{"id":20391,"date":"2008-09-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-09-16T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/global2020prd.wpengine.com\/insights\/empowerment-in-the-matrix-organization-what-have-you-done-to-earn-it\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T16:40:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T16:40:17","slug":"empowerment-in-the-matrix-organization-what-have-you-done-to-earn-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/empowerment-in-the-matrix-organization-what-have-you-done-to-earn-it\/","title":{"rendered":"How do you earn empowerment?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anyone who has had any form of management education in the last several decades can recite the mantra – empowerment is good! We all get the theory but there are practical pressures that sometimes push us the other way. In complex matrix organizations we may not know our people so well. We may be on different sites, from different cultures and time-zones – there are lots of little things that can cause misunderstandings and undermine trust. Finding the right balance of control and empowerment<\/a> is a challenge.<\/p>\n

Some are not so little – tighter regulation like Sarbanes Oxley (that solved all the risk management problems in the financial sector didn’t it) has embedded tighter controls in the governance and operating mechanisms of financial services organizations. Get it wrong as a senior manager and you may be going home in handcuffs!<\/p>\n

Normally we deal with this by working on the skills and attitudes of the mangers, and that remains important, to balance the myriad pressures to micromanage.<\/p>\n

What have you done to earn empowerment?<\/h2>\n

But how about the individual – it’s all very well blaming managers who do not empower you – but empowerment is not yours by right – what have you done to earn empowerment?<\/strong><\/p>\n