Working with Washington County Library (MN), referenced in other blogs, we took an initial dive into Gallup’s concept of the the highly-matrixed workplace, and its positive impacts on organizational development and employee engagement.
Here’s a link to an introductory article. Click on the following link to open the entire report and scroll to page 133: Gallup State of the American Workplace 2017.
Here’s a quick summary and why it’s important especially for public libraries:
1. Many organizations are adopting a matrixed approach that focuses on multiple teams working in parallel. Matrixed environments mean employees work in multiple teams and with team members who may report to different managers.
2. Organizations are structuring teams that cut across functions, products, geographies, and reporting structures, instead of more simple teams that are organized by departments.
3. Matrixed teams are beneficial for collaboration, creativity, decision-making, performance, productivity, and customer relationships.
4. Highly matrixed employees report that their positive work experiences result in high levels of engagements, experiencing a 22% lift in engagement over non-matrixed employees.
Of course, one of the challenges of working in highly matrixed teams is time management to get one’s “normal” work done. And coordination.
We’ll continue our work with Washington County Library, and our other customers, to evolve our thinking around this and related topics.
Let us know how we can help your library excel at highly-matrixed teams.
