Course Highlights
This matrix teams training workshop will:
- Examine the characteristics most matrix teams share and the challenges that come with them.
- Explore how communicating strengths and preferences improves collaboration across functions.
- Discuss what managers and individual contributors each need to succeed in a matrix structure.
- Address the decision-making dynamics unique to teams with multiple reporting lines.
- Introduce the FAST framework for keeping goals visible and priorities aligned.
- Outline the behaviors that build and erode trust in a cross-functional environment.
Course Overview
Matrix teams bring together people from different functions, reporting lines, and priorities. The structure creates real advantages: diverse perspectives, flexible resource use, and the ability to tackle complex problems across departments. It also creates real friction: competing demands, unclear authority, and the ongoing challenge of staying aligned when no one person holds all the strings.
“Criss-Cross Functionality: Skills for Matrix Teams” is a half-day onsite workshop that gives matrix team members and their managers practical tools for working better across that complexity. The workshop addresses the full picture of matrix team life, from understanding how the people around you prefer to work and communicate, to navigating decisions when authority is shared, to keeping goals visible when daily pressures compete for attention.
The following outline highlights some of the workshop’s learning points. As part of your training program, we will modify content as needed to meet your business objectives. Upon request, we will provide you with a copy of the participant materials prior to the session(s).
Program Objectives
At this program’s conclusion, participants should be able to:
- Identify the characteristics most matrix teams share.
- Explain the importance of communicating work preferences and strengths in a matrix team environment.
- Articulate their own preferences and strengths.
- Discuss what managers and individual contributors each need to operate successfully in a matrix environment.
- Describe the different ways teams make decisions and when each approach fits.
- Use the FAST framework for keeping goals visible and priorities clear.
- Ask questions that help prioritize projects and tasks across competing demands.
- Outline the actions and behaviors that build and erode trust in a matrix environment.
Workshop Modules
A Full Deck: Understanding Our Team’s Strengths and Preferences
The workshop opens with the matrix structure itself. The group will examine the characteristics most matrix teams share, including the advantages and the challenges, and consider which of those dynamics are already present in their own environment. Participants will then explore why understanding individual strengths and preferences matters in cross-functional work and use a structured assessment to surface their own. The opening conversation sets the foundation for everything that follows by making the people in the room visible to one another in a new way.
Walk in My Shoes: What Managers and Individual Contributors Need
Attention then turns to the different experiences of the people working inside a matrix structure. The group will examine what managers typically want and what gets in their way, alongside what individual contributors need and where they most often feel friction. Participants will consider where those needs align and where they pull in different directions, and discuss what it takes to close that gap without waiting for someone else to go first.
A Matter of Choice: Ways Teams Make Decisions
Matrix teams face a specific decision-making challenge: authority is often shared, context is distributed across functions, and the right person to decide is not always obvious. This part of the day examines the range of approaches available when teams need to make a call. Participants will explore when each approach fits the situation and what happens when the wrong one gets applied. The group will also work through best practices for making decision-making more consistent and transparent across a matrix structure.
Work Balance: Visible Priorities
With multiple projects, multiple managers, and competing timelines, keeping priorities visible is one of the most practical challenges matrix team members face. This section introduces the FAST framework as a tool for setting and maintaining goals that stay alive beyond the meeting where they were agreed on. Participants will work through realistic scenarios that reflect the priority conflicts common in matrix environments and identify questions they can use to bring clarity when demands pile up.
Ritual and Relationship: The Connected Team
The workshop closes by addressing the relationship layer underneath everything else. Trust in a matrix environment does not build automatically. It builds through consistent behavior over time, and it erodes faster than most people realize. The group will identify the specific actions that strengthen trust across functions and the ones that quietly undermine it. Participants will also discuss how to preserve institutional knowledge, onboard new members effectively, and maintain connection with colleagues they rarely see in person.
Target Audience
This workshop is designed for groups that want to:
- Build a shared understanding of how matrix teams function and where they most often struggle.
- Improve communication, collaboration, and decision-making across functions and reporting lines.
- Strengthen the trust and relationships that make cross-functional work sustainable.
- Give both managers and individual contributors practical tools for navigating a matrix structure.
Frequently Asked Questions About This Matrix Teams Training Workshop
Who should attend this workshop?
Anyone working in a matrix environment benefits from this program, including individual contributors who report to more than one manager, project leads coordinating across functions, and managers responsible for people whose time is shared across teams. The workshop is designed to be useful to all of those roles simultaneously.
Does the content change based on the level of the group?
The core curriculum stays consistent, but the conversation naturally shifts based on who is in the room. A group of senior leaders will spend more time on decision-making authority and goal alignment. A group of individual contributors will tend to focus more on navigating competing demands and communicating with managers they rarely see. We can also adjust emphasis in advance based on your group’s specific priorities.
What is the FAST framework?
FAST is a goal-setting framework introduced during the workshop. The facilitator covers it as part of the session, so no advance preparation is needed.
Can this workshop be customized for our organization’s matrix structure?
Yes. As with all Business Training Works programs, we can modify content as needed to meet your group’s specific goals and objectives.
How long is this program?
The standard format is a half-day onsite session. Duration can be adjusted based on your schedule and priorities.