When attending a recent conference, I kept witnessing a Pavlovian response among delegates. Every time I mentioned “matrix,” eyes would bulge and roll, and there was noticeable quivering of lips and hands. I wasn’t expecting such an intense reaction.
The matrix organization went off the radar screen for a while, but news of its death was premature. Many companies are forced to integrate and align distributed resources across multiple businesses, brands, geographies, divisions, products, and functions to achieve strategic objectives. The older matrices used to be relatively simple two-dimensional structures, but now they are multidimensional. No one I’ve met particularly likes working in a matrix, but they all recognize there are solid business reasons for its continued existence.
What Factors Enable a Matrix to Work?
Those in a matrix can feel they spend their lives nursing bureaucratic processes while still feeling confused about who, what, how, and—most important—why. When this happens, the default response often is to apply even more rigid structural and process thinking. Don’t get me wrong. Structures and processes are vitally important in a matrix, but they always must be subservient. It is easy to become mesmerized by grand architectures of solid and dotted-line reporting relationships, and lose sight of delivering value to external customers. The quality, speed, and execution of key decisions is the source of value creation in a matrix, and structures and processes can enable or inhibit this. Back in 2010, Bain & Company published a book through Harvard Business Review Press called “Decide & Deliver: 5 Steps to Breakthrough Performance in Your Organization” (a book I recommend). Central to this approach is clarity of decision roles and rights: “People can have more than one boss, but decisions can’t.” That is an important insight to be embraced.
I have found it useful to focus attention on four factors and how they affect decision effectiveness in a matrix. By “factor” I simply mean something that helps produce or influence a result. They are:
- Purpose
- Governance
- Culture
- Operations
Purpose: Do people in the matrix fully understand why it exists? What are the business benefits sought and for which customers? Without this understanding, they most likely will make sub-optimal decisions based on their narrow range of “local” interests. Ideally, they will value the horizontal plane (project) rather than vertical (e.g., functional) one. The horizontal plane is focused externally, while the vertical plane tends to be internal. Focus matters!
Governance: A network might be self-governing, but a matrix isn’t. It needs stewards who have oversight, make policy, set priorities for resource allocation, and assign key decision rights and accountabilities. An important feature of a successful matrix is ownership—who will make the final decision(s)? While it is relatively easy on paper to map decision rights and roles, the reality is often messy, and good negotiation skills are a must. A tool such as an ARCI Chart (mapping the roles of participants and other stakeholders—those who are Accountable, Responsible, Consulted, and Informed) can help manage complexity. Clarity matters!
Culture: The quality of decision-making depends on a transparent and cooperative culture. Shared collaborative values, mindsets, and norms of behavior are key to mining the collective intelligence within a matrix. Openness to different approaches and the widespread sharing of knowledge and expertise (now enhanced by social networking technologies) provide a strong foundation for making informed and solid decisions. Quality matters!
Operations: A key question is: Where do processes and practices need to be integrated to optimize the flow of activities and resources? Planning, organizing, communicating, allocating, monitoring, sharing, etc., all require a degree of standardization. Attention also must be given to how best to use any technological infrastructure for facilitating the rapid coordination and execution of decisions. If operations are not simple, smooth, and efficient, the matrix blues can easily sap energy and spirit. Speed matters!
In reality, a matrix is never going to be a perfectly functioning organizational machine. By its very nature it is going to be full of uncertainties, dilemmas, and ambiguities.
Think about your own context, and identify where decision effectiveness in your matrix can be most dramatically improved.
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Purpose → Focus To what extent do our matrix decisions align with the company’s vision, mission, and strategy?
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Governance → Clarity To what extent are our accountabilities and decision rights clear and respected?
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Culture → Quality To what extent are our organizational values, mindsets, norms, and rewards supportive of making quality decisions?
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Operations → Speed To what extent do our processes and practices support the rapid coordination and execution of decisions?
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Terence Brake is the head of Learning & Innovation, TMA World (http://www.tmaworld.com/training-solutions/), which provides blended learning solutions for developing talent with borderless working capabilities. Brake specializes in the globalization process and organizational design, cross-cultural management, global leadership, transnational teamwork, and the borderless workplace. He has designed, developed, and delivered training programmes for numerous Fortune 500 clients in the United States, Europe, and Asia. Brake is the author of six books on international management, including “Where in the World Is My Team?” (Wiley, 2009) and e-book “The Borderless Workplace.”
