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Understand org groups and the org chart

Understand org groups and the org chart

Organizational charts (org charts) are a crucial tool for visualizing the structure and hierarchy of an organization. In ChangePlan, org charts play a vital role in linking teams, groups, and individuals to change initiatives, enabling efficient management and planning. This guide explains how ChangePlan accommodates org charts, how to navigate them, and how they integrate into your change management workflow.

Who this is for: All users
Your org chart is the hierarchy of teams in your organisation. In ChangePlan each team is an org group. You link org groups to initiatives so impacts and activities reach the right people.

How org groups are structured

Org groups are arranged from the top down: the highest level at the top, with each level beneath it more specific.
notion image
  • ChangePlan supports up to 11 org levels. We recommend 5 to 6 levels to keep things simple.
  • Org groups show as a table with rows you can expand and collapse.
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Term
Meaning
Parent group
A top-level division or department
Child group
A more specific team nested under a parent group
notion image

Browse your org groups

  1. Go to Audiences in the left menu and open the Org groups tab.
  1. Click the arrow next to a parent group to show its child groups. Click it again to collapse them and focus on the top level.
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  1. Level 1 groups are your top-level divisions.
      2. notion image
  1. Click the arrow next to a Level 1 group to show its Level 2 groups.
      2. notion image
  1. Keep expanding rows to drill down to Level 3 and below.
      2. notion image

How selecting org groups works

When you pick org groups, for example when adding audiences to an initiative or targeting an activity:
What you do or see
What it means
Select a parent group
All its child groups are included
A dash [-] on a parent group
Some, but not all, of its child groups are selected
Individual rows under a parent group
People linked directly to the parent group show as their own rows. You can select them without selecting the parent or child groups
Select all child groups
The individuals linked to the parent group are not added automatically
Ticks and dashes show what is selected. One click selects or clears a group or person.

Example: plan by location

  1. Make sure your org groups have a location (the Location column in the org chart template).
  1. In an initiative, target activities at specific groups, for example a presentation for one team in one state.
  1. Go to Reports in the left menu, open the Activity Burden Heatmap and filter by location. Hover over a cell for details.

Export your org chart

On the Org groups tab, use Export to download your org chart. Each row is one path through the org chart, with one column per level:
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Finance
Accounting
Acc Payable
Finance
Accounting
Acc Receivables
Finance
Accounting
Compliance
Finance
Treasury
Marketing
Advertising
Billboards
Marketing
Advertising
Online
Marketing
P.R.
Social Media
The same groups can be written as paths, for example:
  • Finance › Accounting › Acc Payable
  • Marketing › Advertising › Online
  • Marketing › P.R. › Social Media

Tips

  • Keep to 5 or 6 levels so the org chart stays easy to navigate.
  • Check partial selections and individual rows before you save, so you target the right people.
  • Use the export for reporting or documentation.

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Still stuck?

Email support@changeplan.co with a screenshot of what you see, and we'll help.
Last updated: 21 October 2026
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