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>I'm developing web pages for a project at my company. I've been asked to
>think of ways to present organizational charts in a vertical format. How
>do I represent people at the same organizational level in a vertical format
>- without making it seem that Mr. A works under Ms. B who works under Mr.
>(even though they are all at the same managerial level under one common
>director)?
(Note: view this in fixed-spacing)
I've occasionally seen hierarchical charts formatted vertically. The secret
is in the connecting lines. Normally, the situation you describe would be
shown like this:
Big Cheese
|
|
----------------------------------
| | |
Mr. A Ms. B Mr. C
Now, if you lay it out vertically with the lines intersecting each name, you
indicate another level in the hierarchy and show that Mr. C is under Ms.B is
under Mr. A, like this:
Big Cheese
|
Mr. A
|
Ms. B
|
Mr. C
To indicate a single level of hierarchy in a vertical format, just turn the
lines in the first diagram sideways, like this:
Big Cheese
|
|--Mr. A
|
|--Ms. B
|
|--Mr. C
However, a vertical hierarchical chart will get just as wide as a horizontal
one will get long, so you may not save a whole lot of space that way.
Another poster suggested using different colors/shapes to represent various
levels in the hierarchy. I like this idea, and with logically positioned
lines, there should be little chance of misunderstanding (famous last words,
huh? ;-) )
Hope this helps!
Sue Gallagher who will be at
sgallagher -at- starbasecorp -dot- com for just one more day. I start my new
job on Monday (in San Diego, yea!), so
I'll be off list for a day or two,
but...