Glossary
Org chart glossary in English, German and French
This glossary explains the words people use when they draw or read an org chart, and gives each one in English, German and French. An org chart is an Organigramm in German and an organigramme in French; a staff position is a Stabsstelle or a poste fonctionnel.
All terms with translations
Sorted alphabetically by the English term. Terms with their own page are linked; every row has its own link you can share.
34 of 34 terms
| English | German | French | Definition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Authorized signatory≈ | Prokurist(in) | Fondé(e) de pouvoir≈ | A person allowed to sign for the company. In Germany a Prokurist holds Prokura, a broad power of representation entered in the commercial register; English has no exact equivalent. |
| Chain of command | Dienstweg (Instanzenweg) | Chaîne hiérarchique | The line of authority from the top of an organization down to each employee, and the path that instructions and escalations follow. |
| Chief executive (CEO, managing director)≈ | Geschäftsführer(in) | Directeur général (DG)≈ | The top executive of a company. The German Geschäftsführer of a GmbH and the French directeur général are close equivalents, but the legal role differs by company form. |
| Department | Abteilung | Service (département) | An organizational unit that groups positions with related tasks under one head, such as sales, finance or production. |
| Direct report | Direkt unterstellte Mitarbeitende≈ | Collaborateur direct (N-1) | An employee who reports to a manager without anyone in between. Everyone further down the same branch is an indirect report. |
| Division (business unit) | Sparte (Geschäftsbereich) | Division | A largely self-contained unit organized around a product, customer group or region, often with its own sales and operations. |
| Dotted-line manager | Fachliche(r) Vorgesetzte(r) | Responsable fonctionnel | A manager who directs part of someone’s work, for example in a project or specialist area, without being their line manager. |
| Dotted-line reporting | Fachliche Führung | Lien fonctionnel | A secondary reporting relationship for day-to-day work or a specialist topic, alongside the solid line. Drawn as a dotted or dashed line. |
| Executive assistant | Assistenz der Geschäftsführung | Assistant(e) de direction | A person who supports a senior manager with scheduling, correspondence and coordination. On an org chart usually shown beside that manager. |
| Flat structure | Flache Hierarchie | Structure plate | A structure with few management levels and wide spans of control, so most people are close to the top. |
| Full-time equivalent (FTE) | Vollzeitäquivalent (VZÄ) | Équivalent temps plein (ETP) | Working time expressed as a share of a full-time position. Someone working 20 of 40 hours counts as 0.5 FTE. |
| Functional structure | Funktionale Organisation | Structure par fonctions | A structure that groups people by function, such as finance, operations and marketing, under one executive. |
| Head of department | Abteilungsleiter(in) | Chef de service (responsable de service) | The manager responsible for a whole department, usually reporting to the executive management. |
| Headcount | Mitarbeiterzahl (Kopfzahl) | Effectif | The number of people employed, regardless of how many hours each works. Ten part-time employees are a headcount of ten. |
| Hierarchy level (management layer) | Hierarchieebene (Führungsebene) | Niveau hiérarchique | One layer of positions with the same distance from the top of the organization. Fewer levels make an organization flatter. |
| Line manager | Disziplinarische(r) Vorgesetzte(r) | Supérieur hiérarchique (N+1) | The person someone formally reports to and who is responsible for their performance, development and administrative approvals. |
| Line organization (single-line system) | Einliniensystem | Structure hiérarchique (linéaire) | A structure in which every employee has exactly one manager and instructions follow a single line from top to bottom. |
| Line-and-staff organization | Stabliniensystem | Structure hiérarchico-fonctionnelle (staff and line) | A line organization with added staff positions that advise managers without authority over the line. |
| Management position≈ | Instanz | Poste d’encadrement≈ | A position with the authority to give instructions to others. German textbooks call it an Instanz; English has no single equivalent term. |
| Matrix organization | Matrixorganisation | Structure matricielle | A structure in which people report to two managers at once, usually a functional head and a product or project manager. |
