MOTW: Matrix Manager

Most people who work in a large multinational company have had one of these at some point in their careers, but what is a Matrix Manager and what does a Matrix Manager do? The answer is no one really knows. Typically this manager appears above you in a remote part of the organizational chart. You are depicted several layers below him/her connected by a dotted line path with many twists and turns resembling some child’s random twirling of the knobs on an Etch-a-Sketch . This manager rarely interacts with you, doesn’t really know what you do, but at review time opines on your performance and gets some indeterminate say on your raise and bonus. Eventually your matrix manager moves on and is replaced by another, even less connected and more remote Matrix Manager whom you hope to eventually speak with at some point within the next performance management cycle.