Matrix from Amsterdam

Yesterday Tony Poots and I attended an event in Amsterdam run by Strategic Insights. Their business model is to match up suppliers with companies that are interested in their services.

It was the first time at this kind of event for us so it was an experiment. They expected to arrange 12 meetings on the topics of matrix management, virtual teams and global working. In fact, we had an initial 20 companies asking to meet us, and several more that emerged on the day – all pretty large multinational organizations with tens to hundreds of thousands of people around the world.

We gave the people we met copies of “Making the Matrix Work” [ed: Kevan’s new book] and interest in it was very encouraging. A couple of our existing clients were there by coincidence and (thank you) did a great job of recommending our work to others.

As a result, we kept getting more and more meetings and interest. In the end, Tony and I had meetings every 30 minutes all day, including over lunch.

In nearly all of the meetings, the discussion was about matrix management and the need to up-skill people for this more complex world. Only one of 25 companies we talked to offered any specific training in the skills required  – and all recognised the challenges.

We are looking forward to learning more about these companies and to welcoming many of them as new clients. Summary: a successful day and further validation that a matrix organization is be becoming the norm in large complex companies.

Why not…?

• Find out more about “Making the Matrix Work, How Matrix Managers Engage People and Cut Through Complexity” by Kevan Hall
• Find out more about training people for effective working in a matrix
• See some of the customers that Global Integration has worked with.
• Contact us to find out what we can do for you, using the useful form on the right hand side of this page (on most devices) or calling your closest regional office

 (Note: images updated March 2013)