I’m the first one to want to see a structure chart.

It’s a great starting point to start to understand a business and how it operates.

Many organisations provide the organisational structures and present them to help explain where everyone fits and what everyone does

But it can only be the start of the conversation about the organisation and how it works.

The fun starts when you start to understand ..

1. Which of the teams and roles are facing out to the “paying” customer?

These teams are the closest thing you have to the voice of the customer – they are at the bleeding edge and can help the organisation be tuned in to what matters from a customer perspective.

2. Which of the teams and roles that are working with key suppliers and partners in your extended operating model?

These teams and how they engage with suppliers and partners are key to ensuring the entire end to end processes come together and deliver what the customer expects through every part of the service/product offer.

3 How the roles and teams work together across the core processes to deliver the end result for the customer?

Often this aspect is grossly under explored and understood – the right hand isn’t talking to the left hand – team silos start to develop and when the point of working together happens aspects of the what people think, do and say is at odds with other parts of the business as a consequence of not being clear on how the teams should work together.

4. What challenges are being faced and what areas will see significant change in the way they work with the change agenda that the business is sponsoring?

There is significant investment and focus in most businesses on change, keeping up with the competition or looking to introduce new ways of operating.

No structure should be viewed as static – and being more mature and open on the challenges ahead and the scenarios for the function, teams and roles helps everyone think about how they need to continually adapt and change to drive the business forward.

5. What is the make up of the team, it’s go to behaviours, management styles, and the extent of well-being that the team exhibit?

This is the “softer” side of structure and teams but it’s good to be aware of the type of team you are dealing with – is it highly stressed – is it highly assertive and go getting – is it able to be inclusive and look to consider new ideas – is it full of technical subject matter experts with knowledge and experience across industries, within industry or within the company.

This helps understand how to best work with the team and what to expect from their contribution.

6. What are the functions and teams accountability for the key operational aspects of the business?

The power house conversation – who is in charge of what decisions – what expertise and knowledge is expected to be engaged in the key decisions of the business and where and who should you engage on getting things done.

8. And some might say – an area emerging in importance is where the team operate from – is it centralised in HQ, is it decentralised around the country/world, does it operate a virtual model available online from anywhere at anytime.

This is just the start of many areas that an organisational structure can prompt discussion around. The richness of the business and how it operates can be told through the lens of the organisation chart.

The key points are ..

A) how much of this are you leaving to individual interpretation,

B) how much of this are you sharing and how engaging is the way you are sharing it

C) should and do people really care about the bigger picture or are we all happier just focusing on what we have to do.

Next time you take a look at one – next time you see your role on one – maybe give some consideration to where it fits in the whole – what changes is the structure driving and how can the structures work better to get things done.