Create a Matrix Organizational Chart: Matrix Structure Guide

In the fast-paced and complex world of organizational management, understanding structures and people dynamics is paramount. OrgChart, a trailblazer in organizational structures, provides solutions that cut through this complexity and deliver organizational clarity for HR professionals. Our aim is not just to meet the requirements of today but to empower our clients with the tools they need to design the organizations of tomorrow.

In the words of our CEO, Tom McCarty, “In the grand scheme of organizational development, it’s not just about mapping who reports to whom. It’s about understanding the different dimensions of your organization – from the current state to the dynamic changes and the future possibilities. At OrgChart, we are committed to providing a solution that captures this multi-dimensionality.”

With this in mind, we often work with clients who ask, “How do I chart our matrix organization the right way?” A matrix organization chart offers a distinctive perspective compared to a traditional org chart, providing a concentrated view of the people and functions associated with a particular project or objective. This article will delve into the differences between the two and showcase the power of our unique solution that has profoundly impacted our clients.

Welcome to the OrgChart experience. Let’s explore the journey of creating a matrix organization chart together.

What Is a Matrix Org Chart?

A matrix organization chart clarifies non-linear reporting structures within a company, particularly companies that use cross-functional teams. Matrix org charts visually depict the dual reporting lines employees have. 

For example: One employee may report to a functional manager (e.g. the marketing director) and also a project manager. Instead of listing this one employee (and their data) in two places in your org chart, matrix charts enable you to account for more complex reporting lines.

Matrix org charts help everyone understand how expertise flows across departments for successful project completion.

Types of Matrix Organizational Structures

Here is a breakdown to help you better understand common types of matrix organizational structures. 

Type of Matrix Org Structure	Authority Characteristics	Benefits	Drawbacks
Weak Matrix	Functional managers hold the most authority. Project managers have limited-authority. They perform coordination roles and rely on functional managers to get things done.	Functional expertise and tasks are prioritized. Easily translates from a traditional hierarchical structure.	Functional priorities may overshadow project initiatives. Project managers may become frustrated due to lack of control and reliance on functional managers.
Balanced Matrix	Equal prioritization and power between functional managers and project managers.  Employee and team members report equally to both.	Promotes better collaboration.  Encourages knowledge sharing across functions and projects. Project managers maintain some control over project goals.	Dual reporting requires strong communication, prioritization, and management skills. Potential for conflicting priorities. Potential for unclear decision-making authority.
Strong Matrix	Project managers have significant control and authority, allowing them to control key aspects of resources, budget, and team members.	Enables a project-oriented workplace culture with emphasis on goal attainment. Allows for quick decisions and pivots by project managers.	Functional managers may feel disconnected from their teams. Functional expertise may be undervalued and/or underutilized.

Core Elements of a Matrix Organization Chart

A well-designed matrix organization chart is crucial for fostering clear communication and effective collaboration within a dual reporting structure. But mapping out your org chart can be a challenge! 

Here’s a breakdown of the key elements to consider when building your matrix org chart:

Roles and Responsibilities

• Define Your Functional Roles: Include a concise description of the core duties and areas of expertise associated with each functional department (e.g. marketing, engineering). This clarifies what’s expected from team members within their functional teams.

• Define Your Project Roles: Include a clear definition of the specific roles assigned within each project (e.g. project lead, developer). This ensures everyone understands who is responsible for what task within the project team.

Functional Managers

• Reporting Lines: You may see the use of solid lines to visually depict the direct reporting structure from team members to functional managers. This reinforces the functional manager’s role in performance management, career development, and the wellbeing of their department reports.

Project Managers

• Project Authority: Typically, this is a visual representation using a different line style to depict the project reporting line (e.g. dotted lines in dotted line reporting). This acknowledges a project manager’s authority over project tasks, timelines, and resource allocation within the project team.

Intersection Points

• Grouping by Project and Function: The matrix org chart structure is grid-based, instead of the traditional, more linear hierarchy. Functional departments are listed on one axis, and projects are listed on the other. Team members are positioned at the intersection points where their functional expertise aligns with their project involvement.

Team Members

• Names and Titles: Be sure to include team member names and titles, within both their functional department and project roles. This helps to eliminate confusion about who to contact for specific needs.

