Dotted-line reporting

Intermediate 👥 Human Resources

Definition

A secondary reporting relationship drawn as a dashed line on an org chart, where a person takes input from someone outside their direct chain of command. It is a matrix structure in miniature, and it causes confusion in equal measure.

Example Usage

She has a solid line to marketing and a dotted line to product, so she now attends two sets of planning meetings and reports to neither fully.

Source: Organizational design terminology

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