Line Management versus Network Leadership 1/2

I strongly believe in the abilities and flexibility of network-organisations to deliver value in a continuous way, inspired by books like 'Project to Product' from Mik Kersten and 'Team Topologies' from Mathew Skelton and Manual Pais. However, these (and other related) books do not say much about the (changing) role of the 'traditional' line organisation.

I experienced myself, that there is a lot of tension and misunderstanding between line management and network organisation leadership.

Line Management in Traditional Organisations

Let's first have a brief look where we are coming from. Traditionally, line management is responsible for people and delivery: hiring, performance management, coaching, budgeting, and career development. Teams are often assembled temporarily for projects, and reporting lines don’t necessarily align with value delivery. Often, these line managers become the executive or senior supplier for these projects.

In this setup:

• Managers own the people.

• Projects own the work.

• Teams disband when the project ends.

However, this traditional set-up is under pressure for a number of reasons:

Markets are shifting faster than ever. Traditional hierarchies turn out to be too slow to adapt, causing decision bottlenecks at the top.

An other reason why the traditional organization need to change is the complexity of the work. Work today is complex and interdependent, no single function can succeed alone. Teams need to collaborate across silos, network organisations prioritise team interactions over strict reporting lines.

Talented employees want autonomy, purpose and a voice. Network organisations create space for empowered teams with clear missions. Leaders shift from “bosses” to enablers of flow and value delivery.

Network Organisation Leadership

In Network Organisations we strive for long-lived, flow-aligned teams and a move toward value stream networks; cross-functional, autonomous teams that continuously deliver value.

From Mik Kersten we learn:

• Leadership shifts from command and control to enable and empower.

• Instead of temporary projects, you have persistent product value streams.

• Leaders focus on removing flow bottlenecks, aligning funding and metrics with value delivery, and supporting long-term team health.

From 'Team Topologies' we learn:

• Emphasises on team-first thinking, teams are the unit of delivery.

• Managers act more like coaches and enablers, helping teams maintain a healthy team cognitive load and interface effectively with other teams.

• Organizational leadership is about designing the team landscape, enabling fast flow through well-defined team interactions.

Below an overview of some important differences between a traditional hierarchical organisation and a network organisation.

Traditional Organisation	Network Organisation
Siloed hierarchy	Flow-aligned teams
Command & control	Empowered, autonomous teams
Project-based	Product/value stream-based
Rigid structure	Adaptive, flexible networks
Slow to change	Designed for change

Relationship between Line Management and Network Leadership

In an organization where the network structure generates value, line management still exists. However, their role may differ from that in a traditional organization.

Line Management	Network Organisation Leadership
Responsible for people’s career paths, skills development, and well-being.	Responsible for enabling fast flow, optimizing team interactions, and aligning around value streams.
Acts as a coach and mentor to individuals within teams.	Acts as an architect of team topologies, ensuring organizational design supports flow.
Helps build and maintain team capabilities.	Helps design team interactions, boundaries and ensures minimal cognitive load.
May still handle admin aspects (HR processes, salary reviews, etc.).	Focuses on system design, platform thinking and product lifecycle management.

Line managers become enablers within the network, not command-and-control figures. They support individuals and teams within the larger system of flow that network leaders design and optimize. Think of line managers as gardening the talent, while network leadership designs the garden layout for optimal growth and value delivery.

How does this work?

Let's focus on the example of hiring and firing of people in this construct of line management working together with network leadership.

Hiring and firing decisions are where the collaboration between line management and network-oriented leadershipreally needs to be thoughtful and well-aligned. Here's how they can work together effectively,

Hiring: Collaboration Model

Line Management Responsibilities:

• Own the people strategy: what kind of talent the organisation needs long-term (skills, culture fit, development potential).

• Drive the hiring process: sourcing, interviewing, offer, onboarding.

• Ensure new hires align with career frameworks and development paths.

Network Leadership Responsibilities:

• Define the capability needs of the teams: what skillsets, mindsets, and team roles are needed for fast flow.

• Provide input into hiring profiles based on the work that needs to be done now and in the near future.

• Often conduct or co-conduct technical/team-fit interviews to ensure alignment with the team topology and interaction modes.

Working Together:

• Use shared hiring criteria: both people development and flow delivery needs are considered.

• Involve teams in interviews to maintain team autonomy and ownership.

• Hire for team fit and long-term team effectiveness, not just individual brilliance.

  
  

Firing (or Offboarding): Collaboration Model

Line Management Responsibilities:

• Own the formal HR/legal process.

• Ensure fairness, documentation, and adherence to policies.

• Manage the impact on the individual (e.g., coaching before termination, exit support).

Network Leadership Responsibilities:

• Surface issues around team performance, collaboration breakdowns, or skill gaps.

• Provide feedback about how the person is impacting flow efficiency, team dynamics, or delivery quality.

• Work with line management to explore remediation first (e.g., coaching, re-skilling, role changes).

Working Together:

• Shared, transparent feedback loops between network leadership and line managers.

• Co-own the decision, but with clearly distinct roles:

  • Network leadership identifies flow issues or blockers.

  • Line management owns people actions and legal/accountability.

    
    

A Healthy Collaboration Requires:

• Psychological safety in surfacing performance or team-fit concerns.

• Joint understanding of team goals and flow metrics.

• Agreement on what constitutes a “successful team member”, both from a people and a systems perspective.

To be continued

In my upcoming post, I will discuss the outcomes of inadequate collaboration between line management and network leadership. Rest assured, I will also suggest some measures to prevent this situation.

We always welcome your experiences and feedback.