Using Org Chart Themes, Layouts, and Arrangement in Visio 2010

Synopsis: In this article, we are going to learn how to improve the presentation of organization charts and how to do some changes to make them more useful, helpful, and adaptable.

Using Themes is a great way of applying effects to your organization chart without having to go through a lot of manual work. You can choose from a whole range of the readily available themes in Visio to instantly make your diagram look nice.

To use themes, in the Design tab, you will find the Themes group. Click on the drop down at the lower right corner to display all of the themes. You will get a preview of how the theme will look on your org chart when you hover your mouse on a particular theme.

Layouts

Visio has predefined layouts that we can utilize for our organization chart. You can use this alternative when you are not satisfied with what the Relayout option has come up for you. This is somewhat like realigning your organization chart semi-automatically. Take note that the alignment this option does is on a node per node basis, which means it aligns according to the superior shape that is currently selected.
There are three available layout options: Horizontal, Vertical, and Side by Side. You will find these on the Org Chart tab in the Layout group. When you click drop down on a layout, you will find a variety of alignment options. The key here is to play around with the options until you achieve the layout that you want.

An alternative for the Layout options in the Org Chart tab is the Arrange Subordinates option. You can access this particular dialog in the shortcut menu when you right click on a superior shape on your organization chart. The Arrange Subordinates dialog shows all the built in layouts on Visio 2010.

Now, Right click on a superior shape on your organization chart once again. On the same shortcut menu, there is also a Hide Subordinates option. What this will do is it will arrange the shapes in a stack with the superior shape on top. You will know the subordinates are there because you will see a deck of cards effect. This option is useful if you have a large organization chart and you only want to select and show the important parts of it. You can Show Subordinates back if you want them displayed again.

Arrangement

Let us take a look at the Arrange group in the Org Chart tab. There is a Move Left/Up and a Move Right/Down. What these options do is they change the position of the selected subordinate shape in terms of the layout for the superior shape. Supposed we have an organization chart that has three subordinates under a superior shape. If we move the middle subordinate left or up, it will change position with the subordinate to its left or above it; if we move it right or down, it will change position with the subordinate to its right or below it.

Learning how to apply themes and to adjust/arrange layouts in Visio 2010 is very essential since organization charts are something that is displayed for people to see. So it is important that we know how to improve the general appearance of a diagram not only to make it more presentable, but also to make it comprehensible.

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Simon Calder

Chris “Simon” Calder was working as a Project Manager in IT for one of Los Angeles’ most prestigious cultural institutions, LACMA.He taught himself to use Microsoft Project from a giant textbook and hated every moment of it. Online learning was in its infancy then, but he spotted an opportunity and made an online MS Project course - the rest, as they say, is history!