To create and grow a small business, the most important concept to master is a well-planned and organized business structure.

Even if you start out performing every task yourself, you will need a simple structure to stay on track. It is essential to work with a system that has form and shape to ensure that each part of your business acts in sync with the others.

As your company grows, becomes segmented into departments, and you turn over responsibility to others, the structure helps facilitate management. Operations, business development, marketing, and customer relations all require open pathways for the flow of information, materials, and ideas.

As a manager, you need methods of gathering analytical data for use in decision-making, control, and monitoring.

Advantages of an Effective Organizational Business Structure

Gabriel Brown recently ran an article in The Houston Chronicle. It talks about the benefits of an efficient organizational structure.

The article lays out several reasons that show how important this type of structure is to management. It highlights things like: control over resources, ease of communication, and better employee performance.

In February of 2013, Patrick Hull, a contributing writer for Forbes, published an article titled, “Why Defining A Corporate Structure for Startups Matters.”

Mr. Hull states, “…it’s important for entrepreneurs to create a defined structure early on, even if you start as a one-man shop.” He continues by talking about documenting the roles and duties for the company and how startups should have job descriptions for positions even if they don’t yet exist.

Tools That Help Create Structure

Many companies now exist that provide a variety of tools to help small businesses come up with the right structure.

JobProgress, a company specializing in helping business contractors, has an entire software system that covers every facet of this type of business. They include contracts, field operations, business development, and all the rest. If you’re a struggling contractor, stop by their site.

One of the primary tools you can use to organize your business structure is simple, versatile, and useful. The organizational chart has been around for a long time.

Advances in computing have brought this tool to a brand new level. When using an organizational chart, you can map out everything about your business. Management can monitor, analyze, and control anything. And they can do so remotely most of the time.

Using Time Tracking Software to Structure & Manage Your Business

As the owner or manager of a business, it’s much easier to maintain company structure when utilizing a web based timesheet to its full capabilities.

How can a web-based timesheet help maintain organizational structure?

A timesheet can track projects at every level. When utilizing the right online time tracking software, business owners and managers will be able to have access to every project in development right in front of them on their computer screen.

They will be able to look at works in progress and see how much time is being dedicated to particular tasks. They’ll be able to learn about their employees and better discover their strengths and weaknesses. And management can even see who’s working in real time, who’s putting in overtime, and so much more.

As a manager, tracking employee time and productivity is one of the most important aspects of business structure. It shows you exactly where your employees are spending the most time, and in turn this shows you where you’re spending the most money on particular projects.

With this information, you will know how to bill your clients accordingly. Plus, if you are potentially undercharging your clients for certain services,whether it’s installing contemporary kitchen fixtures or printing brochures, you’ll know when it’s time to raise your prices based on the information provided by the web-based timesheet reports.

If you’re ready to take your business’s organizational structure to the next level, it’s in your best interest to begin using the best tools available to you.

In our humble opinion, no tool is better than online time tracking and management software.

Types of Organizational Structure

Although you can find a ton of information about new organizational structures with all kinds of fancy names, there are three main types.

The functional structure has each department organized according to what it does. Examples include: the sales department, accounting department, etc.

The second option is the divisional structure, most often used for large companies with a lot of distance between offices.

The third and final structure is called the matrix, and it is a hybrid of the first two.

Structure helps management do what it needs to do, and it helps everyone in the organization understand what they need to do too.

It defines the necessary tasks that move the business forward. It provides a way to identify what went wrong and a path to positive change. Management can quickly adapt to changes in the environment where it operates because the structure will highlight the changes.

Structure equals success.

Author Bio:

Pat Sava

Title: Super-Connector

Pat is a super-connector with Towering SEO and Youth Noise NJ who helps businesses find their audience online through outreach, partnerships, and networking. He frequently writes about the latest advancements in digital marketing and focuses his efforts on developing customized blogger outreach plans depending on the industry and competition.