What Does an Org Chart Template Need?
A good org chart template captures four things: who someone is, what they do,where they sit in the organisation, and who they report to. That is it. Everything else — team colour coding, headcount numbers, salary bands — is a layer on top of this foundation.
At minimum, every row in your template should have:
- NameFull name of the person. First and last, no abbreviations.
- Title / RoleTheir official job title. Keep it consistent — "VP Sales" and "VP of Sales" are treated as different titles by most tools.
- DepartmentThe business unit or function they belong to. Used for colour-coding in most chart tools.
- Manager NameThe full name of their direct manager, exactly as it appears in the Name column. This is the column that defines hierarchy.
- Email (optional)Useful for HR systems and for tools like OrgBrief that can enrich profiles from email.
- Level (optional)C-suite, VP, Director, Manager, IC. Helps with display ordering when hierarchy is ambiguous.
The single most common mistake people make is using different names in the Manager column versus the Name column. If “Sarah Chen” appears in the Name column but someone else's Manager column says “S. Chen”, most tools will fail to connect them. OrgBrief's AI handles this automatically — but it is still best practice to keep names consistent.
Flat List vs. Hierarchical Format
There are two ways to represent an org chart in a spreadsheet. Both work with OrgBrief.
Flat List (Recommended)
Every person is a row. Hierarchy is implied by the Manager column. This is the easiest to export from HRIS systems like Workday, BambooHR, or HiBob.
Pros
- — Easy to export from any HR system
- — Works for unlimited depth
- — AI can infer missing connections
Hierarchical (Nested)
Parent and child relationships are defined by an ID/ParentID column pair. Common in database exports and LinkedIn data.
Pros
- — Explicit, unambiguous relationships
- — Handles people with same name
- — No name-matching required
For executive search, the flat list format is almost always the right choice. You are typically working from a client org chart, a LinkedIn export, or a spreadsheet the client has sent over — all of which naturally produce flat lists. The hierarchical format is more common when pulling from a structured database.
How to Format a CSV for OrgBrief Upload
OrgBrief accepts any CSV where at least a Name and a Manager column are present. The AI infers the rest. But the closer your data is to the ideal format, the faster and more accurate the result.
Ideal CSV structure
Name,Title,Department,Manager,Email James Carter,CEO,Executive,,james@company.com Sarah Chen,Chief People Officer,HR,James Carter,sarah@company.com Tom Walsh,VP Engineering,Engineering,James Carter,tom@company.com Priya Nair,Director of Talent,HR,Sarah Chen,priya@company.com Liu Wei,Head of Frontend,Engineering,Tom Walsh,liu@company.com Marcus Reed,Engineering Manager,Engineering,Tom Walsh,marcus@company.com
Notice that the CEO (James Carter) has an empty Manager field — that is correct. OrgBrief identifies the root of the hierarchy as the person with no manager. If multiple people have empty manager fields, OrgBrief will treat them all as root nodes, which is correct for matrix organisations.
Column headers are case-insensitive and can have spaces or underscores. OrgBrief maps “manager_name”, “reports to”, and “Manager” to the same field automatically.
3 Free Org Chart Template Formats
Copy these directly into Excel or Google Sheets, fill in your data, export as CSV, and upload to OrgBrief.
Startup (10–50 people)
Ideal for early-stage companies where everyone reports to the CEO or a small founding team. Departments are loose — more function labels than formal structure.
Name,Title,Department,Manager [CEO Name],CEO,Executive, [CTO Name],CTO,Technology,[CEO Name] [CMO Name],Head of Marketing,Marketing,[CEO Name] [CFO Name],Head of Finance,Finance,[CEO Name] [Dev 1],Senior Engineer,Technology,[CTO Name] [Dev 2],Engineer,Technology,[CTO Name] [Marketer 1],Marketing Manager,Marketing,[CMO Name]
Typical columns: Name, Title, Department, Manager. Email optional but useful for profile enrichment.
Large Company (100+ people)
For complex organisations with multiple reporting lines, cross-functional teams, and distinct business units. Add a Level column to ensure correct display ordering.
Name,Title,Department,Manager,Level,Location [CEO],Chief Executive Officer,Executive,,C-Suite,London [CFO],Chief Financial Officer,Finance,[CEO],C-Suite,London [CHRO],Chief People Officer,HR,[CEO],C-Suite,New York [FD],Finance Director,Finance,[CFO],VP,London [Head HR],Head of HR,HR,[CHRO],Director,New York [Analyst 1],Financial Analyst,Finance,[FD],IC,London
Add a Location column for multi-office companies. OrgBrief can colour-code by office.
Project Team / Matrix Structure
For projects where people have both a functional manager and a project manager. Use two manager columns and OrgBrief will show dotted-line relationships.
Name,Title,Function,Project,Functional Manager,Project Manager [PM],Programme Director,PMO,Alpha,[ExecSponsor], [BA 1],Business Analyst,Business Analysis,Alpha,[BA Lead],[PM] [Dev Lead],Lead Engineer,Engineering,Alpha,[CTO],[PM] [Designer],UX Designer,Design,Alpha,[Design Head],[PM] [Dev 1],Engineer,Engineering,Alpha,[Dev Lead],[PM]
OrgBrief renders functional reporting as solid lines and project reporting as dotted lines.
Skip the formatting work entirely
OrgBrief's AI reads messy CSVs, inconsistent headers, and partial data — and still produces a boardroom-quality org chart. Upload whatever you have. The machine does the cleaning.
Related guides
Best Org Chart Software for Executive Search Firms (2025)
How exec search firms choose and use org chart tools.
How to Create an Org Chart from Excel or CSV (Step-by-Step)
Avoid common CSV mistakes and use AI to handle messy data.
Executive Search Org Charts: How to Map and Present Client Hierarchies
Best practices for presenting org charts in exec search engagements.