HR & RecruitingAdvanced
Org Structure Planner
Headcount planning, org design, reporting structures, and team composition analysis
#org-design#headcount#planning#team-structure
CLAUDE.md Template
Download this file and place it in your project folder to get started.
# 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.
README.md
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"