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: Â
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.
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.
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.
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.
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Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel KahnemanÂ
Have you ever found yourself in a scenario when, as leader, you’re expected to know the answer to a question but don’t? In the second of a two-part series, Francesca Giulia Mereu suggests...
How to grow beyond your skillset: a self-check for leaders Leaders often need to navigate significant changes of direction in their careers – which means expanding their skills and ways of working....
Leaders regularly need to make decisions under intense pressure. Pierluigi Collina, one of the world’s most respected football referees, reveals how to make the best choices possible in the heat of the...
When confronted with difficult questions, we immediately think about what we should say, rather than how we say it – but non-verbal signals often carry more weight than words, greatly increasing the...
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