How to Create a Matrix Organizational Chart

Creating a matrix organizational chart can seem daunting, but with OrgChart, the process becomes straightforward and manageable. Here are the steps to help you make your matrix organizational chart with ease:

Step 1: Have Data

Before you start, ensure that you have the data you desire to have in your org chart available somewhere. This includes employee names, job titles, managers, and department details. The data should also contain any secondary reporting relationships or project-specific assignments.

Step 2: Import Your Data into OrgChart or Integrate Your Systems to Import

Using OrgChart, import your data. Our platform can easily integrate with popular HRIS, simplifying this process. If your core HR system does not allow you to assign an employee to more than one manager, you can upload an Excel file with the necessary information.

Step 3: Enable Auxiliary Reporting

Enable Auxiliary Reporting in the Chart Settings: Mapping panel, and then refresh. OrgChart will automatically generate a second employee box for those who report to more than one manager.

Step 4: Format Dotted Line Relationships

You can use the View Manager to format how these boxes look, and make them distinct from other records, if desired.

Step 5: Visualize, Filter, and Share

Once you’ve formatted how you want your chart to look, you can use OrgChart’s filtering and highlighting tools to filter by project or functional area, seeing auxiliary employees appear under both their primary and secondary supervisors. Finally, share the interactive org chart within your organization, or collaborate with key stakeholders to add key data metrics and generate “what-if” scenarios.

Advantages of the Matrix Organizational Structure

Compared to traditional hierarchical structures, a matrix organizational structure offers several advantages. Let’s discuss the key benefits that can be particularly attractive for organizations:

• Better Resource Utilization: Matrix structures excel at bringing in the right people with the right skills for specific projects. This allows for a more efficient allocation of resources, eliminating the need for duplicate expertise or having employees inefficiently perform tasks outside of their scope of work. 

• More Flexibility: The ability to form cross-functional teams allows organizations to adapt quickly to changing market demands and project requirements. Teams can be assembled with the necessary expertise rather quickly, fostering a dynamic and responsive work environment. This is particularly beneficial in industries with fast-paced innovation cycles.

• Superior Communication and Decision-Making: Matrix structures can break down departmental silos, help achieve optimal span of control, and encourage collaboration across different areas of the organization. By working on projects together, team members from various departments exchange ideas and perspectives, leading to a more holistic approach to problem-solving and decision-making.

• Skill Development Opportunities: Working cross-functionally exposes employees to new skills and knowledge outside their traditional departments. This encourages professional growth, increases employee engagement, and allows them to develop a broader understanding of the organization’s overall operations.

Disadvantages of the Matrix Organizational Structure 

While matrix org chart structures offer plenty of advantages, here are some things HR professionals and leadership will need to keep in mind:

Challenges of Matrix Org Structures	Key Considerations	How to Mitigate
High Level of Complexity	Managing dual reporting lines and cross-functional teams can be intricate and challenging.  Clear communication and well-defined roles are essential to avoid confusion and wasted effort.	Leverage communication tools: Make it easy for employees to communicate with functional management and project management. Invest in team training and onboarding: From the start, help employees develop a clear understanding of their roles within their departments and teams. Develop RACI charts: Clearly define who is Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed for specific project tasks.
Frequent Role Confusion	With dual reporting lines, employees might experience unclear expectations or conflicting priorities from their functional manager and project manager.	Establish frequent check-ins: Schedule check-ins with functional managers, project managers, and team members to ensure everyone is aligned on roles and responsibilities. Collaborate with functional and project leadership: Take time to clarify and define roles within the department and projects.
Manager-to-Manager Conflict	Functional managers and project managers may have differing priorities or management styles.  This can lead to interpersonal conflict, confuse team members, and hinder project progress.	Follow a clear-cut conflict resolution process: Approach conflict resolution objectively and allow managers to collaborate towards a solution. Ensure executive leadership support: Ahead of a matrix restructuring rollout, get buy-in from executive leadership and stakeholders.
High Management Overhead	Coordinating and managing multiple teams can add to overall management overhead.	Leverage technology: When appropriate, adopt technologies and automated workflows that can improve communication, streamline steps, and improve efficiency. Comb through the reporting process: Identify areas to streamline, including how to reduce information overload and duplicative reporting.
Slow Decision-Making Processes	Achieving consensus among multiple players can slow down decision-making within a matrix structure.	Support managers with predefined decision frameworks: From manager empowerment to creating predefined steps and parameters, discover ways to ensure consistency without constant, manual checks and balances from other decision-makers.

