This approach seeks to enhance efficiency and communication and to empower everyone in the organisation. It moves from performance management toward performance support and is a more collective and collaborative approach to handling the multiple challenges and opportunities that arise in modern business when moving at speed. It is as much a fundamental cultural shift as structural change and will rely on culture-building activity in parallel with implementing flatter management principles.

If we are to unleash a bold age of empowerment that everyone can buy into, that may (for some) mean ripping up the twentieth-century ways of doing things and creating a more agile organisation for digitally fuelled, accelerating twenty-first-century leadership.

Predictions that by the 2030s, this will be more closely supported by intelligent AI. Recognising the evolving workforce transformation and ways of working, our employees will continue to narrow the capability gap between the top of the organisation and individual contributors, in terms of the new knowledge, skills and behaviours needed for the digital business era.

These are areas that some legacy executive leaders and boards are woefully behind on, or at least struggling with. In fact, they are entering into one of the steepest learning curves across the business, to build their modern business and leadership capabilities and, in some cases, just to keep their head above the water.

With a more empowered, competent workforce, this takes pressure off even the most traditional leaders. They are released to focus on more strategic considerations, as greater ownership of strategic implementation is spread across the business, with the many contributing to enhanced organisational success, rather than the few.

With this in mind, organisations and individuals can unlock ten key benefits by implementing the horizontal management structural approach:

1. Empowered decision-making. Rather than a strict top–down approach, team members have more control over decisions related to their responsibilities and projects. This facilitates swift actions and agile problem-solving.
2. Trust and empowerment. Trusting team members with decision-making fosters a sense of ownership, often leading to heightened creativity and job satisfaction.
3. Transparency in communication. This creates a culture where everyone feels comfortable sharing insights, critiques, and suggestions without repercussions.
4. Team collaboration. The absence of stringent hierarchies fosters multi-disciplinary collaboration, bringing in varied expertise and viewpoints.
5. Minimal red tape. A condensed managerial structure results in faster approvals, without the unnecessary sign-off layers that many organisations have to deal with.
6. Adaptability. With fewer bureaucratic procedures, flat organisations can swiftly adjust to business shifts.
7. Ongoing skill development. In a flat structure, employees often juggle multiple roles, emphasising the need for continuous learning and skill enhancement.
8. Peer feedback. While formal assessments might persist, there’s a greater focus on continuous feedback from peers.
9. Accountability and autonomy. More freedom also means more responsibility. Employees are trusted to innovate but are held responsible for outcomes.
10. Guiding leadership. Instead of authoritative roles, leaders in flat organisations act more as mentors or enablers, ensuring teams have the necessary resources and clearing potential roadblocks.

Despite its advantages, horizontal management isn’t free from challenges and there are some traps to avoid in implementing horizontal management principles.

As companies expand, sustaining a wholly flat framework might get complicated. There can be ambiguity in roles and possible conflicts without an evident hierarchical mediator, as well as inefficiency risks. To address this, some companies opt for a “semi-flat” structure, keeping a middle ground. Ultimately, to effectively transition to horizontal management, a company must nurture a cultural shift, be open to modifications and utilise strong communication tools to boost teamwork. Only then can they truly unlock the benefits.