What is the matrix organization

Poor organizational design and structure results in a bewildering morass of contradictions: confusion within roles, a lack of co-ordination among functions, failure to share ideas, and slow decision-making bring managers unnecessary complexity, stress, and conflict. Often those at the top of an organization are oblivious to these problems or, worse, pass them off as or challenges to overcome or opportunities to develop.

Gil Corkindale, HBR

What is a matrix organisation?

Why are matrix organisations designed/chosen?• Distribute decision making• Force collaboration across disciplines/divisions

Your stories

Force field analysis

Good things Bad things

Pitfalls of the Matrix • People are not focused on clear customer or mission centred outcomes• Too many responsibilities, diffusion of

focus• Too much Stasis, internal stakeholder

focus• Nobody can make a decision - Fall

into consensus decision making• Too much admin/bureaucracy/

layering - Over regulation• Culture clashes• Politics• Tendency towards anarchy• Follow the leader org design

Being an effective manager is a matrix organisation• Adopt a matrix to solve a real problem

• Middle manager from different teams must collaborate on important business goals

• Co-ordination and collaboration cannot be achieved through soft approaches alone

• Keep conflict out of the system

• Make sure there are intrinsic reasons for collaboration

• Make sure goals, KPIs and rewards systems are aligned

• Keep the matrix as simple as you can.

• The less dimensions in the matrix the better

• Keep line management simple, avoid dual line reporting as much as you can

• Once you commit, commit

• Don’t use dotted lines, don’t make one line manager more important than another in the hierarchy

• Make sure that all lines are equally important, capable and represented

• Ensure shared goals, rewards etc, are clear across the whole organisation

• Keep up the messaging about shared mission and purpose

• Escalation should be the exception

• Senior managers need to delegate sufficiently

• Local decisions need to be supported

Herman Vantrappen, HBR

Agile techniques for Matrix Organisations

Reading• Problems of Matrix Organizations• Revisiting the matrix organization• Making Matrix Organizations Actually Work• Managing Effectively in a Matrix• Structured Networks: Towards the Well-Designed Matrix• Making Matrix Structures Work: Creating Clarity on Unit Roles and Res

ponsibility