Life in a Matrix

Matrix management presentation - key people management issues

Kevan Hall — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 11:48:35 +0000

At Global Integration we have just completed a flash movie introduction to what we think are the main issues in matrix management - managing people in large, complex, virtual and matrixed organizations.

You can either

Press the play button underneath the image below - this will play the show within this blog page
Or for a bigger full screen version with better resolution of the images click this link and then click on the play button at the bottom of the page that displays

The presentation will talk you through the 5 panels of the image above and tell you a little about what we see as the key matrix management challenges and what we do about them.

If you enjoyed the presentation you can find out more about our approach to the 4Cs (cooperation, communication, control and community) in our book Speed Lead - faster, simpler ways to manage people projects and teams in complex companies.

For more audio on cooperation why not check out our first podcast “Too much cooperation going on?” - don’t forget to subscribe (click the orange square RSS logo at the top right of the page) if you would like to receive future editions - which will include more on the 4Cs

To view the presentation full screen click here and click the play button on the page it displays

We would love to hear any comments or suggestions for improvement

Matrix cartoon #5 - Too much information sharing

Kevan Hall — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 18:19:44 +0000

Regular readers will know that we think there is too much cooperation going on - and this is the subject of the first episode of our new free podcast series

A subset of this is the seemingly overwhelming urge to share information.

How often on our conference calls do we experience a moment like the one in the cartoon above. People telling us about their activity, sharing project updates and status reports.

In most cases these topics are of little interest to the participants and such information is shared out of an unthinking attachment to teamwork and team meetings - we have to fill the agenda somehow!

As a test, make a grid with meeting or conference call topics down one side and the names of participants along the top. At your next call simply put a tick in the box anytime anyone contributes during a topic.

At the end of the meeting you will have a graphical record of actual contributions. Discuss what it means with the meeting leader and other participants.

Ask participants (individually afterwards so they will not just be polite) for each session how relevant each topic was to them personally and whether they needed to know the information that was shared.

If you are a real spaghetti team they you will need to know what the others are doing in order to do your job.If you are in a star group (and most people are) then sharing this information is a waste of time.

Do a review now on the information you share in your meetings and conference calls - this can save you a lot of time and improve satisfaction with meetings enormously.

Let us know how it goes

Matrix Leadership - tips for the top

Kevan Hall — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:10:12 +0000

Right at the very top of organizations the matrix structure may have relatively little impact – after all everyone still works for you! This can lead to senior mangers underestimating the degree of difficulty their colleagues face in matrix management and in making the matrix organization structure work in practice.

The role of senior matrix leaders is, however, critical. They need to sponsor the matrix structure, remove barreirs and at the same time make sure we only implement the structure in areas where it adds value.

Demystifying the matrix and communicating why it exists are critical
They need to remove political and legacy cultural barriers to the success of the matrix structure (including senior managers who cannot adapt to the new style of matrix management)
They need to manage escalation to ensure capability is built at the right level in the matrix.
They need to decide where to build the new matrixed networks and communities that make the matrix structure work
And above all they need to provide clarity on direction – not the day to day detail but the direction that allows competing priorities further down the matrix organization to be resolved in the interest of the organization as a whole.

Deeper into the leadership of the organization are the leaders who operate where the matrix reporting lines intersect, we call them the matrixed middle - more on matrix leadership and matrix management at this level in a future post.

Do your senior matrix leaders do a good job of providing this leadership?

Power and influence without authority in matrix management #2

Kevan Hall — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 07:44:06 +0000

In our first post on the subject of power and influence in matrix management we looked at what sources of power were open to us, and what were the consequences and limitations of using different types of power (coercive, normative and presence power) in matrix management.

Other sources of power to influence without traditional authority in matrix organization structures include

Expert power - from superior knowledge, skills & abilities. This is a really powerful one, if you are the world expert the matrix will flex around you to access your talent and knowledge.
Position- The power of role still has legitimacy in matrix management (particularly where solid lines make the “real” boss clear) but may increasingly be shared with others or be for short duration projects etc…
Reward- the ability to deliver rewards and punishments - still useful but may share the same limitations as position power above
Relationship - The power of trust, shared goals, sense of identification. These so called soft factors (which are actually hard and very effective) are excellent once you have them but time consuming to build - and easy to damage - particularly in reorganizations. The matrix structure can undermine trust, shared goals and identity. With very diverse groups of employees in different locations and timezones there are many opportunities for misunderstanding and misalignment.

If I was trying to build a power base to get things done as a matrix manager I would focus on expertise and relationships as a great place to start - if you have traditional authority that is a bonus in the matrix structure.

What types of power work best in your company?.

Surviving Matrix Management

Kevan Hall — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 08:28:34 +0000

Take a look at Gill Corkindale’s second article on “Surviving the matrix” at the Harvard Business Publishing website. In it she addresses some of the key challenges of managing and working in a matrix organization structure.

She captures the breadth and depth of the challenges of matrix management. Worth a look.

Matrix management at the top - 2 CEOs

Kevan Hall — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 07:38:20 +0000

In previous posts we have mentioned that in a matrix organization structure it is common for very senior managers to underestimate the impact of the matrix on management. The reason for this is that, at the top of the matrix, relatively little changes - everyone still works for you!

