Before getting into the details of matrix organizational structure advantages and disadvantages, let’s first look at what this diagram is used for.
A matrix org structure is the diagram that shows employees report to different bosses, instead of one. It is slightly different from the classical org structure that follows a top-down approach for the chain of command.
Every employee in the matrix org structure reports to at least two managers. They are generally the head of departments. An example of this diagram would be when employees from the engineering, finance, and sales department collaborate as a team on a project.
This guide explains the advantages and disadvantages of matrix organization. In addition, it helps you learn how to create this structure within minutes.
Part 1. Advantages of a Matrix Organizational Structure
This section lists the top benefits or reasons why organizations often use a matrix org structure to streamline their workflow. Let’s look at them one by one.
1. Enhances Employee Morale and Engagement
This structure moves employees between teams or projects as and when needed. The best thing is that it helps everyone share skills, expertise, and knowledge.
As a result, the engagement increases to a great extent. The increased engagement offers a series of benefits, including boosted productivity and reduced turnover.
It is crucial for every organization to promote cross-functional teams to get the maximum out of employees and businesses. It makes people feel connected regardless of their geographical location. A consistent connection between employees takes your business growth to the next level, enabling you to explore countless new opportunities.
2. Helps Make Informed Decisions
The traditional org structure supports top-down approach, which is why the communication stays within the department. Though it works, skill sets, stakeholders, and different perspectives remain missing.
On the other hand, the cross-functional nature of the matrix org structure assists everyone in communicating freely, as each employee from divisions and functional teams has to communicate on a regular basis.
The organizations that adopt these practices claim that their employees make better and more informed decisions compared to those who don’t follow this approach.
Making informed decisions always leads to enhanced productivity, better employee performance, and increased revenues in the end. If you want to promote this culture in your organization, ensure you use the matrix org chart.
3. Helps You Develop New Skills
When employees work outside the traditional structure, they enjoy working and develop a variety of new skills apart from the ones they already have. At the same time, they gain unmatchable experience while working in different departments within the organization.
Learning new skills and sharing personal experiences with teammates and colleagues enable every employee to ensure professional growth and explore new opportunities.
4. Increased Profitability
A team consisting of different employees from different departments and divisions comes on board for a project to make it successful for the organization.
Moreover, a matrix org structure lets employees feel that they are valued for their skills, experience, and knowledge. This thing helps them feel motivated and connected to each other which enables an organization to increase profitability by 21%.
5. Increases Uniformity Within the Organization
Uniformity is very important for an organization, as it makes sure that all employees have the same expectations and follow the same standards to achieve the final goal. This culture promotes a sense of equality in the workplace and makes the working environment exciting and more engaging.
Part 2. Disadvantages of a Matrix Organizational Structure
Let’s now explore the common drawbacks of using a matrix org structure.
1. Increased Workload
Though matrix organizations work seamlessly, the employees get overloaded with the work.
The reason behind this is that all employees have to perform their regular duties along with communicating with their management and team members to discuss the project.
As a result, many employees don't often meet their deadlines. Heavy workloads result in decreasing the employee performance and reduced productivity.
2. Slow Decision Making
As discussed earlier, each employee reports to two or more managers in a matrix org chart. It makes the decision-making process slow, as employees have to share the project’s concerns or success with more people. When two or more managers working on a project have conflicts, decision-making becomes even slower.
3. Lack of Clarity
A matrix org structure is a complex structure that can result in confusion around employees' responsibilities and roles.
For example, multiple managers working on a specific project may find it difficult to identify who exactly is responsible for a certain task. At the same time, team members may also get confused when they are shifted to work on different projects or with different teams.
4. Calculating Employees’ Performance Becomes Challenging
It is very important to keep an eye on employees’ performance to ensure things are going in the right direction and strategic goals are met perfectly.
If we talk about the matrix organizational structure, measuring employees’ performance is a tough nut to crack. It is just because employees perform multiple duties for the teams and departments.
5. Defining Priorities Becomes Difficult
When multiple managers work on a project, it is quite possible that they have different managerial styles and experiences. It often leads to various challenges in defining priorities for certain goals to achieve. This is something that badly affects an employee’s overall performance.
Part 3. How to Make a Matrix Organizational Structure in EdrawMind?
Now that you are familiar with the matrix business structure advantages and disadvantages. It is time to learn how to make this diagram in a wonderful diagramming tool: Wondershare EdrawMind. Below is a step-by-step guide to follow.
