Sift Org Planning lets you explore changes to your organization using an interactive org chart. Create a scenario to build a new team, reorganize reporting relationships, or plan a backfill, then review and discuss your proposed changes with others.
This article introduces the key features to help you get started.
Overview
Org Planning builds on the org chart experience you already know in Sift. Within a scenario, you can move cards and edit information to model your proposed structure.
Three building blocks help you organize your plan:
People: The individuals assigned to positions.
Positions: Roles that can be filled by a person or left open.
Organizational units: Groups such as teams or departments.
You can also include salary data to understand the financial impact of your plan. Salary is optional and must be enabled by your organization to use the budget features.
Using the side panel
The side panel gives you access to the tools and information you need while planning. Use it to:
Add positions, organizational units, and new hires.
Manage people on the Bench while you decide where to place them.
View activity and leave comments to discuss proposed changes.
Review the Summary to understand staffing and budget impacts.
View and edit details for people, positions, and organizational units.
Moving cards and using the card menu
Hover over a card to see its available actions. To move it, click and hold the appropriate drag handle, drag it to a supported location, and release.
Moving a person and moving a position have different effects:
Move a person: Move the individual into another position or onto the Bench.
Move a position: Move the role, its assigned person, and the reporting structure beneath it together.
Depending on the card type, the hover menu also lets you:
View or edit details: Select the pencil icon to open the Details panel.
Add beneath a card: Add a position or organizational unit, or move an existing item beneath the selected card.
Remove an item: Use the removal action to make changes to the scenario. Review any prompts before confirming, as the available options depend on the item you selected.
Creating positions, organizational units, and new hires
Add a position or organizational unit
Open Add in the side panel, then drag a new position or organizational unit onto the chart where you want it to appear. Complete its information in the Details panel.
Use positions to represent roles you need to fill and organizational units to group teams, departments, or other parts of your organization.
Add a new hire
Open Add in the side panel and select Add new hire. Enter the person’s details, such as their name.
New hires are placed on the Bench until you assign them to a position.
To fill a position, open its Details panel and search for a person in Position Filled By. You can also drag someone from the Bench into an open position.
Using the Bench
The Bench holds people who are not currently assigned to a position in your scenario. Use it while you work through where someone should fit in the proposed structure.
Open Bench in the side panel to search for and add people, or drag a person from the chart onto the Bench. Via the search, you can also bring people onto the bench from your live data who were not originally in the org plan.
When you’re ready to place someone, drag them into an open position or select them in the position’s Position Filled By field.
Collaborating with others
Select Share in the upper-right corner to give others access to your scenario. People you add receive a notification and can view, edit, and comment on the plan.
You can see who is actively working in the scenario, and collaborators’ changes appear in real time. Use comments to explain a proposed change or discuss a decision.
Notifications about collaborators’ changes appear in the lower-left corner. To turn these off, open settings using the gear icon on the org chart toolbar.
Reviewing your plan
Open Summary in the side panel to review the staffing impact of your scenario. If salary data is enabled and available to you, you can also review its financial impact.
Use the Summary to check your proposed changes before discussing the plan with stakeholders.
For administrators: Managing access to Org Planning
Administrators control whether Org Planning is available and who can create scenarios from the Admin Dashboard.
Turn Org Planning on or off
Go to Feature Management to find the Org Planning switch. It is on by default.
When Org Planning is enabled, administrators always have access to the planning area and can create scenarios.
Give others permission to create scenarios
Select Manage Access to grant additional people permission to create scenarios. You can select specific people or use a filter, following the same process as other permissions in Sift.
Share access to an individual scenario
People with access to a scenario can use Share within that scenario to invite others to view, edit, and comment.
A scenario can be shared with anyone, including people who don’t have permission to create scenarios. Sharing grants access to that specific scenario.
Getting help
If you have questions or need help creating a scenario, contact our Client Success team through chat or email.
For product requests or feedback, email product@justsift.com.