I found this interesting article about a 2 CEO structure at Wipro, a $4Bn Indian software services organization. The article proposes that there are some special corporate and national cultural aspects that may help make this particular example of a matrix organization structure work.

It also mentions previous experiments with this form such as Unilever.

Take a look - have you ever experienced a 2 CEO structure, did it help with matrix management or make the matrix structure even harder to operate - how did it work?

Matrix management - the matrix of mum and dad

Kevan Hall — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 08:23:45 +0000

I was reminded by the great comment left by my mum on the podcast below about an example that often comes up on our skills for the matrix training about a very common form of matrix management - the matrix of mum and dad.

In a family, if the kids come to Dad and ask “can I do X?” What is the first questions Dad asks - “What did your mother say?” Parents naturally know that alignment is important, otherwise the kids drive a wedge between you and end up doing whatever they want.

This instinctive alignment, naturally checking in with what the other reporting line of the matrix is thinking is far more powerful and effective than regular and detailed RASCI reviews.

In business you are more likely to get the answer “What does your other line manager know about the real priorities - listen to me not them” - good luck with that approach!

Life in a Matrix Management Podcast - Episode 1 -Too much cooperation going on?

Kevan Hall — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:43:59 +0000

Welcome to the first ever “Life in a Matrix” podcast on matrix management.

Kevan Hall, CEO of Global integration and author of the book Speed Lead talks about what is different about cooperation in large, matrix, virtual, global and other complex teams and organizations.

He thinks that too much unnecessary cooperation, communication & control makes complex companies slow, expensive to run and less satisfying to work in.

In this podcast, he argues that there is too much cooperation going on and recommends some practical steps to introduce simpler ways of cooperating that could help save you up to a day per week of unnecessary work – less teamwork – more freedom to get things done.

See more about this at Kevan’s corporate site www.global-integration.com

Don’t forget to subscribe to the RSS feed for this site so we can let you know when future editions arrive. You can get the show through iTunes here.

We would love to hear your comments on the content and format - we want it to be challenging and practical . Please post any questions or comments here and they will help shape future topics.

Power and influence without authority in matrix management #1

Kevan Hall — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 07:38:26 +0000

Influence without authority is a core skill in matrix management - see previous post. Understanding your ability to influence in a matrix organization structure depends in part on understanding what sources of power you have and how to apply them.

First we have to realise which of these types of power we have access to to get things done.
Second we have to consider what will be the consequences of using this style of power on our followers – this is rarely taken into account.

In this first of 2 posts we will look at 3 sources of power

Coercive – use of, or threat of force. This traditional style of power may no longer be available to you, strong worker protection in some parts of the world, or the need to retain talented people may mean this style is normally unacceptable. Even if this style of power is theoretically available to you the impact on your followers may be so negative that it negates the advantages of using it. This style of power may work in an emergency.
Normative- based on values and right to manage - most people accept that there needs to be some authority in organizations and many will buy in to the “values” of good organizations they work for. These “softer” forms of power are extremely useful in large complex organization as they sit in the background subtly influencing decisions “it’s the way we do things around here” - and just as this power becomes more useful it becomes more difficult to develop in large, diverse, matrixed and multi-site organizations where true values may be different and developing a common approach is more time consuming and expensive.
Presence– respect for the personal characteristics. This is great if you can develop it and we can all work to improve this one by earning respect. Multi-site and remote working makes this one more difficult to apply in complex companies - so when you do have the opportunity of presence use it to top up the “tank of goodwill” and reinforce relationships - not to deliver PowerPoint presentations to darkened rooms.

More on this from me later in the week. What other sources of power work well for you in complex and matrix organizations?

Wanted - matrix management skills and typing too

Kevan Hall — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 08:07:19 +0000

I have a Google alert which tells me about any new mentions of the words “matrix management” or “matrix organization” and I have noticed a steady increase in the number of jobs asking for matrix management skills. Here is one that arrived last week

“Experience managing, providing direction, and facilitating in a matrix management environment and proficiency using Microsoft Word.”

Brilliant - the ability to manage highly complex organizations, influence people without authority and do your own typing too! I mention this not because it is unusual - but because it has become commonplace.

My first boss, Fred, was a factory worker who had worked his way up to become HR Director of a large manufacturing facility (over 4000 people), he was a great manager to have as a young trainee. He had a lot of credibility and knew the limits of his technical ability in the job, he hired several young university educated managers and both listened to them and supported them - the system worked.

He had a lot of time for coaching, after meetings he would often sit down and review with us what happened and why and to discuss alternatives. Several of his trainees went on to achieve impressive things in their careers (you know who you are)

One reason he had time for people management was that he did not have many personal tasks to perform, he did not type, file, research his own reports etc… He had a secretary to do that.

Today a typical matrix manager will spend a lot of the day typing and filing (emails) preparing presentations and reports, that is just the way it is in large complex orgnaization thanks to the reduction of administrative resource and introduction of these “productivity tools”.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s hard to imagine life in a matrix without these tools but its a question of how we spend our time.

Whereas Fred spent 10% of his time on personal tasks and 90% on people management the modern matrix manager may have reversed these proportions. What gets squeezed is the “important but not urgent” work of thinking and developing people.

Over that same period however our expectations of leaders has stayed remarkably similar. More on that later.

P.S. If you are that recruiter - you can pick up MS word proficiency a lot quicker than matrix management skills

How much of your time do you spend on matrix management versus MS Word?