The simplest things can have the most impact. Simple things, if they have value, stick. Simple is memorable.

This is one of the strengths of visual communication: You have to simplify the idea you want to convey, to fit it into a visual metaphor or a tidy diagram. You can’t equivocate with all the usual extra words. Think about all the times you have seen an iceberg used to list what’s visible and what’s not visible in a range of scenarios: culture, psychology, individual health, personal success, and on and on.

Here is one doodle (or diagram, or sketchnote) that I use often. Call it Our Office Building. It’s a three-level building to represent the most basic levels of an organization. Just six lines. Anyone can do it. It barely qualifies as “artistic” at all.

I started using Our Office Building a few years ago, to explain the roles of the different people up and down the org chart, in the work of innovation: How do the innovators on the frontline teams communicate to their bosses, and to their boss’s bosses? What does the C-suite need to know? What do the innovators on the frontlines need to know about the priorities of the C-suite? What’s the work of the middle managers in between?

Over the years, this simple diagram has been useful for many other questions of alignment, roles, and relationships. When I use it in teaching, people take it and run with it. They sketch out the three levels to answer a range of questions.

Here are some of the ways that I and others have used the Our Office Building doodle:

General roles in a learning organization: This is what is represented in the image here, though in just a single word. Add your own ideas and language. This is helpful when the question arises about a new initiative: “What does each level owe the other?”
Project roles: Apply a specific project or product to the diagram, by writing down the main responsibilities for the people at each level.
Communication flows: Write in the specific meetings and communications channels each level of the organization uses. How does the responsible team communicate with their peers? How frequently do the middle managers involved need to meet to keep the interdepartmental work flowing well? What type of support is needed from exec, and what do they need to know to provide it?
External relationships: Write in the external partners, stakeholders, and clients that each level of the organization works with. For example, “small and solo clients/customers” for the individual contributors, “larger clients; internal stakeholders/departments” for the middle manager level, and “external regulators and board” for the senior execs.
Regular processes: There are many activities of regular operations, like hiring new people, that require action from multiple levels of the organization. A “how to hire” guide could include the three-level sketch with a description of the role of each level.

The next time you wonder how to make a new project a success, or wonder how you can help people at different levels stay informed and active for some part of your work, get visual.

Pull out a piece of paper and draw Our Office Building, these six lines to give you a three-level box. Label each level (senior exec, middle managers, and individual contributors). Then start answering your questions, simply and visually.

Paint a Little Picture: A Quick Doodle to Align People Up and Down the Org Chart