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How to Make an Organizational Chart in Google Docs (2024)

Written by: Tobi Ojenike


Mar 26, 2024

how to make an organizational chart google docs (2024)

If you work in HR, organizational charts are a lifesaver when you want to give an overview of company structure and reporting relationships.

Someone new join the company? Give them an org chart. Company starting a new project that requires teams that don’t know each other to work together? Give both teams an org chart!

One of the best ways to make org charts is Google Docs. Even non-designers can use it and the end product is easy to share.

In this blog, I’ll teach you how to make organizational charts in Google Docs and then reveal a better method using Venngage’s Organizational Chart Maker and organizational diagram templates.

 

Click to jump ahead:

To create an organizational chart in Google Docs, follow these steps:

  • Open a “Blank Document
  • Select the “Insert” menu and “Drawing” option
  • Inside the “Drawing” tool, draw your org chart shapes
  • Connect your org chart shapes using “Lines” or “Arrows
  • Add text to your org chart shapes
  • Customize the appearance of your org chart
  • Save and share your org chart

Got all that? If you want a detailed walk-through (with visual examples), keep reading!

A step-by-step guide on creating org charts in Google Docs

There are two ways to create organizational charts in Google Docs.

The first method require you to draw an org chart manually and the second is to actually use Google Sheets and import an org chart into Docs. 

Which method should you use? The answer depends on your needs and skills.

Org charts in Google Docs are pretty easy to create when there’s only a few levels of hierarchy, but imagine having to draw 10+ levels!

Google Sheets is probably the better option for bigger, more complicated org charts with multiple hierarchies and nodes.

Step 1: Open a blank document 

When you open Google Docs, select the “Blank Document” option on the welcome screen.

blank presentation google docs

This should open a fresh document where our org chart will come to life.

blank document google docs

Step 2: Click the “Insert” menu and select “Drawing”

On the the menu bar of Google Docs, click on “Insert” and browse down to the “Drawing” option.

click insert google docs
select drawing google docs

Make sure to click on “New“. This will load a blank drawing board where you can manually draw your organizational chart. 

Step 3: Build your organizational chart 

I’ll start by creating the foundations of my org chart using rectangles, although you can also use squares, triangle, rectangle and/or circle.

google drawing tool

To draw a shape, click and hold your cursor. I drew a simple org chart to represent five people and three levels of hierarchy.

connect shapes using lines org chart

By the way, don’t forget to connect the different nodes or shapes together using the “Line” option to add lines and/or arrows to your organizational chart.

Phew! That’s already quite a bit of work. But let’s keep chugging along.

Now that we have the basic structure ready, it’s time to add text so that we can learn the name of people, their position, and reporting relationships.

To add text, click on “Text” box.

org charts with lines connected

My org chart now shows a general manager at the top, followed by three managers who report to him/her, and a procurement assistant who reports to the procurement manager.

Though I didn’t add names of people, it’s always a good idea to do so.

Step 4: Customize your organizational chart

If you’ve come this far, give yourself a pat on the back! You’ve created a functional org chart in Google Docs.

Before saving it, let’s customize it a bit. This is an important step if you want to make org charts more visually appealing with color schemes or fonts that align with your branding.

You’ll also need to know how to customize org charts whenever there’s new hires, promotions, or people quitting.  

To changes font style, simple select a text and then choose your preferred font from the dropdown menu, like this.

editing font style google docs org chart

In my example, I changed the font to Times New Roman.

editing font style google docs org chart

I also changed the color scheme in the chart by clicking on a shape and selecting a color. 

changing color scheme google docs org chart
changing color scheme google docs org chart

Notice how I use different colors for each level of the chart? This makes it much easier to tell apart the hierarchies visually than if the same color scheme is used throughout the org chart.

Step 5: Save and share your chart

Once you’re satisfied with your org chart, go ahead and save it.

Though Google Docs autosaves, make sure you click the “Save and Close” button in your Google Drawing so that it gets inserted into the document.

If you close Google Docs before doing this, you’ll lose your org chart!

How to use Google Sheets to create org charts in Google Docs

Now that we’ve seen one way of making org charts in Google Docs, let’s look at a more sneaky way.

I’m going to show you a hack where you can create org charts faster in Google Sheets which you just then import back into Docs.  

Step 1: Open a blank spreadsheet

Open a “Blank Spreadsheet” from Sheets’ welcome screen.

blank spreadsheet google sheets

A blank spreadsheet should appear similar to this.

blank spreadsheet google sheets

Step 2: Add “Employee Name” in column A

In column A, I’m going to add the names of all employees that’ll feature on my org chart.

adding data column a google sheets org chart

Step 3: Add “Manager Name” in column B

Once you have the employee names down in column A, now it’s time to add the names of the people they report to in the second column.

adding data column b google sheets org chart

Step 4: Select and highlight both columns

Now I’m sure you’re wondering how is entering data like this going to help me create an org chart, but bear with me.

