Worksheet: Say in one sentence how you are organised

Many org charts record who once worked for whom. This sheet starts from how the business makes money, tests the ways it could be organised, and ends in one sentence. It builds the Competent step of the check:

The main way the business is organised (by customer, product, region or function) can be said in one sentence and matches how the business makes money.

Step 1. Where the money is made

Split	Share of gross margin	How winning differs across the split
By customer group
By product or service line
By region
By channel
e.g. By customer group	Trade 70%, retail 30%	Trade buys on service and credit; retail buys on range and price

The split where winning differs most is the first candidate for how to organise.

Step 2. Test the ways you could be organised

Way of organising	How it would look here	What it does well	What it costs	Fit, high to low
By function
By product
By customer
By region
By stage of the value chain

Step 3. Write the sentence

We are organised by ______________ because ______________.

Exception to the sentence	Deliberate?	Why it exists	Keep or fold in

If the sentence needs a second clause to explain the exceptions, the last restructure did not finish.

Done when: the leadership team can say in one sentence how the business is organised, and the sentence matches where the margin is made.

Adapted from our own org design point of view (PSP, 2012).