What is organizational structure? On a single piece of paper, it’s called an org chart.

Organizational structure is simply the way we define the working relationships between people with the organization. All social settings have a social structure. Parent-child, teacher-student, politician-constituent, minister-congregation, coach-player, manager-team member. The social structure helps us understand what is expected and what are the norms of behavior.

Organizational structure in a Management Accountability Hierarchy (MAH), helps us understand the working relationships between people in the company. It is important to know who has the authority to make decisions, the authority to solve problems (the way we would have them solved), but most importantly, who is accountable for output.

Managerial roles are stacked in levels of work so we can more quickly understand the context in which that role is working.

Levels of Work

• S-V – Business Unit President or SME CEO. The context is on the entire enterprise as it sits in its marketplace.
  Timespan 5-10 years.
• S-IV – Executive manager. The context is the many parallel systems that have to work together. Timespan 2-5 years.
• S-III – Manager. The context is on a single serial system, or a single critical path. Timespan 1-2 years.
• S-II – Supervisor. The context is on the work in hand in the near term. Timespan 3-12 months.
• S-I – Production. The context is on the work in hand today, tomorrow and next week. Timespan 1 day to 3 months.