Life in a Matrix

Clients of our matrix management training and matrix organization consulting services often ask us for case studies and company examples of matrix management or the implementation of matrix organization structures.
Much of our work with clients is confidential and covered by non-disclosure agreements so we can’t offer them as case studies, and I dislike the “case [...]

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A Sunday Times article this weekend caught my attention. According to the authors of a new book iBrain - using the internet  is changing the way the human brain works - people are becoming better at making snap decisions and filtering large amounts of information (which may be valuable in working in a complex, connected [...]

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In the last 20 years, organizations have become massively more complex. Driven by globalization and enabled by information technology they operate in multiple cultures, locations and across timezones with highly diverse sets of employees.
Organization structures have become more complex too. Matrix organizations are common with multiple reporting lines and competing priorities. Virtual working is common [...]

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Many companies introduced a matrix organizational structure in order to connect people across the tradtional vertical orgnaizational silos. The objective was to increase cooperation, communication and coordination across the business.
What many organizations have learned is that increased connectedness leads to increased complexity.
I was watching a documentary last night where some complexity theorists were commenting on the [...]

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I will be away next week working with clients so no blog updates.
Monday is Madrid and London
Tuesday Amsterdam - focusing on matrix management
Thursday cross cultural training and Friday remote and virtual teams training in Budapest.

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In our last post on matrix organizations structures, we looked at the vertical or functional matrix. In this post we will focus first on the other extreme, the strong matrix or project matrix organization structure. Then we will consider the balanced matrix form in the middle,
The strong matrix or project matrix organization structure
In the strong [...]

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In this podcast Kevan Hall discusses matrix management

What is a matrix organization?
Why do companies choose to use this organization form? and
What people management challenges does a matrix organization cause?

 

 Episode 4 - Matrix Management [12:12m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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A number of clients have been asking me recently about different forms of matrix – functional matrix, weak matrix, strong matrix, balanced matrix, solid, dotted line matrix etc… So I thought I would try to get the definitions straight.
The nearest thing to a consensus on this is provided by the Project Management Institute. The PMI, quite [...]

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I have been working with a couple of clients recently on ways to systematically decentralize decision making in order to increase the agility of their matrix organization structures.
There are many pressures in matrix management that tend to lead to an increase in central control. But if this happens it tends to make the matrix inflexible [...]

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Human resources (HR) people have some particular challenges in matrix management.
Like everyone else, they need to work within the matrix management structure - they suffer from divided loyalties, competing priorities etc.. but there are some distinct HR management challenges too.
The model of HR business partners and specialists has become very common. In this matrix management structure the specialist [...]

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