Line, staff, lateral and functional relationships

The term line relationship refers to the direct authority that one person in an organization has over another. For example, in your school the principal has direct authority over the vice-principal, who in turn has direct authority over the departmental heads, who then supervise the teachers in their departments.

A staff relationship exists between an administrative assistant in one department and the manager and personnel in other departments. The administrative assistant may be able to communicate instructions from their manager to the head of another department. They may even offer advice to other workers. However, the administrative assistant does not have a line relationship with (or direct authority over) these persons.

A lateral relationship exists among persons who are at the same level of authority within an organization. For example, in your school a lateral relationship exists among the departmental heads. A functional relationship exists between specialist positions and other areas. Some examples of functional relationships in businesses include those between: the accountant and cashiers the occupational health and safety officer and all employees the human resource department and all other departments.