You shouldn’t mess with man’s best friend or how they settle things among themselves. Dogs know where their spot is on the front porch, and whose spot is whose. The king, or alpha dog of the porch, will let any other dog know when they are sleeping in their spot. There’s a pecking order, a hierarchy among the porch dwellers. If you cross the unwritten rule of where your place is on the porch, you’ll suffer the consequences.

Comedian Kevin Heart says the same thing another way, “Stay in your lane.” The fact is, we all get a little ahead of ourselves. Where am I going with this? I think it’s critical that every company have a well-defined front porch—i.e., organizational chart.

A good organizational chart lets everyone know who reports to who, and who’s in charge of what task or department. It allows a company to manage from a much higher plane, no matter its size. An organizational chart also gives each employee a path, or a position to work toward.

Sometimes smaller companies are less likely to have an org chart, and I think this is a mistake. As in a small company, everyone normally takes on multiple jobs and the org chart helps define those roles and who does them. And, as the small company grows, the org chart can identify what positions need to be filled first, and what the pecking order should be.

If your company seems out of control, or if it seems like the company is running you, instead of you running the company, put in place a well thought out organizational chart, and see if that doesn’t help. It certainly can’t hurt. At the very least you won’t get barked at while you’re sleeping.

As always…
My two cents.