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The Failure of Matrixed Organizations
If you’re unfamiliar with the term “Matrixed Organization”, consider yourself lucky. In the interest of “agility”, many companies have adopted this structure - at their peril.
Matrixed Organizations:
* Arranged in a grid rather than a hierarchy
* Employees accountable to multiple bosses via two or more separate chains of command
* Responsibility for a given deliverable distributed across several directors
Matrixed organizations promised open communication between teams, facilitation of innovation, and reduced need for realignment for each new project. They have failed to deliver.
People, let’s stop the madness, shall we? This way of arranging an organization runs entirely counter to the goal of agility. Here’s why:
a) Matrixed Organizations exacerbate staffing issues.
In Matrixed Organizations individuals report to multiple leaders. Let’s pause right there. See the absurdity? In a time when companies are struggling to recruit enough individual contributors, they’re pivoting toward more “bosses” directing the activities of fewer “do-ers”. Matrixed Organizations exacerbate staffing issues!
b) Matrixed Organizations muddy accountability.
Giving someone more than one manager instantly results in a lack of clarity on their true priorities. People are either pulled in multiple directions, or left floating aimlessly. When people are given conflicting instructions, or don’t know what’s expected of them, it leads to chaos - progress isn’t made and frustration runs high. It’s a fatal flaw – Matrixed Organizations by their very nature undercut one of the most fundamental management principles – people must have clear goals. Matrixed Organizations muddy accountability!
c) Matrixed Organizations slow decision-making.
Establishing multiple middle and senior managers with overlapping spheres dramatically bogs down the decision-making process. With no one quite sure who is empowered to make a given call, but simultaneously no one wanting to miss a chance to weigh in and influence each outcome, even the simplest decisions take forever (if they can be made at all). Teams spend much more time getting buy in on every little thing, even when consensus is not needed. Matrixed Organizations slow down decision-making!
Matrixed Organizations are a failed experiment and it’s time to pull the plug. The idealized vision of overlapping departments functioning harmoniously is fundamentally flawed. By setting up top-heavy org. charts, obfuscating roles and responsibilities, and bogging down the decision-making process, the Matrixed Organization makes staffing more challenging, managing more difficult, and decision-making slower. Want a nimble, agile organization? Time to leave the Matrix for the real world.
Danger is lurking around every corner in a new product development / new product introduction project. Avoidable risks wind up blindsiding teams, always at the worst possible moment. Risks blow up into problems because teams misjudge their nature and origin, and lack the right tools and processes to effectively identify, assess, and mitigate them. Let CAEDENCE introduce you to a systematic approach and toolkit for managing and reducing risk in new product development and introduction
There are dozens of tools for reducing risk in new product development and introduction. We know because we've used them to successfully launch dozens of new products in highly demanding industries like automotive and aerospace. Let CAEDENCE show you a few of our favorite tools that you can use immediately to dramatically reduce the chances of disaster on your next NPD/NPI project.
Risk is inherent in new product development and introduction. Regardless of your personal risk tolerance, it's critical to understand that unmanaged risk could ruin your business. We're not saying "don't take risks". We're saying "take risks with your eyes open". Let CAEDENCE introduce you to a systematic approach and toolkit for managing and reducing risk in new product development and introduction.
Many risks in NPD & NPI are visible. New process steps that must be implemented with caution and back-up plans. Unique product features that are challenging to accomplish. But there are other risks lurking. Things that can derail your project before you even realize. A bit nervous now? You should be! But, don't worry. Let CAEDENCE introduce you to a systematic approach and toolkit for managing and reducing risk in new product development and introduction.
Successful new product development and introduction projects require carefully balancing dozens of critical parameters, any one of which could sink the ship. At the end of the day, each of those dozens of NPD/NPI success measures relates to an aspect of just 4 main stakeholder care-abouts: Launch timing, Project budget, Product margin performance, Quality / delivery (customer experience). Learn the systematic method to reduce risks in your new product developments.
CAEDENCE has decoded decades of business experience to reveal the intuition and practices of top performing teams and individuals to radically accelerate people and teams toward excellence. We know the theory, but we've also lived everything we teach and honed best practices for decades. This arms us with tons of real-world examples to engage students and clarify techniques. We often help clients out of crisis situations, but our passion is preventing crises from occurring in the first place. This means (a) establishing robust systems, (b) empowering leaders, and (c) upskilling teams.
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