Concepts & Terminology

1. What Is an Organisation Structure?

An organisation structure is the company blueprint for how functions, teams, positions, levels and reporting relationships are organised. It defines the structure the business needs to operate and grow; employees are then mapped into that structure.

Simple distinction

The organisation structure defines the seats and relationships. The org chart is the visual view of that approved structure.

Organisation Structure diagram showing a 9-level hierarchy (Intern to CXO) across departments, teams and sub-teams in a matrix view

2. Why a Position-based Organisation Structure

A position-based organisation structure separates the design of the company from the individuals currently working in it. The structure represents the seats the organisation needs to operate and scale; employees are mapped to those seats separately.

People-based approach	Position-based approach	Why it matters
”Ravi reports to Priya."	"Sales Executive position reports to Sales Manager position.”	A manager can change without rebuilding the hierarchy.
Role disappears when a person exits.	Position remains and becomes Vacant.	Hiring and workforce planning remain intact.
Promotion often means editing the same role.	Employee moves from one position ID to another.	History and audit trail are preserved.
Org chart shows only current employees.	Org chart can show filled and planned/vacant seats.	The chart becomes a 2-year scale plan, not only a current-state view.

An org chart of seats: Head of Operations at the top, reporting to it Ops Manager North and Ops Manager South, and below them Field Officer seats. A Quality Lead seat has a dotted functional line to the South field officers. Each seat shows who currently holds it: Priya holds Head of Operations, Ops Manager North is vacant, Arjun holds Ops Manager South as acting until 30 November, the North field officer seat has headcount two held by Meera and Ravi, and the South field officer seat is held by Meera as an additional position. Three callouts explain that leaving vacates the seat, that reporting lines never move with a person, and that approvals can skip vacant seats.

Positions are the seats in the org chart; people are whoever currently holds them.

3. Key Terms — Read Up Before Setup

Term	Meaning
Organisation Structure	The company blueprint that defines functions, teams, positions, levels and reporting relationships.
Org Chart	A visual representation of the approved organisation structure. The chart is an output of the structure, not the structure itself.
Level / Grade	A company-wide seniority and capability band (for example, L30 or L50). It helps compare organisational standing across departments and is separate from the Position Title.
Grade Name	An optional organisation-wide label attached to a level (for example, Executive or Manager). It is not required to be the same as the Position Title.
Department	A major organisational function such as Administration, R&D, Sales & Marketing or Customer Success.
Team	A stable functional unit inside a department, such as HR, Finance, Sales, Product Management or Platform Engineering.
Sub-team	A further permanent split inside a team, such as Talent Acquisition, HRBP, Inbound Sales or Plant Maintenance.
Position	A structural seat in the organisation. A position carries a level, title, reporting relationship and unique Position ID, and can exist even when vacant.
Position Name	The standard structural name of the seat. It should describe the role, not the person.
Position Title	The employee-facing or business-facing designation, such as Marketing Manager or Procurement Manager. The title does not by itself determine the level.
Position ID	A unique, stable identifier created from organisation, department, team, sub-team, grade and serial number.
Reports To	The primary manager position to which a position reports. The relationship should be position-to-position, not person-to-person.
Incumbent	The person currently mapped to a position.
Vacant Position	A valid position in the approved structure that currently has no one assigned.

How This Fits With the Rest of Administration

This page covers your organisation’s structure and terminology — Organisation, Department, Team, Sub-team, Position, and Employee — as the foundation everything else in Administration builds on. Two related areas build on top of it:

Area	Covers
Maintaining Org Units, Positions & Delegations	Ongoing, day-to-day changes to org units, positions, roles, and delegated approvals — after the initial structure is set up.
Operator Configuration & Administration	Workspace- and project-level configuration (statuses, priorities, task fields, recurring settings) — independent of org structure.

Set up your organisation structure first, then move to ongoing settings and Operator configuration as your organisation needs them.

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Glossary

1. What Is an Organisation Structure?

2. Why a Position-based Organisation Structure

3. Key Terms — Read Up Before Setup

How This Fits With the Rest of Administration

​1. What Is an Organisation Structure?

​2. Why a Position-based Organisation Structure

​3. Key Terms — Read Up Before Setup

​How This Fits With the Rest of Administration

​Related Guides

1. What Is an Organisation Structure?

2. Why a Position-based Organisation Structure

3. Key Terms — Read Up Before Setup

How This Fits With the Rest of Administration

Related Guides