If you are looking to create an organization, Microsoft Visio is a great tool to use. Although many people use PowerPoint to create organization charts, Visio offers much more flexibility.

There are a few different ways that you can create an organization chart. You can manually create the chart using different shapes and connectors, you can use the organization chart wizard, and you can generate a chart from another data source such as an Excel spreadsheet.

To manually create an organization chart in Visio 2003:

1. From the File menu within Visio, point to New, point to Organization Chart, and click Organization Chart.
2. From Organization Chart Shapes, drag the Executive shape onto the drawing page.
3. Add a name and title to the shape by selecting the shape and typing in the name of the person in the position represented by the shape. Click anywhere outside of the shape.
4. From Organization Chart Shapes, drag a Manager shape directly onto the Executive shape to establish a reporting relationship. Add a name and title to the shape.
5. Repeat step 4 until you have added all the managers you want.
6. From Organization Chart Shapes, drag a Position shape directly onto a Manager shape to establish a reporting relationship.
7. Repeat step 6 until you have added all the necessary positions under the managers.

You should now have an organization chart created that represents your specific reporting structure. In upcoming tips, I will show you how to manipulate and change an existing organization chart.