{"id":20398,"date":"2008-10-07T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-10-07T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/global2020prd.wpengine.com\/insights\/functional-matrix-weak-matrix-or-vertical-matrix-organization\/"},"modified":"2020-06-15T16:08:46","modified_gmt":"2020-06-15T16:08:46","slug":"functional-matrix-weak-matrix-or-vertical-matrix-organization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/functional-matrix-weak-matrix-or-vertical-matrix-organization\/","title":{"rendered":"Functional matrix, weak matrix or vertical matrix organization?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A number of clients have been asking me recently about different forms of matrix \u2013 functional matrix, weak matrix, strong matrix, balanced matrix,\u00a0solid, dotted line matrix etc\u2026 So I thought I would try to get the definitions straight.<\/p>\n

The nearest thing to a consensus on this is provided by the Project Management Institute. The PMI, quite properly, looks at it from a project management perspective and seems to assume that one \u201cleg\u201d of the matrix is always a project. When they describe a matrix as \u201cweak\u201d it means that the project manger is weak (the functional managers would see it as quite a strong matrix from their perspective, so this form is often called the functional matrix too)<\/p>\n

In a sense though, if the activity is only (and I don\u2019t mean to be disparaging to projects) a project then you don\u2019t need to change from a traditional functional organization to a formal matrix organization structure. A series of specific projects or virtual teams could be enough (unless we have very long term projects).<\/p>\n

So am going to start with the project management definitions of matrix forms and then extend them to other forms of activity that may drive a formal matrix organization structure, (of which a project is one of the less common ones we experience in our work).<\/p>\n

Weak or functional matrix\u00a0\/ vertical matrix organization<\/strong><\/p>\n

We will start with a weak or I prefer the term – functional <\/strong>matrix. In this form of organization, the functional manager retains most of the power; they \u201cown\u201d the people and resources.<\/p>\n

In a weak \/ functional matrix, the project manager is not very powerful. Usually they carry out an administrative or coordinating role and rely on the functional manages to get things done. These project coordinators often report in to the functional matrix management structure.<\/p>\n

This makes the functional matrix or weak matrix unpopular with project managers but it is often a transitional form as organizations move from traditional functional or vertical silos towards a more integrated way of working across the organization. The easiest way to begin this journey is through projects.<\/p>\n

It is arguable whether a traditional functional organization structure plus some lateral\/horizontal working in projects is actually a matrix organization at all. It is a matrix style of working<\/strong> but the structure may well continue to be functional and vertical.<\/p>\n

I\u00a0have yet to come across an organization where one of the legs of the matrix is not functional so the term functional matrix or vertical matrix is good shorthand for one where the vertical \/ functional parts of the matrix have most power.<\/p>\n

If we were going to bring solid lines (stronger relationship) or dotted lines (weaker relationship) into the equation, in a functional matrix the solid line would be to the functional matrix manager and the dotted line (or no line at all) to the project manager or horizontal activity manager<\/p>\n

In the next post we will look at the so called strong matrix and the balanced matrix organization and move beyond projects to look at the other sources of power that can drive the other leg(s) of the matrix<\/p>\n

Need some help thinking this through? Check out our matrix management insights<\/a> and our matrix management training<\/a><\/p>\n

How is your matrix structured?<\/p>\n

Take our free Introduction to the Matrix<\/a> online learning program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Functional matrix, weak matrix or vertical matrix organization<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":23806,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-20398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","type-blog","training-matrix-management"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFunctional matrix, weak matrix or vertical matrix organization? - Global Integration<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Functional matrix, weak matrix or vertical matrix organization\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/functional-matrix-weak-matrix-or-vertical-matrix-organization\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Functional matrix, weak matrix or vertical matrix organization?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Functional matrix, weak matrix or vertical matrix organization\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/functional-matrix-weak-matrix-or-vertical-matrix-organization\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Global Integration\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-10-07T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-06-15T16:08:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Cross-cultural-training.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"890\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kevan Hall\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kevan Hall\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/functional-matrix-weak-matrix-or-vertical-matrix-organization\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/functional-matrix-weak-matrix-or-vertical-matrix-organization\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kevan Hall\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3ad6577af9c33612e410fbcdc3ff2a9a\"},\"headline\":\"Functional matrix, weak matrix or vertical matrix organization?\",\"datePublished\":\"2008-10-07T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-06-15T16:08:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/functional-matrix-weak-matrix-or-vertical-matrix-organization\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":565,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/functional-matrix-weak-matrix-or-vertical-matrix-organization\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/Cross-cultural-training.webp\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/functional-matrix-weak-matrix-or-vertical-matrix-organization\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/functional-matrix-weak-matrix-or-vertical-matrix-organization\\\/\",\"name\":\"Functional matrix, weak matrix or vertical matrix organization? 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