A flat organizational structure means that an organization has few (if any) levels of management between the workforce and the highest-level managers. The absence of middle managers places more authority, such as decision-making functions, at the worker level.

What is a flat organization organizational structure?

Flat organizations have a structure with few levels of middle management between leadership and employees—or, in some cases, no middle management at all. Small organizations and startups often have flat structures because they have fewer employees and less of a need for hierarchical management.

What is flat organizational structure example?

Flat organizations are also oftentimes called or referred to as self-managed organizations (there can be some differences but for our case we will put them together). The most famous example of this comes from Valve, the gaming company responsible for classics such as Half-Life, Counter-Strike, Portal, and many others.