Core organization design frameworks.
We know the joke: consultants use way too many frameworks. But these are our favorites. Rooted in Jay Galbraith’s methodology and refined over years of practice, these are the essential models we rely on to guide our clients.
A continuum of integration options.
- 01 · Voluntary or informal groups
Co-location, function and industry networks, training & workshops, annual meetings & retreats, communities of practice.
- 02 · Management and business processes
Management Processes are the regular organizational activities that guide, monitor, and coordinate operations. Business Processes are the core activities that create direct value for customers.
- 03 · Aligned metrics and incentives
Integrate individual and team performance measures to balance specific unit-level goals with broader organizational needs.
- 04 · Formal networks
Require shared data, tools, and strategic agendas, where members maintain regular roles but unite for specific opportunities.
- 05 · Cross-organization team
Formal structures requiring senior sponsorship, project management, and allocated resources, making them more resource-intensive than networks.
- 06 · Integrator roles
Serve as a separate interface between teams (and customers), common in roles like account managers, program leaders, and product managers.
- 07 · Matrix reporting
The strongest form of integration, but can only succeed when built on a foundation of strong collaborative management practices.
Hover over a step — the higher you climb, the stronger the connection, and the harder it is to run.
Every organization needs structure to create focus, but those same structures inevitably create boundaries between teams. The goal is to identify exactly where collaboration adds real value. From there, you must look at each integration need individually and design the lightest-touch linkage to build connection. The seven steps, from voluntary groups up to matrix reporting, are cumulative: each stronger connection only works when built on the ones below it.
How we use it with clients
We use the ladder to widen the option set. When two parts of the organization need to work together, leaders often jump straight to matrix reporting, when in reality most integration needs are served by far lighter connections at far lower cost. Just as often the lesson runs the other way: collaboration does not happen simply because leaders ask for it, and an informal expectation may need to be formalized into shared processes or aligned metrics and incentives before behavior actually changes.