How Do Matrix Org Charts Differ from Other Organizational Structures?

“How can I chart our matrix organization?” is a frequently asked question, but it requires a baseline understanding of this type of organizational structure. Let’s examine how a matrix org chart differs from a traditional org chart before we introduce the how‑tos.

Conventional, “Top-Down” Organizational Charts

We’ve all seen the basic org chart below. This standard org structure is a formal or payroll hierarchy, providing answers to questions like who reports to whom and some primary data such as name and title. This is a helpful view when you need to know who approves a person’s timesheet or is responsible for an employee review.

Are Dotted-Line Org Charts Matrix Org Charts?

Dotted-line org charts, an integral part of matrix organization charts, visually represent secondary or “dotted-line” reporting relationships within an organization. Unlike traditional organizational charts that strictly depict the primary hierarchical structure, a dotted-line org chart introduces an additional layer of complexity by illustrating the functional or project-based relationships. These charts can be handy in organizations where employees report to multiple supervisors, such as in project-based roles or cross-functional teams. A matrix org chart showing dotted-line relationships is also a type of functional org chart.

With OrgChart, you can easily incorporate dotted lines into your charts, clearly depicting these additional relationships and providing a comprehensive view of your organization’s dynamics. Remember, understanding your organization extends beyond knowing who reports to whom in a primary hierarchy; it’s about visualizing the entire operational matrix.

Taking this view further, we can show dotted-line relationships, indicating where employees report to another manager (e.g., a project manager) for a temporary assignment. This view provides both the formal structure of the organization and a perspective on who is working for an auxiliary manager, helping visualize the people involved in a specific project in the context of everyone else in the company.

The Matrix Organization Chart

Creating a matrix organization chart is valuable because it allows a focused view of the people and functions related to a specific project.

OrgChart addresses the challenge of visually representing a matrix organization in sub-charts. By duplicating the box in each sub-chart and including a link to allow users to jump back and forth, it’s possible to see exactly where an employee reporting to two managers sits in both organization groups.

Matrix Structure in Practice: An Example

To solidify your understanding of matrix org chart structures, let’s look at a real-world example in the construction industry. 

In large construction projects, a matrix structure is commonly used due to the need for specialized expertise across various disciplines. You often need support for laying the foundation, creating the frame, plumbing, wiring, design, and more. And many of these specialties collaborate with one another on a near-constant basis.

Here’s a simplified breakdown of the reporting structure to inform a construction company organizational chart:

• Functional Managers: These managers oversee specific departments within the construction company, such as engineering, surveying, or safety. They are responsible for the overall performance and expertise within their departments.

• Project Manager: The project manager leads the entire construction project, coordinating all the different departments involved. They hold a central role, ensuring all aspects of the project (budget, schedule, quality) are met. 

• Team Members: The team members or contractors typically report to both a functional manager and a project manager.

As you can see, this creates a dual reporting structure where team members have expertise from their department while also being accountable to the project’s overall goals.

Workforce Planning with OrgChart

With OrgChart, workforce planning becomes a breeze. It can help you model future organizational changes and understand their impact. Collaborate in real-time with key stakeholders to create actionable future workforce plans and prepare for significant people-related changes or forecast organizational structures post-merger.

OrgChart is the solution for creating visually informative charts at a glance that are easily shareable as an interactive PDF or on the company intranet. This can be automatically generated in minutes and refreshed as the organization evolves and people change.

Request an OrgChart Demo

OrgChart is not just an organizational charting tool; it’s a powerful visualization instrument for HR professionals looking to track key metrics, generate “what-if” scenarios., and trial future organizational states.

Now that you’ve seen the power and possibilities of using OrgChart to create and manage your Matrix Organization Chart, why not take the next step? Unleash the full potential of your org chart with OrgChart. Combine all your people data in one place, visualize the current state, and model your future organization. It’s efficient, effective and provides the insight you need to facilitate workforce planning and realize your organization’s future vision.

Remember, we’re here to make things easier for you. If you’re curious about how OrgChart can revolutionize your workforce planning and give a new dimension to your organizational chart, request a demo today.