chart when staff join or leave, when roles change, when a partner joins or leaves, and when donors approve a staffing change. Keep old versions with their dates. They support audits of staff costs and decisions.
How does the organogram help with staff costs?
Donors often check that the people charged to a grant match the approved staff plan. An organogram with the percentage of time on the project makes this check easy. If a staff member is charged at 50 percent, the chart should show 50 percent, and the timesheets should agree.
Compare the chart to the budget once a quarter. Look for people charged who are not on the chart, and people on the chart who are not charged. Either one is a sign that the records have drifted.
Keep the chart consistent with job descriptions and contracts. If a role changes in a way that affects the donor budget, treat it as a change and follow your change process.
Where EMPOBase fits
EMPOBase has an Organogram in its Programs module, and Organogram settings maintain reporting relationships. When staff or reporting lines change, you can review project responsibility assignments, such as the RACI. The chart reflects what your team records; the software does not know about informal arrangements, so keep the records current. Details are on the platform page, and you can ask us for a demo.