What is a Matrix based Approval Workflow?
Matrix management is an organizational structure in which individuals report to more than one supervisor (e.g. a “functional” manager and a “project / product” manager).
It enables cross-functional collaboration by overlaying project or product lines across traditional functional (departmental) hierarchies.
Key challenges include accountability lines, conflicting priorities, authority ambiguity, and complexity in decision-making.
In short, matrix management is about dual authority lines and multi-dimensional responsibility in organizations.
| R&D Manager | Production Manager | Marketing Manager | Finance Manager |
Project A Manager | Employee 1 | Employee 6 | Employee 11 | Employee 16 |
Project B Manager | Employee 2 | Employee 7 | Employee 12 | Employee 17 |
Project C Manager | Employee 3 | Employee 8 | Employee 13 | Employee 18 |
Project D Manager | Employee 4 | Employee 9 | Employee 14 | Employee 19 |
Project E Manager | Employee 5 | Employee 10 | Employee 15 | Employee 20 |
Rows represent Projects (A, B, C, D, E).
Columns represent Departments (R&D, Production, Marketing, Finance).
Rule - Approving Authority: Requester’s Project Manager AND Requester’s Functional Manager.
Example -
If a Employee 6 submits a leave request or expense approval, it is escalated to both his Production Manager and Project 1 Manager.
Such an approval system can be implemented in Asanify with the help of Custom Fields.
Step 1 - Navigate to Custom Fields
Login to Asanify as an Admin. Click on Custom Fields under Company tab in left navigation pane.
Step 2 - Create a Custom Field
Click on + New Field. Name it Approving Manager or Functional Manager. You can add a Description if you want to as well. Click on Next.
Select Data Type as Person. You can add a placeholder text if you want to as well. Click on Next
Manage Permissions and Click on Create.
Step 3 - Update Custom Fields
You can do this in two ways -
One-by-one - Navigate to Others tab in each Employees' profile and edit the newly created Approving Manager Custom Field.
Bulk Update - Navigate to Bulk Import Custom Fields Data. Download the excel template file and update the data.
Click on Start Upload and add the updated excel file to bulk update custom fields for all employees.
Step 4 - Configure Approval Workflow
Navigate to Approvals under Company tab in the left navigation pane and select the workflow that you want to configure.
Click on Edit Workflow and then Add an Approval step. In approving authority, select requester's Approving Manager.
Click on Preview and Add Approval Step. Check for a sample Employee. Once done, delete the existing Approval Step and click on Update Steps
