Denathayalan RamasamyChief Technology Officer| Atal Incubation Centre -CIICChennai, Tamilnadu, India
I was working in a matrix organization for some time; where getting the right resources was always a challenging issue. Managing resources is also an equally difficult one. Organizational process assets are not supporting with correct metrics.
have you faced a similar issue in your organization?.. any recommendations for it? Saving Changes...
This remind me of the stakeholder management and the power-interest matrix treated while applying for the certification . Since these resources cling to their immediate bosses because of the working atmosphere you work in, I will propose that you involve them by updating them and always seeking their input on the project you are handling. With this, they will feel relevant and may either help by contributing or pushing his best resource to help with your project. Saving Changes...
Thomas WalentaGlobal Project Economy ExpertHackenheim, Germany
One of the key reasons for a matrix organisation is to make key resources available across silos, and hence limit resource ownership. It is meant to increase efficiency. But, yes, it comes with additional needs for management.
First, there has to be an inherent understanding that resource sharing is good and even beneficial. It is a mindset and culture thing. This has to be understood by 'resource owners' as well as resources.
Another cultural attitude is to lower the decision making. The best way is if no manager is involved in assigning resources to tasks, but if the resources themselves make these decisions. This also means that strategic targets and day2day situations should be visible to everybody so that decisions are made based on good data and not only on biases and gutfeel.
In doubt, the resources should consult team leaders first, as they should have the needed information, even better than managers.
I have seen as an example, that team leaders and resource owners meet weekly and discuss a Board with a matrix of a) all resource pools and b) the requesting projects/teams. Requests are put on the Board and conflicts are solved immediately.
Yes, we are talking about humans, their feelings and dignity. Everybody takes roles everyday, in family, in partnership, in projects, as a car driver, as voter etc.
In discussing good practices in any of these environments I deem it appropriate talking about the roles as one perspective of being human.
There are definitely lots of challenges working in a matrix structure, but a lot of those originate from too much work (project & operations) in the system. If you can get the leadership team to address that, then most of the remaining issues can get addressed by clearly setting expectations on the respective roles of functional and project managers and building good relationships between the practitioners in each role.
Changing corporate culture can be difficult from the bottom up. If you can't change the culture, figure out how to work within it to have your own resource needs met. The 3 classic means of persuasion are appeals to ethos (authority), pathos ( emotion), and logos (logic).
If it is an environment where the loudest voice gets the resources, then appeal to authority may work. Do you have the personal credibility to have your voice heard, or should you ally yourself with someone in a power position who can ensure your needs are heard.
Appeal to emotion is often used by people who always seem to be in a panic so I would generally stay away from this one. Bosses want to look good though, so if you can address their question of "what's in it for me?" then you might leverage ethos to get their support.
Appeal to logic with facts and data should be employed as your main approach. This can win you both personal credibility and arm your allies with rationale when they leverage their position of power with their own peers and leaders. Saving Changes...
Great points Keith. From my experience, appeal to logic worked best, using data to justify the resource need and show the potential benefits. Saving Changes...
Denathayalan RamasamyChief Technology Officer| Atal Incubation Centre -CIICChennai, Tamilnadu, India
Thanks Keith; This will help me in future decision making process Saving Changes...
Denathayalan RamasamyChief Technology Officer| Atal Incubation Centre -CIICChennai, Tamilnadu, India
Apr 18, 2022 6:23 AM
Replying to Thomas Walenta
...
One of the key reasons for a matrix organisation is to make key resources available across silos, and hence limit resource ownership. It is meant to increase efficiency. But, yes, it comes with additional needs for management.
First, there has to be an inherent understanding that resource sharing is good and even beneficial. It is a mindset and culture thing. This has to be understood by 'resource owners' as well as resources.
Another cultural attitude is to lower the decision making. The best way is if no manager is involved in assigning resources to tasks, but if the resources themselves make these decisions. This also means that strategic targets and day2day situations should be visible to everybody so that decisions are made based on good data and not only on biases and gutfeel.
In doubt, the resources should consult team leaders first, as they should have the needed information, even better than managers.
I have seen as an example, that team leaders and resource owners meet weekly and discuss a Board with a matrix of a) all resource pools and b) the requesting projects/teams. Requests are put on the Board and conflicts are solved immediately.
Yes, we are talking about humans, their feelings and dignity. Everybody takes roles everyday, in family, in partnership, in projects, as a car driver, as voter etc.
In discussing good practices in any of these environments I deem it appropriate talking about the roles as one perspective of being human.
Thomas
Thanks for your insight and details Thomas Saving Changes...
