Love using Excel for your daily tasks but struggling to turn it into the best tool for an org chart? Sure, while Excel is a powerhouse for spreadsheets and tables, designing organization charts can feel clunky—far from the seamless experience you're used to. Don't worry; In this guide, we'll show you how to create an org chart in Excel with two methods, saving you from troubles in several steps. Cut to the chase now!
Beginner's tutorial: How to make organizational chart in Excel
Microsoft Excel is a powerful spreadsheet software developed by Microsoft, widely used for organizing, analyzing, and visualizing data. Also, for special uses like organization chart creation, it offers two straightforward methods—SmartArt and Shapes—to map out your company’s hierarchy clearly and effectively. Let's explore the two methods and choose one based on their own advantages.
Method 1: How to make an organization chart in Excel via SmartArt
SmartArt is a built-in feature in Excel. It provides pre-designed templates and layouts specifically tailored for hierarchical structures, making it easy to map out roles, relationships, and workflows within an organization. Check this feature in the following part:
- STEP 1
- Open Excel &Select SmartArt Graphic Option
Go to the "Insert" tab on the Excel Menu bar and click on "SmartArt." In the pop-up box, choose the type of SmartArt Graphic option that best fits your preferences and click on it to start designing.
- STEP 2
- Edit and Customize your Org Chart
On your SmartArt chart, fill in the names and positions according to the order you want them to appear in. To add additional boxes, right-click on the current box, move the cursor to the "Add shape" button and click on the position you want the shape to be fixed, either before, after, above or below.
Once you're done filling in your chart, it is time to design your layout. On the Menu bar, there is a "Smart Design" tab used to add effects and colors to your chart. There is also a "Format" option that is used to edit the text style, color and display.
- STEP 3
- Save
Once you're done designing and formatting, click on the "Save" icon on the Quick Access Toolbar to save your chart with the name of your choice.
Method 2: How to build an org chart in Excel using Shapes
Shapes in Excel are versatile tools that allow you to manually create and customize organization charts. It lets you draw individual elements like rectangles, lines, and arrows to build your org chart from scratch. If you are a master of customization, this tool would be your first choice. Scroll down for more details:
- STEP 1
- Insert and Arrange Shapes to Build Your Org Chart
Go to the "Insert" tab on the Excel Menu bar and click on "Shapes." Select rectangles, squares or other shapes that can be used as boxes and use these shapes to form boxes on the worksheet.
- STEP 2
- Edit and Customize your Org Chart
To add text to your box, right-click on a box and click on the "Add text" button. In the "Shapes" menu, select lines or arrows and use them to connect the boxes.
- STEP 3
- Save
Once you're satisfied with your chart, save it using the "Save" icon on the Quick Access Toolbar and pick a name of your choice.
Objective stance: Why choose Excel for org charts (or not)
People choose Excel for organizational charts because it's a primary tool for their work. But is it a perfect tool for that task? To have an objective stance, here we list out the main pros and cons for you to value:
- Universal availability: Microsoft 365 is among the most popular software packages utilized for corporate documentation. This ensures that Excel is widely accessible, as most organizations have access to it. This removes the need for extra software installations and purchases. Hence, companies can create and edit org chats without spending time and money acquiring new tools.
- No learning curve: Unlike most special software that requires rigorous training for users to understand, Excel is user-friendly and does not require any sophisticated training, tutorials or workshops. There is no learning curve; hence, employees can quickly understand and use Excel to create org charts on short notice without spending additional time training.
- Basic functionality: Excel provides basic functions like shapes and tools needed for the creation of org charts. Excel's SmartArt feature even provides a wide range of built-in org chart templates and designs to choose from, making it super easy to create org charts without the need to manually draw, design and arrange shapes. With this already-made customization, the org chart creation process is seamless, and the result looks more professional.
- Data integration: Being a spreadsheet package, Excel is mainly used to store and manage employee data. This makes it easier to link data from sheets to org charts. With proper automation, it will be easier to update org charts because any update on the employee spreadsheet can easily be transferred to the chart.
- Design limitations: There are only a couple of chart templates available on SmartArt, limiting the org chart design options available to the user. Also, users have limited control over the style and arrangement of their charts. These design and customization limitations can place restrictions on the creativity of users.
- Manual maintenance: Organizations grow, expand and change. This causes the org chart to go out of date, making it incorrect. Excel requires manual updates, so anytime an employee is hired, promoted or leaves, the user has to update these changes manually. This process can be tedious, tiring and time-consuming. Due to frequent formatting, errors are bound to happen.
- Scalability issues: With smaller organizations, Excel charts work amazingly well. But as these organizations expand, it becomes harder to understand and navigate the chart. An organization with multiple departments containing various employees might find it hard to design an org chart that fully shows its organizational hierarchy.
- Time-consuming process: There is a whole lot of manual work needed to ultimately create, design and format a professional org chart in Excel, from adjustment of boxes and spacing to individual text formatting. This can be super time-consuming and highly inefficient for users with strict deadlines.
Excel can be a spectacular tool for creating basic organizational charts for small teams. It is widely available, user-friendly, cost-effective and provides the basic functionality needed to design your org chart. However, when dealing with larger organizations that require frequent updates and a bulky chart to show its complete organizational hierarchy, Excel can quickly become a problem rather than a solution. If you're looking for a better alternative that offers a more stylish design and stands as an automatic way out, we will introduce Dreamina, an AI-powered chart maker. Step closer and meet your next creative designer.
