Surviving in a Matrixed World: Making the Horizontal Organization Work for You

Is your organization attempting to make a matrix structure work with minimal success? Are you stock piling unresolved border conflcits that are stalling performance? Turns out, most organizations that choose a matrixed strategy, often for very good reasons, fall short in implementing them with success. This may be for you. Read

By Mindy Millward

Designing Global Organizations

Trying to keep pace with an evolving marketplace has your organization struggling to make the pieces (people, systems, processes) fit together to deliver results.

You have an organization designed for yesterday’s problems and challenges. Your competitors and customers are pushing you on a daily basis to find a new way to compete and meet their needs. Countless reorganizations, mergers/acquisitions, growth or downsizing and changes in leadership have led to an organization that no longer fits together to perform. The way your organization is designed could deliver on any strategy - or none. You need a design that will enable success, not jeopardize it.

We bring knowledge and expertise on global organization design and a process for ensuring your leaders understand the trade-offs inherent in aligning your organization with strategy and ambitions. We take a systemic view of your environment, your organization and your options for design. We push your leaders to find the “sweet spot” between what your marketplace demands and what your organization can deliver. We ensure you’ve got a realistic plan to execute your design and ensure the organization is ready to run when you need it to.

Will your organization be prepared for what’s next in the marketplace and able to take advantage of it with an organizational model that enables flexibility, agility and success?

Is this for you?

Is your organization a drag on performance rather than an accelerator?
Are you constantly working around the systems/processes/people to get real work done?
Does you organization design resemble every one of your competitors as opposed to leading to real advantage?
Have recent market changes led to a disconnect between your size/scope/responsiveness and what the market demands?
Does organization design just equate to organization charts as opposed to a comprehensive set of choices that drive performance?

“Passages did outstanding work on our organizational assessments. They lifted up the hood and gave me a good sense about these organizations that I normally wouldn’t get.”
“Passages leverages a body of knowledge but was quick to customize it to our needs.”
“They don’t overlay a formula or program on a situation. The work they do is more customized compared to other consulting firms. They don’t force an off-the-shelf solution.”
“It was the combination of Passages’ vision for the structure and the people that made us successful. The work they did allowed us to cut costs, which turned out to be very fortunate given the economic times. It went really well and exceeded expectations.”
“The confidence from the proposal stage translated immediately into work. The Passages team was smart enough to get a specific work order and have metrics such as timetables and responsibilities around it, which was different than previous experiences.”
“Passages impressed me in how they came in to work on it right away and there was no degree of chasing after them. They took on mundane work like meetings, updates and communications. They have a “we own it” attitude. They were hands-on and willing to be measured on progress.”
“Passages brought passion and made me excited about what we were working on.”
“Passages helped us with building teamwork. Beforehand, we were all separate. They helped to bring us all on the same page.”
“The consultants at Passages have such different personalities and they complement each other beautifully. Together, they have a good rhythm. They have good synergy and rapport with one another.”
“Passages has a great deal of confidence and gave us a strong sense that they have 'seen this before' and how to work with what you’ve got. It’s not an overdone confidence. It’s cool, calm, we’ve been there, done that, we can show results and a track record.”
“Passages has the ability to influence the culture inside-out through intentioned action planning. I got full value from the engagement. What they gave us was actionable and we drove it through the organization, including work on a leadership pipeline and generational leaders.”
“I’ve had some other consultants around but what sets Passages apart is that they're genuine and trustworthy.”
“The Passages team wants to make a difference. They truly want to help people be successful and go beyond what’s required of them to make it happen.”
“The Passages team are very quick to see the problems of the business. They allowed us to find the answer for ourselves and own them. They know the answer too but they're smart enough to know that we have to own it and that it’s got to be right for us.”
“Passages gets it. They understand what I wanted to get out of the project, what the challenges are. They didn’t underestimate the challenges and yet he had a very optimistic view of our situation.”
“The people at Passages are honest. They told me which organizations that were going to be successful, which had potential and which were questionable. Passages told me what I could expect and said things I didn’t want to hear. Their assessment was accurate. I valued their candor.”
“The consultants at Passages can read people well. They can predict how they would behave and gave an accurate analysis of the organizations and their leaders.”
“I’ve used different consultants but my experience with Passages is that there is a certain comfort level there. I value their input, there’s a sense of trust, integrity and competence.”
“Passages most important contribution is their ability to see the big picture, and help transform the situation for the future.”
“The consultants at Passages ask provocative questions. They have major courage and will tell it like it is. They have a lot of integrity.”
“Passages has the ability to take an extraordinary amount of data and zero in on key drivers of change. They're very strong in culture assessment and can size up an organization quickly. They are able to draw insights from the data and have it received well by the organization.”