Managing the Matrix: The Secret to Surviving and Thriving in Your Organization

Epilogue

Everyone in a matrix, and some would say everyone who works in a modern economy, must be ready for high mobility, work with confused or multiple hierarchies and be able to assimilate multiple perspectives. They must collaborate, communicate and persuade; often across geography and function with all the attendant multicultural and language issues.

Having high practical EI, that is the ability and desire to use a range of tools to notice, manage and use emotions so that you can influence your behaviour and that of others is fundamental to success in these conditions.

High practical EI allows us to manage ourselves and others so that we can achieve our goals and help them achieve theirs. Pretending emotions suddenly stop at the front door of the office or after a certain grade is silly; ignoring the elephant in the room doesn't stop a rather distinctive odour from arising over time.

Using the 15 tools isn't difficult – the hard part is remembering to practise and doing it in such a way that you can use them at will and with skill so that you get better over time and move up the rungs of the ladder. Ideally this would mean training followed by some kind of “buddy” whether that's a professional executive coach, a direct manager, another colleague or a peer. The key is that the “buddy” must be skilled and motivated. Other resources might also help like joining a group on LinkedIn or following a blog devoted to this subject as this will help keep the tools and the need to use ...