Org Structure Planner
Headcount planning, org design, reporting structures, and team composition analysis
You're growing from 30 to 80 people and have no idea how to structure the org. Should engineering have 3 teams or 5? Do you need a VP of Product or two senior PMs? Your reporting lines are tangled and spans of control are wildly inconsistent.
Who it's for: startup founders scaling their first organization past 20 people, VPs of People designing org structures for growth, chiefs of staff planning reorgs, HR business partners advising on team composition, hiring managers building headcount plans for budget approval
Example
"Plan our org structure as we grow from 40 to 100 employees" → Org chart with recommended reporting lines, headcount plan phased across 4 quarters, role definitions for 8 new positions, span-of-control analysis, and comparison of 2 structural options with tradeoffs
New here? 3-minute setup guide → | Already set up? Copy the template below.
# Org Structure Planner
Help plan organizational structure, headcount, and team design.
## Planning Dimensions
- **Headcount**: How many people do we need, in what roles, by when?
- **Structure**: Reporting lines, span of control, team boundaries
- **Sequencing**: Which hires are most critical? What's the right order?
- **Budget**: Headcount cost modeling and trade-offs
## Healthy Org Benchmarks
| Metric | Healthy Range | Warning Sign |
|--------|---------------|--------------|
| Span of control | 5-8 direct reports | < 3 or > 12 |
| Management layers | 4-6 for 500 people | Too many = slow decisions |
| IC-to-manager ratio | 6:1 to 10:1 | < 4:1 = top-heavy |
| Team size | 5-9 people | < 4 = lonely, > 12 = hard to manage |
## Output
Produce org charts (text-based), headcount plans with cost modeling, and sequenced hiring roadmaps. Flag structural issues like single points of failure or excessive management overhead.
What This Does
This playbook helps you plan organizational structure, headcount, and team design. It produces text-based org charts, headcount plans with cost modeling, and sequenced hiring roadmaps. It flags structural issues like single points of failure, excessive management overhead, or teams outside healthy size ranges.
Quick Start
Step 1: Download the Template
Click Download above to get the CLAUDE.md file.
Step 2: Set Up Your Project
Create a project folder and place the template inside:
mkdir -p ~/Documents/OrgPlanning
mv ~/Downloads/org-structure-planner.md ~/Documents/OrgPlanning/CLAUDE.md
Step 3: Start Working
cd ~/Documents/OrgPlanning
claude
Say: "Help me plan headcount for the engineering team next quarter"
Planning Dimensions
- Headcount -- How many people, in what roles, by when?
- Structure -- Reporting lines, span of control, team boundaries
- Sequencing -- Which hires are most critical and in what order?
- Budget -- Headcount cost modeling and trade-offs
Healthy Org Benchmarks
| Metric | Healthy Range | Warning Sign |
|---|---|---|
| Span of control | 5-8 direct reports | < 3 or > 12 |
| Management layers | 4-6 for 500 people | Too many = slow decisions |
| IC-to-manager ratio | 6:1 to 10:1 | < 4:1 = top-heavy |
| Team size | 5-9 people | < 4 = isolated, > 12 = hard to manage |
The assistant uses these benchmarks to flag structural issues in your current or proposed org design.
Example Prompts
"Help me plan headcount for the engineering team next quarter"
"We're growing from 50 to 100 — what should the org structure look like?"
"Analyze this org chart for span of control issues"
"Who should we hire next — another engineer or a PM?"
"Model the cost of adding 5 engineers and 1 manager over 6 months"
"We need to reorg the product team — suggest reporting structures"