About organization chart wizard data

The Organization Chart Wizard in Visio can read a variety of data file formats. See below for information about required and optional data.

Readable file formats

• Tab- or comma-delimited text (.txt)

• Org Plus (.txt)

• Microsoft Office Excel (.xls, .xlsx, .xlsm, .xlsb)

• Microsoft Exchange Server

• The file format for a database created in an Open Database Connectivity (ODBC)-compliant database application

Required data

• Employee name This field can be the unique identifier field if each name is unique. The way employee names appear in this field is the way they will appear on organization chart shapes.

• Unique identifier If each name is not unique, a unique identifier, such as an employee ID number, is required for each employee.

• Who the employee reports to This field must contain each manager's unique identifier, whether that identifier is a name or an ID number. (For the employee at the top of the organization chart, leave this field blank.)

You can name these required fields whatever you want. The wizard gives you an opportunity to identify which of your field names provide the name and reports-to information.

Optional data

If your data file includes other fields, such as telephone number, department, position name, master shape, or hyperlink address, you can choose to display this data on the shape and store it with the shape.

Create a Visio organization chart

Create an organization chart automatically from employee data