Select both columns of data in Sheets to define the range we want Sheets to use to create an org chart.

selecting data google sheets org chart

Step 5: Select “Insert” > “Chart”

After selecting your data, click on “Insert” and then scroll down to “Chart.”

insert chart google sheets org chart

After you click “Chart“, Sheets will create a chart for you based on your data and side-panel should load like this.

insert chart google sheets org chart

Step 6: Select chart type

There’s no visual yet but that’s because the default chart type in Sheets is column chart which we don’t want.

To insert an org chart, click on the “Chart Type” option on the side-panel.

This should open up a new window where you can choose from several chart types, including organizational charts.

selecting chart type org chart google sheets

Step 7: Select organizational chart

Select the org chart option and Sheets will create the entire org chart structure for you based on the data.

selecting chart type org chart google sheets

Step 8: Import the chart into Google Docs

Ready to bring your org chart into Google Docs? Here’s what you need to do:

  1. Open Google Docs and select where you want to add your chart.
  2. Click on “Insert” and then navigate to “Chart” and choose “From Sheets.”
  3. This will open a window displaying Google Sheets. Select the org chart you just created.
  4. Click “Import” to finalize, and voila! Your org chart is now in Google Docs.
import google sheets org chart into google docs

How to create an organizational chart in Venngage

With Google Docs, the best you can hope for is simple organizational charts without fun and engaging icons and graphics.

If you want to add some life and color to your org charts, I recommend giving Venngage a try instead.

Our org chart templates are built by professional-designers which means you don’t have to waste time or energy trying to create them from scratch.

You also don’t need to be a designer to edit our templates. If you can use Google Docs to create org charts, you’ll be able to use our intuitive editor tool as well.

Here’s an example of an org chart template you can edit and make your own in Venngage in minutes.

company team structure organizational chary
 

NoteSome of our organizational chart templates are free to use, while some require a small monthly fee. Sign-up is free, as well as access to Venngage’s online drag-and-drop editor.

Step 1: Sign up for a Venngage account (it’s free!)

Sign up for a Venngage account with your Gmail or Facebook account. It’s free!

venngage sign up

Step 2: Browse to our templates library and select “Diagrams”

On our templates page, find the “Diagram” category page where you’ll find our collection of many types of diagram templates  

diagram templates venngage

To filter for org charts, select the Organizational subcategory

Venngage has many types of organizational chart templates, such as hierarchical structure, divisional structure, team structure, etc.

org charts template page venngage

Step 3: Customize your organizational chart

Venngage has tens of thousands of professionally designed templates that you can customize to suit your style and differentiate your company from others.

Let’s say you saw this template and wanted to edit it.

company management organizational chart
 

Just hit “Create” and the template will load in our editor where you can apply changes. Our drag and drop editor makes it possible to make changes in just a few clicks.

venngage editor window

For example, if I want to swap the images to reflect people in my organization, it only takes a few clicks.

I just need to click on the picture, hit “Replace” and a side panel will load where I can browse our in-built library for icons/graphics or upload a photo.

venngage editor icon library

And when you insert it, the image automatically resizes and slots into the same place as the original. There’s no need to figure out dimensions or alignment.

icon replaced in venngage editor

As you can see, Venngage allows even people without a design bone in their body to create colorful and engaging org charts.

What if I wanted to change the template font to something more fancy? Well, that’s easy too!

Click on a piece of text and just browse for the font you want.

font change in venngage editor
font changed in venngage editor

Our editor tool also has an accessibility checker built tool that lets you test if your org chart designs meet accessibility standards. 

To test a design, click on “File” select “Accessibility” then click on “Check Accessibility”. 

Let’s look at some more org chart templates that you can make your own with Venngage.

Here’s a hospital organizational chart that shows the line of reporting. It features relevant illustrations such as patients and an ambulance to enhance its effectiveness.

hospital organizational chart
 

This organizational chart shows the executive officers of a company at a glance. Notice how the org chart uses Netflix brand colors of black and red for maximum impact.

netflix culture organizational flow chart
 

This marketing organizational chart shows the company’s hierarchy in a simple way. The use of color coding helps to differentiate between levels of hierarchy, with the president in green, VPs in blue, managers in red, and the shift supervisor in purple.

simple corporate organizational chart
 

This non-profit organizational chart shows the positions and people who occupy them at an NGO. The chart includes dashed lines connecting the Directors to their team members, indicating reporting relationships.

nonprofit organizational chart
 

Step 4: Save and share your organizational chart

Once you’re happy with your organizational chart, you can share it with your team via a link (available to all users).

But if you want to download your org chart to include in a document or presentation, you’ll need to be on the Business plan.

venngage download page

Conclusion: Create fun and engaging org charts your company will appreciate with Venngage

Organizational charts are not only an educational tool but an indirect way to communicate company culture.

Do you really want to appear to be a company stuck in the 1990s creating black and white org charts or one that’s in 2024 with the ability to create colorful, engaging, and diverse org charts?

Check out our org chart templates and create one that you’re proud to share.

 
About Tobi Ojenike

Tobi is a content writer at Venngage whose articles cover a range of topics, including infographics, how-tos, strategic planning and social media marketing. Her writing helps marketers understand and use tools and platforms that convert numbers to sales in real time.