April 25, 2025
12:35 PM
Over two million businesses worldwide use Microsoft Office software in their daily operations. With a user base that large, it’s not surprising that many HR professionals use PowerPoint for their organizational charts!
PowerPoint organizational charts, or org charts, seem to be an easy option, but in reality, they create more problems than they solve. Building your org chart in PowerPoint makes it easy to share via other Microsoft programs, like Outlook and SharePoint, but how do you ensure everyone has the most updated file? These org charts look great, but when a new hire joins the company or you need to add information to the chart, they can be a hassle to update.
Thankfully, there are PowerPoint alternatives that save HR professionals time and energy. Switching to an automated org chart software can seem intimidating, but the process is easier than you may think.
Let’s explore the ins and outs of creating an org chart in PowerPoint, from its benefits and drawbacks to the smarter, more scalable solutions HR professionals should use instead.
At first glance, using PowerPoint to build organizational charts seems like the easiest, most intuitive option. Many HR professionals are already familiar with the platform, so they don’t have to deal with the learning curve that comes with new software. They can jump right into creating their org chart and laying out their company’s hierarchy slide by slide.
Plus, PowerPoint offers organizational chart templates that simplify the initial process and offer HR professionals more visual control over the chart. Though they will likely need to tweak the template to suit their organization’s needs, these tools provide HR teams with a solid starting point for building org charts in PowerPoint.
Though the initial creation process seems simple, PowerPoint organizational charts have more issues than meets the eye. Here are four of the most common roadblocks HR professionals encounter after their PowerPoint org charts are implemented.
An organizational chart’s most vital function is to show a business’s hierarchy, from the CEO or founder down to the newest entry-level employee. But companies are not static! New hires join, and seasoned employees move on to new opportunities. Junior employees get promoted, and reporting relationships shift.
HR professionals must update their org charts as soon as possible to reflect even the smallest workforce changes. In PowerPoint, this is a time-consuming hassle. Each org chart element must be individually moved, and all data must be manually updated. There’s also a risk for human error — a missed typo or incorrectly copied and pasted data can cause major issues down the line.
Scaling the PowerPoint org chart raises an additional issue. How will the chart be updated to reflect a new department or an international office? If the company undergoes a merger or acquisition, how will this be represented in a single organizational chart? Situations like these can overwhelm HR teams when they’re already spread thin as they facilitate a company transition.
Employees at every level rely on their company’s org chart for guidance during times of uncertainty. They can use the chart to get clarity on responsibilities after taking on a new role, pinpoint decision-makers when faced with a challenge, or identify the appropriate contact in another department.
A PowerPoint org chart that’s out of date or missing information won’t provide employees with the support they need. PowerPoint can’t sync with a company’s existing HR platforms, and the lack of live data creates knowledge barriers when employees access an inaccurate chart.
Often, PowerPoint org charts end up being nothing more than a visual aid. They don’t offer more valuable information, like an overview of an employee’s responsibilities, their location (for distributed teams), or their contact information. Unless HR professionals link their PowerPoint org chart to other documents with these details, the chart will only create more confusion for employees.
Building org charts in PowerPoint is a massive undertaking, and the project may be shared between multiple HR team members. Instead of reducing everyone’s workload, however, this only creates more issues.
Their company’s shared drive may not allow multiple users to work on the same document simultaneously, which seriously inhibits collaboration. If someone outside of HR accesses the org chart while it’s being worked on, they will not have the most up-to-date version of the document.
HR professionals must also ensure that only their team has editing access inside the org chart. This can be difficult on shared drives, but the alternative of exporting the PowerPoint and sharing it with the entire organization after each update is tedious.
With how often company structures change, having total control of their organizational chart is key for HR teams. But when an org chart is made in PowerPoint, this control disappears. It’s incredibly easy for a non-HR colleague to check the org chart in a shared drive and accidentally make changes, or share an edited org chart with a colleague when they have a question.
HR professionals in distributed teams may have to make updates to their org charts offline and save that document to their personal hard drive. The org chart in their company’s shared drive is instantly out of date! This can create major issues when team members all have their own versions of the org chart and are working off different information when making staffing decisions.
Having multiple versions of the same PowerPoint org chart is a recipe for disaster. It leads to inefficient HR teams, a confused workforce, and unreliable decision-making. Org charts must remain consistent regardless of who is viewing or editing them.
So, what’s the alternative? If HR teams want to uplevel their org chart management and provide comprehensive support to their colleagues, they need to switch to modern cloud-based org chart software.