| Multi-line system (functional foremanship) | Mehrliniensystem | Structure fonctionnelle (de Taylor) | A structure in which employees take instructions from several specialist managers, each for their own subject. It goes back to Frederick Taylor’s functional foremanship. |
| Org chart (organizational chart) | Organigramm | Organigramme | A diagram of who reports to whom in an organization, with each position as a box and reporting lines connecting them. It shows structure, not processes. |
| Organizational structure | Aufbauorganisation | Structure organisationnelle | The way an organization divides work into positions and units and assigns authority between them. The org chart is its usual picture. |
| Part-time | Teilzeit | Temps partiel | Working fewer hours than the full-time week set by the employer or the collective agreement. |
| Position (post) | Stelle | Poste | The smallest unit of an organizational structure: a set of tasks and responsibilities designed for one person, whether filled or vacant. |
| Project organization | Projektorganisation | Organisation par projet | A temporary structure for a project, with a project manager, workstreams and a sponsor, set up beside or inside the regular organization. |
| Skip-level manager | Vorgesetzte(r) der nächsthöheren Ebene≈ | Supérieur N+2 | Your manager’s manager. A skip-level meeting is a conversation between an employee and that person, without the manager in between. |
| Solid-line reporting (line management) | Disziplinarische Führung | Lien hiérarchique | The primary reporting relationship: the manager who hires, appraises and approves leave. Drawn as a solid line on an org chart. |
| Span of control | Leitungsspanne (Kontrollspanne) | Étendue du contrôle (ou de supervision) | The number of people who report directly to one manager. A wide span means fewer management levels; a narrow span means closer supervision. |
| Staff position | Stabsstelle | Poste fonctionnel (fonction d’état-major) | A position that advises and supports a manager with specialist knowledge but has no authority over the line organization, such as legal counsel or a quality manager. |
| Staffing plan (establishment plan) | Stellenplan | Tableau des effectifs≈ | A list of all planned positions with their grade and working time, filled or vacant. In the German public sector the Stellenplan is part of the budget. |
| Team leader | Teamleiter(in) | Chef d’équipe | The person who leads a small team day to day, usually the first management level above the employees doing the work. |
| Vacancy (open position) | Vakanz (offene Stelle) | Poste vacant (poste à pourvoir) | A planned position that is not currently filled. Org charts often show it as a box with a dashed outline or the word “open”. |
| Works council≈ | Betriebsrat | Comité social et économique (CSE)≈ | A body elected by employees to represent them towards the employer. Its rights depend on national law; on an org chart it is usually drawn without a reporting line. |
≈ closest common term; there is no exact equivalent (see the definition).
Terms that do not translate one to one
- German separates disziplinarische Führung (the line manager who decides on leave, pay and performance) from fachliche Führung (who directs the work). English usually says solid line and dotted line; French says lien hiérarchique and lien fonctionnel.
- Instanz is a German textbook term for a position with authority to give instructions. English and French simply say management position or poste d’encadrement.
- In French textbooks, structure fonctionnelle usually means Taylor’s multi-line system, not a structure grouped by function. That is why this table lists both rows separately.
- Job titles such as Geschäftsführer, managing director and directeur général describe similar jobs, but the legal role behind them depends on the company form and the country.
Terms explained in depth
- Org chartThe definition, what a chart shows and leaves out, the main types and how to draw one.Read more
- Staff positionA role that advises a manager without line authority, and where it belongs in the chart.Read more
- Span of controlHow many direct reports per manager, wide vs. narrow spans, and how to read them in a chart.Read more
- Dotted-line reportingSolid-line vs. dotted-line reporting, when a second line makes sense, and how to draw it.Read more
- Chain of commandThe line of authority from the top to every employee, and how to read it in a chart.Read more
- Direct reportWho reports to a manager directly, how that differs from indirect reports, and how to show it.Read more
- Skip-levelYour manager’s manager, what skip-level meetings are for and how to run them.Read more
Draw it instead of describing it
Every concept in this table can be shown in a chart: staff positions beside the manager, dotted-line managers, open positions and part-time FTE. Start from a template or import your staff list.