This course contains the use of artificial intelligence.

A matrix is a structure where someone has two managers with different priorities and no mechanism for reconciling them. It does not survive on people being good at getting along.

Why it goes wrong so predictably

Both managers are reasonable. Both have real priorities. Neither has agreed with the other what happens when those priorities collide, so the person in the middle resolves it — usually by pleasing whoever asked most recently, or whoever is more senior, or whoever they are more afraid of. Nobody designed that decision rule and everybody lives with it. I have been the person in the middle and I have been one of the two managers, and the failure looked identical from both positions: nothing had been written down.

What this course actually covers

Seven blocks, built on the four things a matrix actually runs on. First, the construction itself: the three types of matrix, how power distributes inside each, where accountability separates from authority, span of control, and how a matrix gets introduced or changed. Second, shared goals in place of a shared manager — eight lessons on aligning several functions on one set of objectives with named owners, running the quarterly cycle, and connecting it to review and reward. Third, who decides what: the RACI model and the six levels of delegation. Fourth, what a role actually owns when two people direct it, and how to write that so both managers read it the same way. Fifth, negotiating rather than instructing, including objection handling and closing. Sixth, facilitating the meeting where two functions want opposite things. Seventh, open conflict — escalation, prevention and mediation.

A note on two of the blocks

Nine of the forty-three lessons come from a people-management frame: delegation is taught using employee examples, and the role profile as an instrument of the people function. The apparatus is exactly what a matrix needs — RACI, the levels of delegation, describing responsibility as observable action, and linking a role to its goals. Only the examples come from one department.

Who is teaching this

I am Mike. I built the people system at Preply as it became a unicorn, working across a matrix through its fastest growth, and I have worked at Wargaming, iDeals and Alfa-Bank. More than 1.6 million students have enrolled in my courses across 185 countries, and over 150,000 specialists have gone through my programmes. I hold PHRi and SHRM-CP certifications and represent HRCI in more than ten countries.

What is included

• Lifetime access to all 43 lessons

• Active instructor support in the Q&A section

• A Udemy Certificate of Completion

• Working material: the six design drivers, the three matrix types, the goal cycle, RACI, the six levels of delegation, role profiles and scorecards, the conflict resolution algorithm

• Real organisational cases, including Wargaming and ArcelorMittal

Where to start

Write down the last time two of your priorities were in direct conflict, and who decided which one won. If the answer is that you decided quietly and told nobody, that is the gap this course closes. Enrol now and start today.