Managing the Matrix E-Book

Dawn Metcalfe

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 176

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

A comprehensive guide to excelling in a complex matrix organization

Debra was not in a good mood as she entered Johann’s office for their third meeting. One of her colleagues had just been promoted and, although the guy who got it was good, she didn’t think he was any better than her. Well, except at one thing, he was always playing politics - sucking up to the more senior guys and volunteering to be on any committee going.

Debra knew the type - went to the same school, belonged to the same club - she didn’t have a hope against the kind of connections he had so she might as well give up. It seemed doing a good job just wasn’t enough around here.

Debra and Johann work in an environment with multiple and complex reporting lines – in other words, a matrix. There’s room to “slip between the cracks” – if a person wants to take advantage of confusion over who is managing performance; or if they can’t make the necessary transition to self-management. Communication can be difficult even when there is an apparently shared language.

Read how Johann and Debra work together to identify the skills needed to succeed in a matrix, and how using Emotional Intelligence (EI) can develop specific behaviours you can incorporate in your daily job.  The result will help reduce stress and increase your chances of success.

Dawn Metcalfe, Managing Director of PDS, based in Dubai, uses her experience as a coach and trainer to give us a behind the curtain look at how mentoring can help an individual develop the skills they need to survive and thrive in today’s complex work environments.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Title page

Copyright page

Dedication

Introduction

1: The Challenge is Set

2: Laying the Cards on the Table

3: Preparing for Change

4: WorkingonObjectives

5: How Quickly We Forget

6: The Matrix – the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

7: What do the Successes in the Matrix do?

8: Defining EI

9: A Short and (Emotionally) Intelligent Review

10: Working Out How EI Can Help

11: Why IQ isn't Enough

12: Learning EI

13: Fake It Until You Make It

14: How Managers Can Help Improve EI

15: Understanding the Importance of Culture and Strong Leadership in the Matrix

Epilogue

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Useful Resources

This edition first published 2014

© 2014 Dawn Metcalfe

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Metcalfe, Dawn,

Managing the matrix: the secret to surviving and thriving in your organization / Dawn Metcalfe.

pages cm

ISBN 978-1-118-76537-1 (cloth)

1. Matrix organization. 2. Employees—Mentoring of. 3. Performance. 4. Personnel management. I. Title.

HD58.5.M47 2014

650.1—dc23

2013047058

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978–1–118–76537–1 (hardback) ISBN 978–1–118–76534–0 (ebk)

ISBN 978–1–118–76535–7 (ebk)

Cover design: Simon Goggin

To my new friend Boris. You kept me going when things got hard. Thank you.

Introduction

Working in the matrix is hard. That's what anybody I've ever spoken to who works in one says. Many of them say that it is the only option, however. They recognize opportunities exist in the matrix; but almost every person and a significant amount of research point to turf wars, confusion over accountability, competing geographical and functional targets, lack of clearly defined roles, and too many people involved in the decision-making process, as some of the problems caused or exacerbated by working in a matrix.

To find out how best to deal with these issues I have talked to hundreds of managers, directors and executives during training courses and coaching sessions. I've formally interviewed dozens of individuals entrenched in organizations that use the matrix structure. The answer seems to be that the “soft” skills we often wait to train people on until after they need them are key to success in the matrix and, possibly, in any job.

This book is a story about Johann, a senior manager, recently converted believer in “soft” skills and desperate to keep Debra, a high-potential, highly educated member of “Gen Y” who feels like she's not getting enough attention. It asks whether emotional intelligence (EI) exists and, if it does, how is it useful in working within a matrix? And of course, if it exists and is useful, then can we learn it?

My story is based on what I have learned from clients, many of whom work in a matrix organization. What is striking is the similarity of their experiences across industry, job function, level in the organization, cultural background, age or sex. It appears that it's always difficult to get people from different cultural backgrounds (whether nationality or functional or organizational) to do what you want when you don't understand why they resist, especially if you can't force them and have no control over their pay or conditions.

The personalities and events in this book are not based on any individual but reflect the stories I have heard and the situations I have seen over the years. The issues are challenging because to resolve them you need what the best leaders and companies have, and what the Corporate Leadership Council identified as playing a critical role in the matrix – strong communication skills, teamwork, adaptability, and shared goal and rewards systems. Without these (and they are not easy to get) the issues most commonly faced are lack of accountability, frequent conflicts over allocation of resources, and division of authority – none of which are good for the bottom line.

Johann and Debra exhibit a mixture of all the great attributes I see in my clients – listening, questioning, open-mindedness, generosity, thoughtfulness, determination, and pragmatism. Of course they aren't perfect but then who is? Their faults and opinions are all entirely made up of course.

The matrix isn't going away: in a European survey conducted by Krauthammer, an international professional services company, published in 2006, 85 per cent of people said that some form of matrix was present in their organization. This leaves us with two choices – to devote as much time and energy to honing the “soft” skills that lead to personal and organizational success as we do to building our technical skills or to rail against the tides like King Canute. I hope this book persuades you to do as Johann does.

1

The Challenge is Set

Johann Spilk was frazzled. He couldn't understand why he'd done it. Why had he just staked his reputation on something that he had only just been convinced himselfwould work? He sighed.

Shrugging off his jacket, he hung it up before greeting a couple of colleagues. Then he checked in with his assistant (as always, here before him and already organized for the day ahead), sat down behind his desk and took a sip of the over-priced and highly calorific coffee he'd started drinking since giving up smoking during Ramadan a few months ago. He turned on the computer screen and logged in, ready to prepare for his day of meetings.

Johann's first meeting was with Debra, a young “up and comer” currently doing a rotation in the finance department working on a company-wide project. He didn't really know much about her as they had never come into contact.