{"id":21103,"date":"2015-03-30T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-03-30T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/global2020prd.wpengine.com\/insights\/matrix-working-or-matrix-structure\/"},"modified":"2026-02-10T21:51:41","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T21:51:41","slug":"matrix-working-or-matrix-structure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/matrix-working-or-matrix-structure\/","title":{"rendered":"Do we have Matrix Working or a Matrix Structure"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Strictly speaking, a matrix organization structure is defined as where you have more than one formal reporting line (whether dotted or solid). So if you don\u2019t have more than one boss, you don\u2019t work in a matrix organization structure.<\/p>\n<p>However, we find that, in practice, people in large organizations are using the word \u201cmatrix\u201d to describe the whole complex way of working that cuts horizontally across functions and geography. Matrix working, increasingly, means working in virtual or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/a-practical-guide-to-cross-functional-team-working\/\">cross-functional teams<\/a> across distance, cultures, time zones and through technology and where formal organization structure doesn\u2019t really reflect the flow of work.<\/p>\n<p>The vast majority of large global organizations operate some form of matrix structure. If you have an organization that reflects function, geography and business lines at senior levels then it\u2019s very likely that these intersect further down in the organization. There are also more and more structures that cut across the organization horizontally \u2013 such as supply chain global accounts. These usually imply some form of matrix.<\/p>\n<p>However, if we take the second definition of \u201cmatrix working\u201d \u2013 this is everywhere. The vast majority of managerial and professional people in companies of any size now spend at least part of their time working in cross-functional or virtual teams. We\u2019ve even had clients talking to us as they open their second location within the same country as this creates a step up in complexity for leaders and teams.<\/p>\n<p>Matrix working is the norm in complex organizations. Do your skills and ways of working reflect this reality? See more in our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/matrix-management-guide\/\">definitive guide to matrix management.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Strictly speaking, a matrix organization structure is defined as where you have more than one formal reporting line (whether dotted [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-21103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","type-blog","training-matrix-management","training-virtual-teams"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.6 (Yoast SEO v27.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Do we have Matrix Working or a Matrix Structure - Global Integration<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Strictly speaking, a matrix organization structure is defined as where you have more than one formal reporting line (whether dotted or solid). So if you\" \/>\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\/matrix-working-or-matrix-structure\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Do we have Matrix Working or a Matrix Structure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Strictly speaking, a matrix organization structure is defined as where you have more than one formal reporting line (whether dotted or solid). 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