The document discusses best practices for leadership within a matrix organization, emphasizing the balance between direct and indirect leadership influence. It outlines practical approaches such as establishing a unifying vision, devolving decision-making, and fostering communication and feedback to enhance collaboration. The importance of political awareness and digital influence is also highlighted to maintain engagement and responsiveness among team members across different locations.

1. Matrix Organization Best Practices
Extending Your Collaborative Influence As A Leader

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Matrix
Organization
Best
Practices
The matrix structure is a well
established organizational
mechanism for managing people,
products and projects across
multiple geographies.

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Matrix
Organization
Best
Practices
Effective leadership in a matrix
environment requires us to achieve
a balance between exercising direct
leadership authority whilst
simultaneously conveying indirect
leadership influence across
organizational boundaries.

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Matrix Organization Best Practices
Roles and
responsibilities
Unify
Empower
Devolve
Political awareness
Digital Influence
Communication rhythm
Feedback
Here are eight practical
approaches you can role
model as a leader to
support the effectiveness
of your people working in
a matrix environment.

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Matrix Organization Best Practices
Roles and responsibilities
Accept that you are
going to be accountable
for things you do not
always directly control,
whilst communicating
clearly your
responsibilities, priorities
and authority to your
key stakeholders, so
they can work for you,
rather than against your
overall goals.

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Matrix Organization Best Practices
Roles and responsibilities
Your personal tone and
style needs to be one of
partnership otherwise
you will alienate rather
than attract
commitment.

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Matrix Organization Best Practices
Unify
Establish a unifying and
operationally potent
vision for your people
regardless of their
location that has
sufficient elasticity to
accommodate local
market nuances, whilst
remaining relevant to the
super-ordinate task in
hand.

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Matrix Organization Best Practices
Empower
Focus on consulting,
engaging and
empowering your people
rather than controlling
them.

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Matrix Organization Best Practices
Empower
The more you try to
control, the more you
potentially reinforce a
perceived lack of trust in
not allowing them to
exercise their own
individual judgement or
capability.

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Matrix Organization Best Practices
Devolve
Devolve decision making
initiative away from the
centre as much as you
can, to encourage
responsiveness, insight
and intimacy with local
market challenges.

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Matrix Organization Best Practices
Political Awareness
Develop an astute
awareness of the
competing local
priorities that potentially
split the loyalty of your
people between the local
and global agendas.

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Matrix Organization Best Practices
Political Awareness
Know the pressure
points and manage
organizational politics
objectively and with the
best interests of the
whole business as your
priority.

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Matrix Organization Best Practices
Digital Influence
Encourage a culture of
transparency and
openness by using
corporate social media
to support a flow of
continuous engagement
and dialogue across and
beyond your matrix.

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Matrix Organization Best Practices
Digital Influence
Role model digital
communication literacy
by using a variety of
social media tools, for
example weekly video
blogs and audio
briefings, to engage
your key matrix
stakeholders.

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Matrix Organization Best Practices
Communication rhythm
Manage the generation,
flow and delivery of
strategic information by
keeping formal
communication
focussed.

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Matrix Organization Best Practices
Communication rhythm
Establish a regular
communication pattern
or rhythm to assist
managers locally to
structure when and how
they engage with you on
important issues.

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Matrix Organization Best Practices
Feedback
Elicit personal feedback
from your key people on
a continuous basis both
formally and informally.

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Matrix Organization Best Practices
Feedback
In an age where
organizational
hierarchies are
transforming themselves
towards ‘wirearchies,’*
being connected and
respected is the new
mantra for personal
branding

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Matrix Organization Best Practices
Feedback
Asking for continual
feedback accrues value
to your personal brand
and demonstrates to
your matrix
stakeholders that you
are accessible and
committed partnership.

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Matrix Organization Best Practices
In the borderless
matrix
...collaboration is
the new competitive
advantage.
‘Wirearchies’
Source - Jon Husband

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Publications Written by Terence Brake, Director of Learning &
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Our new Borderless Working e-book series
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About Us
Visit
www.tmaworld.com/insights
to discover the latest
thinking from our experts
on global, collaborative,
cross-cultural and virtual
working.