org-planning
npx machina-cli add skill anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins/org-planning --openclawOrg Planning
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.
Source
git clone https://github.com/anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins/blob/main/human-resources/skills/org-planning/SKILL.mdView on GitHub Overview
Helps you design the future state of your organization by planning headcount, reporting lines, and team design. It covers headcount needs, organizational structure, sequencing of hires, and budget trade-offs, using healthy benchmarks as a guide. Outputs include text-based org charts, costed headcount plans, and a sequenced hiring roadmap.
How This Skill Works
Analyze planning dimensions (headcount, structure, sequencing, budget), compare against healthy benchmarks, and generate practical artifacts. It flags issues like single points of failure or excessive management overhead and produces text-based org charts, cost models, and hiring roadmaps.
When to Use It
- Sizing a growing team or restructuring to determine headcount needs and the right org design.
- Deciding who to hire next and how to sequence hires for maximum impact.
- Evaluating reporting lines, span of control, and potential reorganizations (reorg).
- Managing headcount budgets and evaluating trade-offs between roles and compensation.
- Designing orgs for new products or domains to identify optimal team size and boundaries.
Quick Start
- Step 1: Define your objectives, time horizon, and constraints.
- Step 2: Input current headcount, target roles, and budget; specify limits.
- Step 3: Generate outputs (org charts, costed plan, and hiring roadmap) and review recommendations.
Best Practices
- Define objectives, time horizon, and success metrics before modeling.
- Use Planning Dimensions (Headcount, Structure, Sequencing, Budget) as your framework.
- Benchmark against Healthy Org metrics and tailor targets to your context.
- Produce both text-based org charts and costed headcount plans for multiple scenarios.
- Incorporate sensitivity analysis to test hiring timelines and churn risk.
Example Use Cases
- Create a headcount plan and org chart during a product pivot to support new capabilities.
- Develop an hiring roadmap to scale from 60 to 150 employees with phased roles.
- Reorganize to reduce span of control and flatten layers for faster decision-making.
- Budget-constrained planning balancing critical roles against cost limits.
- Design a go-to-market org around aligned product, sales, and customer success squads.