Here’s a quick run-down of the key differences between the two platforms:
| Capability | PowerPoint | Org Chart Software |
| Live updates | ❌ Manual updates only | ✅ Automatically syncs with HRIS |
| Collaboration | ❌ One person at a time | ✅ Real-time collaboration |
| Scalability | ❌ Time-consuming for large orgs | ✅ Handles 10 to 10,000+ employees with ease |
| Version control | ❌ Prone to outdated files | ✅ Always up to date, centralized |
| Sharing | ❌ Static files only (email, PDF) | ✅ Share via secure links or embeds |
| Design flexibility | ✅ Custom designs possible | ✅ Drag-and-drop + visual templates |
| Setup time | ❌ Hours spent dragging boxes | ✅ Built in minutes from live data |
Org chart software eliminates PowerPoint’s most pressing drawbacks by using a cloud-based format. It’s a valuable tool that makes your organizational charts even more intuitive, helpful, and effective. While you can create an org chart in PowerPoint, you’re missing out on all the time-saving, collaboration-friendly features modern software offers.
Building an org chart in PowerPoint doesn’t just cause issues for HR teams — it has ripple effects that are felt by the entire company. Watch out for these consequences in teams working off PowerPoint org charts.
The lack of live data sync and a single, reliable org chart means HR teams are more susceptible to working with incorrect information. Without an accurate picture of their company hierarchy, they can’t strategically plan out their workforce to fill in skill gaps and eliminate redundant roles. Other departments won’t have the staffing support they need, creating efficiency issues during large-scale projects.
Plus, PowerPoint org charts only include the bare minimum workforce information. Full descriptions of each employee’s role and responsibilities are essential to solidifying decision-making authority throughout the organization. What happens when two teams collaborate and their leaders butt heads over who has delegation authority?
When manual updates are required, editing your PowerPoint org chart to reflect staffing changes can take a while. But even small delays create a snowball effect that leaves executives confused and frustrated.
Upper management and executives have a lot on their plates and often refer back to their org charts for clarity on employee departures and new hires. An out-of-date org chart won’t help them when they have questions! They may reach out to an employee for support without realizing they’ve changed teams, gotten promoted, or left the company.
PowerPoint org charts are time-consuming to create and time-consuming to navigate. Sure, they provide a map of your organization’s hierarchy, but they also make it really difficult to find specific employees.
Say you’re a copywriter at an agency and need sales numbers for an upcoming client project, but aren’t sure which team member to contact. When you open your org chart in PowerPoint, you’re faced with seemingly endless slides outlining each department’s hierarchy.
When you finally manage to find the sales department slide, you’re likely left with a list of names without their corresponding job titles or contact information. From there, your options are to look them all up in the company directory and send a mass email, ask your team members for guidance, or go cubicle to cubicle around the office to find answers…all massive time wasters!
Thankfully, there’s a much better solution available: cloud-based org chart software. Programs like OrgChart are built for dynamic teams and facilitate collaboration between colleagues and across departments. Since they use the internet and not a shared company drive, you won’t run into the version control and data consistency issues that come with PowerPoint org charts.
Modern organizational chart tools include powerful features, like:
Ready to uplevel your company’s organizational chart? Here’s how you can transition to a modern org chart software in four easy steps.
There are so many org chart tools to choose from, so start with the basics. What is your PowerPoint org chart lacking? What are your company’s must-have org chart features? Get clarity on your goals before diving into the software possibilities.
From there, research your top org chart software contenders. Confirm that your chosen software has integration capabilities with your HRIS and payroll platforms, along with any other business productivity tools your company uses. Test out your top picks by requesting a demo or trial before settling on a software.
Once you’ve committed to an org chart software, it’s time to build your company chart! The next step is to load your existing org chart into the platform.
You can do this by importing your existing org chart into the software. The best way to accomplish this is by connecting your org chart system to your existing HRIS and payroll platforms. The software will get access to your organization’s structure and start building a basic chart.
Now is the time to add all the information your workforce needs to succeed. Go beyond basic details like job title, reporting relationships, and contact information to think about how your workforce interacts with each other. What kinds of questions do they ask HR? What information will help set your team up for success when collaborating?
Consider adding employee details like:
The final step is to customize your organizational chart to suit your company’s needs. You can create additional views that visualize your org chart differently, like as a flow structure or a matrix. Or, you could color-code employee blocks to identify managerial roles or delineate between full-time and part-time employees.
Make as many modifications as you want or keep things simple with a straightforward chart. Modern org chart software’s capabilities are endless, so it’s about what your company needs, not what PowerPoint can or can’t do.
Building an org chart in PowerPoint might seem like the easiest option, but it’s a maze of hidden roadblocks and time-consuming problems.
PowerPoint org charts require manual edits, wasting valuable HR time and risking errors like misspellings and mis-typed data. The inability to sync with HRIS platforms creates major barriers to ensuring accurate data. Plus, the limitations of using a shared drive inhibit collaboration and contribute to version control issues within and outside of HR.
However, modern org chart tools solve all of those issues and more. Powerful automations create organizational charts in a matter of minutes, and HRIS and payroll integrations ensure your data is synced and accurate across every system. You can easily add all of the information your workforce needs to collaborate successfully and create shareable links that let everyone view your chart without risking accidental edits. Organizational chart software is the key to unlocking your team’s potential and helping HR professionals work smarter. Make the switch today and explore all that OrgChart has to offer. Contact us to book your company’s free demo!
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