Longer-term benefits would accrue when these seconded staff returned to their substantive positions, as it was felt that the experience would provide them with an increased appreciation for the benefits of audit. Organizationally, the sector moved to a matrix structure from the former approach of specialist teams. Transition to this style was facilitated by the relatively small number of permanent audit staff and the special consideration given to both the individual preferences and background experience of staff seconded from operational units. Life is not always perfect, however. One major problem relates to the shift of staff from one assignment to another.
Any unscheduled delays can have a snowball effect on the start time of new assignments.
A side effect is the creation of some tension between audit managers who view delays on one audit as contributing to delays in their own assignments. Further, the lack of a standard methodology created problems in shifting from one team to another. In retrospect, it may have been preferable to have the methodology in place rather than to develop the methodology concurrently with the shift to the matrix. However, as the methodology started to take shape, these problems have gradually abated. In a process-oriented environment, we would not have been allowed to undertake our new approach without having carefully planned and implemented new procedures and methods.