Research and Design Trumps Human Resources

Do you remember thinking ‘What on earth is Matrix Management?’  When I first heard the phrase I thought it was a bit like the Tao of Poo for Keanu fans. I just knew I would be more Oracle rather than the infinitely preferable Neo, or better still, Trinity. We all know what it means now and that is part of the difficulty. Turning something so complicated into a noun often means we forget to pay attention to all the moving parts.

Why is Matrix Management so difficult for so many? It’s not that it isn’t possible for it to work, seems to make a lot of sense, but the complication on the face of it is nothing compared to the quagmire of power dynamics beneath the surface. It is enough to deal with competing commitments and the different approaches of Mrs. Line manager and Mr. Dotty line, but if they are from different functions, different countries and maybe also different positions in the hierarchy then we have the potential for the subtle playing of organisational Trumps to begin and then someone in the tangle is going to be in trouble.

Take one HR team whose new director had hardly even unpacked his family photos before he was getting territorial signals from the team. For ‘You know I’ve really got my bit really working well, all I really need from you is to sign off my budget’, ‘I’m a little concerned that you might manage us too tightly’...he read ’back off’ ‘we don’t need you, you're just window dressing’.

The problem? They all had a dotted reporting line to someone at a higher work level (trumps) and from a more ‘powerful’ function (in this technology organisation Research and Design trumps Human Resources). Rather than deal with the natural dilemmas that occur in their work they had opted for following the trumping leader and were so confident that these more powerful players would back them they didn’t seem to feel the need to build a working relationship with their new line manager. In essence they were borrowing the power of the dotted line to undermine the line. The previous incumbent had an extremely strong relationship with the dotted line managers’ boss and used his power to get hers back, but this option was not available to the new guy.

The solution? With no reflected power to plug into he drew on his own. It took quite a lot of courage to make what he called the ‘I’m the daddy now’ manoeuvres. His trump cards: experience, personal skill and authority. Of these, finding his own simple undeniable personal authority was the greatest and made the biggest impact on the team, once they realised it was a wall not a door they settled into his wide embrace and felt at home.

The learning? My view is know the power dynamics in your context or you are toast! Who trumps who and why? This is not just an unnecessary annoyance; it is the way of human being and has a certain rightness. Once you know it, you can see how you can work in it and with it finding the correct personal abilities and qualities to respond wherever it is you sit in the hierarchy. Always respect the hierarchy or it will get you. Perhaps you have a different view??