Matrix organisation structure doesn’t suit modern software teams

Organisation structure and reporting lines impact behaviour, motivation and focus more than anything else.

As much as we may try to create positive change towards greater agility, collaboration, innovation, we must change organisation structure to achieve the greatest shift towards our desired outcomes.

The biggest change I saw was when we moved away from Matrix Organisation reporting lines and made the Scrum team the unit.

Representation of a typical Matrix Organisation structure

Matrix organisations made sense in the era of specialist employees and production lines in factories. Line managers would hire for the skillset that they are expert in.

In the modern era of software development, where T-shaped team members and combined skillsets thrive, the need for specialist line managers goes away. We want to increase our Adaptability without compromising good Leadership, Communication and Problem-solving.

Matrix organisations restrict skills acquisition, knowledge transfer, and portability of skills across teams and domains. They prevent Curiosity and Empathy.

A lot of organisations are resistant to moving away from Matrix format structure, and quite often because of HR-driven organisation structure, reporting lines and performance management.

There are ways of breaking out of Matrix organisation, especially for I.T teams, and the benefits are faster teams, greater collaboration, increased cross-pollination of skills and capabilities, and continuous improvement mindset.

As more organisations move to the Product Operating Model, they discover alternative team structures and apply modern organisation design practices. Team Topologies has articulated a number of team structures to help increase the flow of work.