Step 1:
Visit the official site of EdrawMind. Download and install the tool on your system.
Step 2:
Open EdrawMind and click on the “Org Chart” option from the main interface, as shown below.
Step 3:
Enter the job titles/data in your matrix org structure by clicking on the boxes.
Step 4:
Now, you can add different roles by tapping on certain divisions and then select “Subtopic” from the top bar, as shown below.
Step 5:
It is time to choose the “Floating Topic” from the top bar to add managers to your matrix org structure. After changing the cursor’s position, you can place the floating topic wherever you want. Then, change the job roles by double-clicking on the boxes.
Step 6:
Now, assign project managers specific roles. For this, you have to go to the top bar and click on the “Relationship” option. Then, choose the “Straight Line” from the dropdown menu. Click on the project manager node and drag the line to the last subtopic, as shown below.
This is how, within 6 simple steps, you can create a matrix org structure using EdrawMind within minutes.
As far as the customization features of this tool are concerned, they allow you to fully customize your matrix org structure as needed. For example, you can click on “Connector” to change the line’s color and thickness and choose the “Shape” option to change the box’s shape or style, as shown below.
Part 4. What is Wondershare EdrawMind?
It is a powerful free team management software, mind map creator, and note taker. It empowers users by offering real-time collaboration while working on different projects. It is a multi-functional platform that enables you to make hundreds of diagrams, including org charts, mind maps, timelines, flow charts, bubble maps, tree maps, and more.
Key Features
The top features EdrawMind offers are given below.
- Real Time Collaboration: This diagramming tool allows multiple users to edit and use the same document at the same time seamlessly.
- Template Community: It comes with a huge template community where you can find hundreds of templates for each diagram. Pre-built templates make your diagramming experience efficient and fun.
- Import/Export: You can import files in EdrawMind from your local devices in different formats, like HTML, Word, XMind, MindManager. At the same time, when you are done with making your org chart, you can export it in different formats.
- AI-Powered Functions: EdrawMind offers AI drawing, AI copywriting, AI translation, AI smart annotation, AI brainstorming, AI presentation, and the list goes on.
- Meeting/Project Management: Whether you want to manage meetings or projects, EdrawMind has proven to be a worthy source.
Reasons to Choose EdrawMind
A couple of reasons behind selecting EdrawMind for creating a matrix org structure are as follows.
- It is very simple and comes with a user-friendly interface.
- This tool offers a free trial for you to test the basic features.
- The paid plans are affordable compared to other competitors in the market.
- It supports different languages.
- EdrawMind is compatible with Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and Web.
- It is trusted by more than 25 million global users.
Ratings
The user reviews about EdrawMind from different platforms are given in the table below.
|
Platform |
Total Reviews |
Rating |
|
Capterra |
51 |
|
|
G2 |
11 |
|
|
GetApp |
51 |
Pricing Plans
The prices for different EdrawMind plans (as of writing this article) are listed below. For the updated price list, make sure you visit the pricing page.
|
Individuals |
Teams and Businesses |
Education |
|
$39 per month (subscription plan) |
$335.75 (per year) |
$35 (semi annual plan) |
|
$118 (perpetual plan) |
– |
$49 (yearly plan) |
|
$245 (bundle plan) |
– |
$79 (2-year plan) |
Part 5. Why Make an Org Chart?
Well, an org chart has proven to be an excellent tool for an organization to streamline its workflow and maintain a good working environment. This diagram clearly defines the responsibilities and roles of everyone working within the organization. In addition, it helps enhance collaboration and boost communication between employees.
The major factor why you should use an org chart is its ability to promote scalability. It supports everyone's accountability and makes the environment transparent for each employee. Moreover, an org chart is known for efficient success planning and improved decision making. A well-crafted org chart makes sure that every employee gets motivated and cares about their career advancement.
Summing Up
The above discussion helps you learn what a matrix org structure is and what pros and cons it offers. Out of many matrix organizational structure advantages and disadvantages, common ones are listed above. The top benefits include informed decision making and increased productivity. On the other hand, heavy workloads and managerial conflicts are the leading drawbacks of a matrix organization.
If you are searching for a credible matrix org structure maker, try EdrawMind. It features pre-built templates, easy customization, and real-time collaboration at a fair cost. If you are a new user, you can use the free trial without investing a single penny.
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