If an employee has a dotted line manager it means that, in addition to reporting to their direct manager, they also report indirectly to a secondary manager or supervisor (who may be in another team). Solid line reporting indicates that there is a direct reporting relationship between two individuals, and it means that one person has authority over another and can give out orders and instructions.Ī dotted line, on the other hand, is an informal relationship between two people or teams in an organization. This is represented on an organizational chart as a solid line connecting these two people, and it’s what we call a solid line reporting structure. In a typical organizational structure, every employee reports to a direct manager (aka their “boss”).
In this article we’ll explore whether you should consider using dotted line relationships in your organizational chart, and if so, how you can make them work for you. If you’re a manager you’ve probably experienced the struggle with managing dotted line reporting relationships within your team.īlurred lines of authority, confusion around responsibilities, miscommunication dotted line relationships in your org chart can create challenges.
