Matrix management only works with strong leadership and alignment. Otherwise it causes problems that the pressures of a bad economy can cause to fracture altogether. Dear Bob …I’m curious to hear your thoughts on “matrix organizations.” The proposed advantages are speed, maximizing use of skilled employees, etc. But the potential disadvantages seem particularly problematic in bad economic climates.That is, if I officially (straight-line) report to Manager-1 and work with (dotted-line) Manager-2 … and I’m worried about my job because, well, I have a brain … it seems highly likely that I’ll give Manager-1 more of my effort. I would bet that your Spidey-sense is tingling, and you’d be correct — I work in a matrix organization and no one directly reports to me, yet I’m expected to keep getting my work done through my dotted-line connections. Let’s just say that’s becoming a “challenge.”Are there inherently more difficulties with a matrix organization (vs. a functional org) during economic turbulence?– Matrixed Dear Keanu …Hmmm. The words that spring to mind when I hear “matrix organization” are “necessary evil.”It isn’t always possible to achieve the organization’s ends by having each employee report to the same manager under all circumstances. The most common example I know of is project participation — project managers need everyone who will be executing project tasks to be part of the project team. That doesn’t mean each project should be defined as a department with the PM at the head and everyone working on the project transferred there. Among the many obvious reasons, this stands out: Some project participants might only be responsible for one or two tasks.There are plenty of other situations that also call for dual reporting. Another common example is the enterprise that’s organized into semi-autonomous business units. Usually, each will have a CIO. So will corporate. Business unit CIOs report to business unit CEOs with a dotted line reporting relationship to the corporate CIO.When overall leadership is strong and everyone is aligned to a common purpose, matrix organizations usually work well. They become extravagantly messy under weak leadership and a heavily factionalized (siloed, if you prefer that term) culture, because under those circumstances everyone who reports to more than one person will find circumstances in which pleasing one boss will tick off the other. As you know.Now I’m ready to answer your question. I’d say that economic turbulence is certainly a source of organizational stress. In a well-led business this won’t cause too much trouble, because it’s the nature of effective leadership that it keeps everyone strongly aligned to shared goals, strategies and tactics.In a business that’s already factionalized, the additional stress can easily fracture it completely. And then, yes, matrix management can become seriously ugly. – Bob Technology Industry