Further design options for Visio Organisation charts

Welcome to part three of using the Visio organisation chart template.  In part two, we looked at design options, including altering the height and width, spacing, and moving shapes.   In part three, we will take a look at further design options, including working with pictures in a shape and quickly copying part of a large diagram to a new page.

Learn how to create and edit Visio organisation charts in this video backed up by the written steps below and in parts one, two, and four.

Changing shape position type

To amend a position within an organisation chart, use the Change Position Type button sits in the Shapes group, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1 - change position

Figure 2 shows the Change Position Type dialog box and the choices of new positions.  The selected shape changes style depending on the new position choice, as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 2 - changing position type

Figure 3 - changed position type

Inserting a picture or photograph

To add a picture or photograph to a shape, use the Insert button in the Picture group.

Figure 4 - Inserting a picture into a shape

Navigate to a relevant folder, double click on the graphic for the picture to be added, as shown in Figure 6.

Figure 5 - navigating to a picture location

Figure 6 - added picture

Another Picture feature option is the ability to change, delete or show/hide a picture temporarily, as shown in Figures 7 and 8.

Figure 7 - hiding a picture

Figure 8 - Hidden picture

Working with subordinates

The button above reveals or hides subordinates within a leg.  The icon in the bottom right corner of a shape, as shown in Figure 10 indicates that there are hidden subordinates.

Figure 9 - Manager and subordinates

Figure 10 - Hidden subordinates

Creating extra pages – synchronised copy

When building an organisation chart, there may be too much content to fit onto a single landscape page.   Visio can take a leg, and the subsequent, subordinates and either copy them to an existing page or create a new page containing that leg.

The first step is to click on the superior shape, e.g. a manager’s leg.  Then click on the Create Synchronised Copy button, as shown in Figure 11, in the Layout group.

Figure 11 - Synchronised copy button

Use the create synchronised copy option to copy a section to a new or existing page.

For more information on the Hide subordinates option, shown in Figure 12, see the section above on working with subordinates.

Figure 12 - Synchronised copy dialog box

In this instance, the dialog box example in Figure 12 adds an extra page named Page-2.  To rename a page double-click on the page tab and enter a new name.

Figure 13 - Extra page created

Figures 14 and 15 show the effect on each page.  Figure 14 shows the hidden subordinates on Page-1, and Figure 15 shows the copied Manager and subordinates.

Figure 14 - First page hidden subordinates

Figure 15 - Second page - manager and subordinates

This is the third installment of a series of posts on organisation chart creation in Microsoft Viso.  The other blog posts cover Building a Visio organisation chart, Design options for Org charts and Linking pages.

To learn more about Microsoft Visio, give us a call on 020 8203 1774 and find out how we can help your organisation get better results.  If you are looking for more information on Microsoft Visio try the following blog Microsoft Visio blog.

Regards

Paul