Create an Organizational Chart in PowerPoint

If you’re looking to help viewers visualize the structure of your company, an organizational chart will get the job done.

Be it for a pitch deck, project proposal, or business presentation, organizational charts are extremely useful to illustrate hierarchy and clarify the relationships between different entities. This tutorial will guide you through two effective methods for creating an organizational chart in PowerPoint: using built-in templates and designing one from scratch.

Create an Organizational Chart with a Built-in Template

To simplify the process, you can utilize PowerPoint’s built-in templates. Follow these steps:

• In your PowerPoint presentation, select the slide where you want to add the organizational chart.
• Navigate to the Insert tab, then select SmartArt → Hierarchy. Here, you’ll find various templates specifically for organizational charts. Choose one that suits your needs.

• Adjust the size of your organizational chart by dragging it from any corner. You can center it on the slide by following PowerPoint’s visual guidelines.
• Click on Change Colors (found under the SmartArt Design tab) to customize the appearance. You’ll see a variety of color combinations based on your current theme. While you can select other colors, it’s best to stick to your theme’s main palette for cohesion.

• To edit the text, open the Text Pane by clicking on the chart to display its outline, then click the small arrow on its left border.
• To add or remove elements from your organizational chart, use the Text Pane. Press Enter to add a new element to the layer you are editing, and start typing.

Designing an Organizational Chart from Scratch

If you prefer a more customized approach, you can create an organizational chart from scratch. Here’s how to do it:

• First, define the structure and layers of your chart, and decide on the shapes you’ll use. A combination of simple shapes works best, such as circles and rectangles. For this example, we’ll create a chart with three layers using circles and rectangles.
• In the Home tab, go to Drawing and select Oval. Click and drag to create a circle that will represent the top layer of your organizational chart.

Pro tip: Hold down Shift while dragging to create a perfect circle.

• Style the circle using the Shape Fill and Shape Outline options. As before, maintain consistency with your theme’s color scheme. For this example, we’ll set the circle to white with a transparent border.

• Next, still in the Drawing tools, select Rectangle. Draw your first rectangle to represent the second layer of the chart.
• After positioning it, copy and paste it (Ctrl + C, Ctrl + V or Cmd + C, Cmd + V on Mac) to create additional rectangles as needed.
• Use PowerPoint’s visual guidelines to align all elements properly.

• Select both rectangles by holding down Shift and clicking on each. Style them using Shape Fill and Shape Outline, opting for an outline with No Fill for the second layer.

• For the third layer, use circles again. A quick method is to copy and paste the first circle (Ctrl + C, Ctrl + V or Cmd + C, Cmd + V on Mac).
• Resize the duplicated circle by dragging its corner dots inward while holding Shift to maintain its proportions. This will represent the first element of the third layer.
• Repeat the copying and pasting process to create three more circles for this layer, ensuring they are evenly spaced and aligned.

Related tutorial: How to Arrange and Align Objects in PowerPoint

Pro tips for duplication:

• For Windows: Select the first circle, hold down Ctrl, drag to create a copy, position it, and hit Ctrl + Y to repeat the action for even spacing.
• For MacOS: While dragging the first circle, hold down Ctrl or Cmd to create a duplicate, then use Command + Y to redo the action for consistent distances.

Connecting Elements in Your Organizational Chart

To visually establish relationships between your chart elements:

• Go to Insert, select Shapes → Line → Connector: Elbow. This will help connect different elements in your chart.
• Place your cursor over the main circle to reveal its outline with purple dots. Click on a dot to set one end of the line, then drag to the corresponding rectangle and click on its dot to complete the connection.
• Repeat this process for all elements, connecting layers as needed. You can also access the Connector: Elbow line from the quick menu on the top left corner for convenience.

• To style the lines, hold down Shift and select each line, then use Shape Outline to adjust their colors and weights for uniformity.

Adding Text to Your Elements

To label your organizational chart effectively:

• Double-click on the elements or press Enter while selected to create text boxes within them. Fill in the titles for the first and second layers. For the third layer, use letters to represent titles, as the circles may be too small for full text.

• Style your text using Font, Font Size, Font Color, and Alignment to ensure it fits well with your overall design. In this example, we’ll use a combination of Viga and DM Sans typefaces.

• To add descriptions for the third layer, insert a Text Box from the Insert tab.
• Click and drag to create a text box for each description, styling them according to your slide’s colors and fonts. Ensure they are centrally aligned with their corresponding circles.

• Duplicate the text box (Ctrl + C + Ctrl + V or Cmd + C + Cmd + V) for each element in the third layer to maintain uniformity.

Congratulations! You’ve successfully created a customized organizational chart in PowerPoint.