5 Benefits of Building an Org Chart for Your Household Team
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Most of my clients roll their eyes when I suggest this for their household staff organization – their housekeepers, landscapers, house manager, etc. This is true especially if you have:
a family office
a CFO
a Chief of Staff
a Director of Residence
An Estate Manager, etc.
This one-sheet visualization of how your properties are managed – who reports to whom – is critical for any business. I look at household operations as a not-so-small business.
The benefits of developing your organizational chart are essential to having smooth operations inside your home.
Org charts do several things. Here are five important benefits:
Assess the scale of your operations. Paired with the financial aspects, this tool helps build a visual picture of operational management for everyone. This can be a simple PowerPoint presentation (I have an example you can download for free here), or you can use Post-it Notes on a mirror or a whiteboard, take a picture, and share it with your team.
Identify missing roles. The most important pinch point for your staff is when key players are missing from your household team. Sure, you’ll get the coverage you need in a pinch, but over time, someone will likely burn out trying to cover too many roles.
Define roles. This graphic will help visualize overlapping roles and responsibilities – and overlaps in staffing aren't good. That's where the rub happens – the point of conflict for staff members. You may not even know these “rubs” exist because staff typically hide conflicts. If you have a house manager or a chief of staff, they know those rubs exist.
Outline clear communication channels, including staff requests, time off requests, review requests, and proposal submittals. So if your housekeeper needs time off, they will know exactly who to go to – not the principal – for answers.
Clarify the chain of command. As a private service professional for several years, I can tell you that I never knew the chain of command – that level of confusion is extremely frustrating when you’re trying to do your job! Not to mention, a big waste of everyone’s time.
Why do this work?
It is essential if you:
Want or need to step out of the role of micromanaging.
Want to live a life not driven by your household maintenance calendar, your staffing questions, and HR duties.
Want to put someone else in charge of your household operations.
Primarily, this is peace of mind for the homeowner.
Stay as involved as you wish in your home improvement projects, design decisions, and financial management. But if you want to step out of the day-to-day operations – staff management, mechanical maintenance, inventory control, and housekeeping oversight – this is when getting organized and turning over management to someone else pays off, knowing that your needs will be met.
Remember, this blog is all about creating more functional household teams so that you can retain world-class staff and enjoy the life you’ve earned. If your staff is frustrated, unheard, unsupported, and ineffective, they’ll likely seek a more functional, sane, and sustainable role elsewhere.
