matrix management

outline

'No man can serve two masters and be a servant to both.' (Matthew ch.6 v.24). Matrix management seeks to disprove this by attempting to have individuals taking responsibility for different aspects of their job by reporting to different managers and formalising this in the reporting chain.

At its simplest matrix management implies that a manager can build good relationships with individuals who do not report directly to him/her and get results from them even though they may have no sanction in the formal reporting chain. This is not always easy, especially since the formal manager may see what you are doing as cutting across their authority.

In attempting successful matrix management your personal management style is key to success.

aim

To understand and be able to work with matrix management.

objectives

To understand matrix management as a concept.
To analyse the fundamentals of building good, professional working relationships quickly.
To examine the difficulties and what can go wrong.
To understand how your personal management style will work, or not, in matrix management.
To identify what you might need to tune to get better results.

outcomes

A clear understanding of matrix management.
Anticipation of problems and making plans to deal with them.
Planning how and with whom to build relationships.
Ability to clearly quantify the minimum result required.
Ability to use contingency planning to negotiate obstacles.