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    Brain Circuits

    The top 4 advantages of a matrix organization 

    by Michael D. Watkins Published May 21, 2024 in Brain Circuits • 5 min read

    As businesses navigate increasingly complex challenges, the matrix organizational structure has emerged as the best available solution for four primary reasons.

    Setting up and running a matrix organization requires a deep understanding of both its advantages and challenges. Here’s a rundown of what I see as the top four advantages:  

    Efficient resource utilization

    With a matrix structure, resources can be deployed flexibly across the organization based on business needs. Functional experts can be assigned to work on the highest priority initiatives, regardless of where they reside in the organization. This can reduce redundancy and maximize productivity. When specialized skills and knowledge are shared efficiently across business units and projects, synergies, and savings that are difficult to realize within traditional organizational structures can be achieved.

    Opportunities for employee development

    Working on diverse assignments exposes employees to different parts of the organization and helps them develop a broader skill set and more versatility. It also helps them understand the bigger picture and how their work contributes to corporate goals.

    Speak up to introduce others to your competence

    In a first meeting, speaking up and taking initiative are seen as “competence cues,” signaling leadership potential, since those behaviors are associated with proactivity. The cues can include speaking up to make a point, summarizing data, or just asking a question that stimulates conversation. Being proactive at the beginning of a group’s life is essential since status is ascribed early and group members who initially achieve high status are likely to retain it. Remember this next time you are tempted to keep quiet during a meeting.

    Flexibility and adaptability

    Quick responses to changes in the business environment — including emerging customer requirements and market demands — are enabled through the rapid formation and dissolution of teams. Adapting to project needs is crucial in today's fast-paced and ever-changing business landscape, where organizations must be able to pivot quickly to remain competitive.

    Further reading:

    Matrix organizations that work: designing for efficiency and success

    Authors

    Michael Watkins - IMD Professor

    Michael D. Watkins

    Professor of Leadership and Organizational Change at IMD

    Michael D Watkins is Professor of Leadership and Organizational Change at IMD, and author of The First 90 Days, Master Your Next Move, Predictable Surprises, and 12 other books on leadership and negotiation. His book, The Six Disciplines of Strategic Thinking, explores how executives can learn to think strategically and lead their organizations into the future. A Thinkers 50-ranked management influencer and recognized expert in his field, his work features in HBR Guides and HBR’s 10 Must Reads on leadership, teams, strategic initiatives, and new managers. Over the past 20 years, he has used his First 90 Days® methodology to help leaders make successful transitions, both in his teaching at IMD, INSEAD, and Harvard Business School, where he gained his PhD in decision sciences, as well as through his private consultancy practice Genesis Advisers. At IMD, he directs the First 90 Days open program for leaders taking on challenging new roles and co-directs the Transition to Business Leadership (TBL) executive program for future enterprise leaders, as well as the Program for Executive Development.

    Related

    Further reading: 

    Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman 

    Authors

    Michael Watkins - IMD Professor

    Michael D. Watkins

    Professor of Leadership and Organizational Change at IMD

    Michael D Watkins is Professor of Leadership and Organizational Change at IMD, and author of The First 90 Days, Master Your Next Move, Predictable Surprises, and 12 other books on leadership and negotiation. His book, The Six Disciplines of Strategic Thinking, explores how executives can learn to think strategically and lead their organizations into the future. A Thinkers 50-ranked management influencer and recognized expert in his field, his work features in HBR Guides and HBR’s 10 Must Reads on leadership, teams, strategic initiatives, and new managers. Over the past 20 years, he has used his First 90 Days® methodology to help leaders make successful transitions, both in his teaching at IMD, INSEAD, and Harvard Business School, where he gained his PhD in decision sciences, as well as through his private consultancy practice Genesis Advisers. At IMD, he directs the First 90 Days open program for leaders taking on challenging new roles and co-directs the Transition to Business Leadership (TBL) executive program for future enterprise leaders, as well as the Program for Executive Development.

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