Organizational charts are visual representations of a company’s hierarchical structure. They illustrate the relationships between different positions and employees within an organization.
PowerPoint 2000 includes several features to help you easily create organizational charts:
Inserting an Organizational Chart
To insert an organizational chart in PowerPoint 2000:
- Click Insert > New Slide on the menu bar
- Select the Org Chart layout from the dialog box
This inserts a basic organizational chart with placeholders for positions and names.
You can now enter text by:
- Clicking inside the shapes and typing text
- Using the Text pane on the left to add bullet points that populate the corresponding shapes
Customizing the Chart
Once your basic organizational chart is set up, you can customize it to suit your needs:
Resizing and Positioning
- Click and drag the sizing handles on the edges and corners of shapes to resize them
- Click and drag shapes to reposition them
Adding and Removing Shapes
- Right-click on a shape and select Insert Shape After or Insert Shape Before to add additional positions
- Right-click on a shape and choose Delete to remove positions
Formatting Text
Select one or more shapes and use the formatting options on the menu bar like font, size, color etc.
Changing Layout
Right-click on the chart background and select Layout to choose from different layouts like horizontal, vertical, descending etc.
Adding Connectors
Click Insert > Connector to manually connect shapes with lines. Customize with line style, color and arrows.
Linking to External Data
Instead of manually entering text, you can link your organizational chart to data in Excel or another program:
- Right-click on the chart background
- Select Chart Data > Edit Data Links
- Define the location of your external data file
- Map columns in the data file to chart elements
Saving as a Template
Once your chart is complete, you can save it as a custom template for reuse:
- Click File > Save As
- Choose template (*.pot) as the file type
- Save to the PowerPoint templates folder
The organizational chart is now available to insert from the General tab any time you create a new presentation.
Tips for Better Organizational Charts
Here are some tips for creating better org charts in PowerPoint 2000:
- Keep them simple and easy to understand
- Use color coding and icons to communicate additional information
- Break down complex structures into smaller sub-charts
- Update them regularly to reflect changes in the organization
Additional Resources
- PowerPoint 2000 Help Documentation – Official Microsoft support content
- Customizing Organization Charts in PowerPoint 2000 – Tutorial from California State University Northridge
- Video: Creating Organization Charts in PowerPoint – TrainSignal tutorial on YouTube
I hope this overview gives you a good sense of how to create and customize organizational charts in PowerPoint 2000. Let me know if you have any other questions!