Question 1

Does SharePoint have a built-in org chart?

Accepted Answer

SharePoint Online includes a basic People webpart and an Organization browser tied to Microsoft 365 user data. However, these built-in surfaces are limited in layout, branding, and the ability to correct stale Azure AD data. For organisations that need a polished, navigable org chart with manual override capability and consistent design, dedicated tooling is typically required. Athena adds a purpose-built Org Chart and Directory webpart that auto-populates from the same Microsoft Graph data the built-in tools use, but with three layout modes, manual overrides, and full theming.

Question 2

How does Athena's Org Chart compare to Pingboard?

Accepted Answer

Pingboard is a dedicated org chart and people directory SaaS priced per user per month (typically £5-8/user/month). It includes org charting, staff directory, manager-led data updates, and integrations with HR systems for data sync. Athena's Org Chart and Directory webpart auto-populates directly from Microsoft Graph (job title, department, manager, photo), supports three chart layouts (auto-tree, department lanes, manual drag), includes a per-field manual override system for correcting stale Azure AD data, and toggles between hierarchical chart and searchable directory grid. Athena is bundled in the £290 per month per-tenant subscription. For organisations whose Microsoft 365 user data is reasonably well-maintained, Athena typically eliminates the need for a separate org-chart subscription.

Question 3

How is Athena different from Sift or ChartHop?

Accepted Answer

Sift focuses on rich employee profiles, search, and people-discovery features. ChartHop combines org charting with HR analytics, compensation planning, and headcount forecasting. Both are per-user-priced SaaS platforms running outside the Microsoft 365 tenant boundary. Athena provides the org-charting and staff directory layer inside SharePoint with no per-user fee. For organisations whose primary need is org visualisation and people-finding, Athena covers the core. For HR analytics, compensation modelling, or strategic headcount planning, ChartHop and similar platforms have substantial additional depth.

Question 4

How do you correct stale Azure AD data in the org chart?

Accepted Answer

Athena's Org Chart includes a per-field manual override system. When Azure AD data is wrong, for example a job title that wasn't updated after a promotion, or a department field that's mislabelled, an admin can override that single field without losing the rest of the Graph-sourced data. Overridden fields are visually marked with a pink OVERRIDE badge. The 'Refresh from 365' action skips overridden fields, so corrections are preserved across automated refreshes. This is structurally different from typical SaaS org charts where overrides either replace the full record or aren't supported.

Question 5

Does the org chart update automatically?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Athena's Org Chart pulls user data from Microsoft Graph at render time, with caching for performance. When IT updates an employee record in Microsoft 365, whether a job title change, department transfer, or new photo, the change appears on the org chart on the next refresh. Per-field manual overrides are preserved across these updates.

Question 6

Can the org chart show photos?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Profile photos are pulled from Microsoft 365 user records via Microsoft Graph. Photos render at request time via a shared cache, avoiding the SharePoint property-blob limit that can cause issues on large org charts. Photo source can be set to tenant-wide or restricted to a specific Entra group.

Question 7

What layout options does Athena's Org Chart offer?

Accepted Answer

Three layout modes: auto-tree (traditional hierarchical chart auto-generated from Graph data), department lanes (horizontal lanes per department), and manual drag (admin positions individuals manually for non-standard structures). The webpart also toggles between chart view and directory view, where the same data is presented as a searchable filterable grid of staff cards.

Question 8

How much does Athena cost?

Accepted Answer

Athena Essentials is £290 per month per tenant: unlimited users, unlimited designers, unlimited SharePoint sites. The Org Chart and Directory webpart is included alongside 18 other webparts covering knowledge base, policy management, noticeboard (with internal job board and kudos functionality), events, and more. No per-user fees.

Capability	Athena Org Chart & Directory	Pingboard / Sift / ChartHop
Auto-populates from Microsoft 365	Yes: Microsoft Graph at render time	Via HR system sync (varies)
Lives inside Microsoft 365 (no separate login)	Yes: runs in SharePoint tenant	Separate platform; SSO available
Per-field manual overrides	Built in with OVERRIDE badges	Editing workflows vary by platform
Three chart layout modes	Auto-tree, department lanes, manual drag	Typically auto-tree + manual
Searchable staff directory	Chart-to-directory toggle in same webpart	Yes
HR analytics & compensation planning	Not included	ChartHop has these natively
Succession planning workflows	Not included	Available in some dedicated platforms
Pricing model	£290/mo per tenant flat: bundled with 18 other webparts	£5-8/user/month typical (Pingboard, Sift)

A Pingboard-style org chart, sourced from your Microsoft 365 data.

The Org Chart, end-to-end.

What Athena's Org Chart does.

Auto-populates from Microsoft Graph

Three layout modes

Per-field manual override system

Chart-to-directory toggle

Department and region filters

SVG chart with pan, zoom, and drag

Render-time photo cache

Tenant-wide or group-scoped photo source

How Athena compares to dedicated org-chart SaaS.

Where a dedicated org-chart platform is the better choice.

Frequently asked questions.

An org chart that doesn't cost per person.

Related reading.