Meet Dreamina: One-click AI org chart designer
Quit back-and-forth editing in Excel and embrace automatic creation in Dreamina. As an advanced AI image generator, it streamlines org chart creation with just a click: Simply provide a text prompt, and it analyzes your input to generate a polished, professional org chart tailored to your organization’s style and structure. Whether you’re a small startup drafting your first chart or a large enterprise updating an existing one, Dreamina delivers flawless results in seconds—saving you time and effort while ensuring a perfect fit for your needs.
Steps to create stunning org charts with Dreamina
Looking to learn how to draft an org chart with ease? Visit Dreamina now, and let's get started!
- STEP 1
- Write your prompt
When you're logged into Dreamina, click on "Generate" under the "Image generator" section to enter Dreamina's org generator. Once in, you'll see an empty text box in the left panel. Click on it and start explaining your organization's nature and hierarchy. You can list the possible positions you want to include in your chart.
Here's an example of a good prompt: Design an organization chart for a hospital. "Chief Medical Officer" at the top, followed by four department heads. Each is "Cardiology", "Pediatrics", "Surgery", and "Nursing".
- STEP 2
- Generate your chart
Next, choose a model for the generation and slide the quality bar to the right side for better quality (keep it at 10 to get the best results). Choose a preferred aspect ratio that best fits your preferences, then hit the "Generate" button.
- STEP 3
- Download
Dreamina's AI will create 4 org chart designs for you to choose from. Click on the design you like the most to preview it. If you are happy with the final result, click the download icon at the top of the design to save it on your computer. Want more control over your design? Click "Edit on canvas." There, you'll be able to remove elements, add text, or even add new elements.
More powerful AI features to try
- 1
- AI inpainting
Due to employee turnover and the growth of organizations, the organizational chart can become outdated. However, there's no need to worry because, with Dreamina's "Inpaint" tool, you can fill in new and updated information without ruining the org chart. If you want to change an employee's title or add a logo idea to the chart, the "Inpaint" tool does it smoothly and efficiently.
- 2
- Text toolkit
Dreamina's "Add text" tool is an amazing feature that can be used to fill in names and positions on your org chart. With "Add Text," you can also edit the font type, style and size. If you're looking to add special effects to positions of higher hierarchy in an org chart, use Dreamina's "Add Text" tool.
- 3
- Creative expander
In many organizational meetings, having a visual representation of the organization chart is essential. With the "Expand" tool, you can enlarge the size of your chart while simultaneously retaining the quality. With Dreamina's "Expand" tool, you never have to worry about projecting a blurry chart during company presentations.
- 4
- HD upscale
Low-quality design takes away professionalism from your organization chart. However, with the "HD Upscale" tool, you can refine the quality of your chart, making it look crisp and clean. Whether you want to print or project the chart during a presentation, ensure that your org chart remains sharp with Dreamina's "HD Upscale" tool.
- 5
- Image blender
The "Blend" tool does a fantastic job of combining two images to form a perfect single result. You may want to add a background to your org chart. If that is the case, Dreamina's "Blend" tool can get the job done with ease.
Conclusion
Now, you have everything about how to make an org chart in Excel. To be fair, Excel is a great tool that works well for basic, small-scale businesses, but it might become burdensome when working for large-scale and expanding organizations. But with Dreamina, you can certainly deliver quality with ease. Unlike manual tools, Dreamina's technologically advanced system makes the creation, customization and formatting of org charts effortless and seamless. Dreamina eliminates the manual labor of organizational chart generation and provides professional results in seconds. Try Dreamina today and ease your workload!
FAQs
- 1
- How do I make an org chart in Excel and add pictures showing different departments?
Using the "SmartArt" tool, you can pick your preferred chart design and fill in all the necessary information. After editing your chart, go to the Menu bar and click on the "Smart Design" tab. In the "Layout" section, you will find a number of different chart layouts, including one that has a space for pictures. Fill in any picture of your choice and save. But, what if you can make them all in one go? That's where Dreamina's AI magic shines: simply enter the descriptions of your ideal org chart in the textbox and hit the buttons to preview the results. Make all your ideas come true in Dreamina
- 2
- How do I create an org chart in Excel from data automatically?
No, Excel cannot create an org chart automatically. However, if you are looking for an automated tool that can create an org chart automatically using data, Dreamina does it effortlessly. With some textual prompts, Dreamina can create and design a professional org chart to match your taste. Try Dreamina now and see how easy it is.
- 3
- How do you make an org chart with different titles and roles in Excel?
You can create an org chart with different titles and roles in Excel using SmartArt. After clicking on the "SmartArt Design" tab in the Menu bar, pick a template that affords you the chance to fill in names, titles and roles. Once you're done editing, save your org chart. However, if you are looking for an advanced formatting method, Dreamina is the right option for you. Dreamina's "Draw text on image ("T" button)" feature works perfectly to add text to your chart. Whether it is an employee's name, title or department, simply click the "T" button and type in your layouts in words. Check out Dreamina today and enjoy these enhanced features.