What did I (really) learn from matrix leadership!

True project management should not be just about task management, it should also include managing people and their expectations. In my experience, the latter seems to be somewhat nebulous, as project managers are not able or empowered to take people management in a matrix to the next level – probably because in a matrix team, individual reporting relationship preclude such dynamic. This gap is what I wanted to explore more and share some thoughts on; as I think the following do not get enough coverage -- 

First, senior management, across business entities, needs to constantly reinforce ONE project goal!

Second, team members need to be engaged towards the common goal!

Sort of obvious, but worth reminding – senior leaders and project managers will hardly admit that there is a lack of consensus and/or individual needs are adequately addressed!

I have seen discussions in project meetings turn to arguments, confusions, delays, and (even) threats to completely abandon the project. Surely, there is more to it (I thought)! Why are people in the room speaking to themselves? Why is Operations trying to influence marketing and promotions strategy? Why is customer service perennially in a complaint mode, that they “didn’t know” about the product launch? Why is IT feeling unappreciated? Is sales and reporting even on the radar – no wonder these guys are in scrambling mode during the final launch phase? 

Such conflicts cause unnecessary delays in a project delivery and project managers need to acknowledge that, 

“these are the possible underlying currents that take up a lot of meeting time, as and when they surface!”

Based on several exploratory informal chats, I discovered that leadership and people management, more than the stated metrics were to blame. Here's what I found helpful in addressing the aforementioned underlying currents and have a smoother project meetings.

(A)  Senior leadership must align to the common goal and keep it that way! As the priorities change and the business urgencies dictate the short-term focus, leaders need to keep the team focused on the long-term vision. This will ensure that product, consumer experience, partnership integration, systems development, etc., are not short-changed, which will lead to a bigger problem with “fixes” and “customer complaints” in the future – not the scenario that should be overlooked. 

A former colleague once lamented that the leaders were not looking at strategic product road-map in trying to move up the launch date. The long-term costs are too immense for such short-sighted moves. Project managers need to sense that and address it before the matrix teams are forced to change course. 

(B)  Team members need to attach to the goal and be on-board! By this I mean, when customer service complains about adequate lead time to train their agents, they have not been brought-in on the launch early enough – can be easy to solve, I would say. Or, when IT is concerned about the timing of launch, there may be genuine hurdles to delivery, due to ongoing updates, releases, etc. – not that easy to solve, but a realistic launch estimate could help solve for the bottleneck. Marketing, before setting aggressive targets, should obtain a dose of reality in consultation with operations, sales, field, etc., teams. 

At the end of the day, it has to be understood that each participant has a deliverable that has to fit into their own goals/targets for the month/year. Timely participation and addressing individual concerns alleviates some of these surprise elements and in turn helps team members.

These did find some agreement among the leaders, peers and team members. In essence, the key to successful matrix management lies in proactive leadership and people management – 

“matrix leadership success is more about people management and less about numbers” 

Hoping these issues behind (a seemingly) dysfunctional team get highlighted and managers and leaders emphasize people aspects as they steer the program through to completion – in time and within budgets!