Professionals working in managerial positions can benefit from defining their management style. Robert R. Blake and Jane Mouton together made a managerial grid that can help you identify your leadership style. Learning the basics of this managerial grid can be helpful in approaching team members with better efficiency and contributing to the overall growth of the organisation. In this article, we define the Blake and Mouton managerial grid, explain how to use it and discuss basic leadership styles according to this grid.
What is the Blake and Mouton managerial grid?
The Blake and Mouton managerial grid is a graphic portrayal that helps managers to understand and identify their leadership styles. This managerial grid has two dimensions of leader behaviour which are ‘concern for people’ and ‘concern for production’. The two dimensions of this grid are also known as task-oriented behaviour and people-oriented behaviour. In general, these two are the most prominent management behaviours. Different managers may have different sets of priorities. Some may focus more on the overall productivity of their team while some may show concern about their team members.
If used correctly, this managerial grid can help you understand what constitutes a good manager. It can allow you to assess your current leadership style and find areas for improvement. By using this grid, you can find what you lack and develop ways to keep team members satisfied and competent at the same time. This grid is easy to use and plays an important role within the behavioural research stream of management and leadership literature.
How to use the Blake and Mouton managerial grid
Here are some steps that can help you use this managerial grid:
1. Identify your leadership style
Identifying your leadership style can be the first step in using the Blake Mouton grid. If you have experience in management, you can begin by remembering the leadership roles you had in your previous jobs. This can help you to find the time when you make your team’s concerns your top priority. Draw a graph with vertical and horizontal lines. Score yourself for your concern about your team on the vertical axis. Remind yourself about how concerned you were about the productivity of your team and score accordingly on the horizontal axis. Scores from both the horizontal and the vertical axes get combined together which can help in identifying your leadership style. Your score can tell the style you belong to out of the five basic leadership styles.
2. Find areas for improvement
Your score can tell you about the areas in which you require improvements. If you score higher in a particular area and lower in the others, developing an action plan to bring improvement to the lower scoring area can be helpful. For example, if a leader scores high on the task-oriented axis and low on the people-oriented axis, it can be beneficial for the leader to implement strategies that can balance between both axes. Consider developing a team-building exercise or plan to check in with your team members and ensure they are productive.
3. Determine the context
When scoring themselves on the graph, many leaders want to score higher on both axes. There can be situations when a task-oriented managerial style is more effective than a team approach. For example, a team handles risky operations such as running and working with heavy machines. If team members are performing their jobs well and achieving the goals, a leader can assist them with practices that focus more on their safety while working with heavy machines. In the other scenario, a leader can also help team members by motivating them and boosting their morale.
The 5 basic managerial styles
The Blake Mouton grid can help managers or leaders to identify their own leadership style by using a graph with horizontal and vertical lines. The horizontal line represents the concern for production and the vertical line represents the concern for the people. These two axes may also get interchanged according to your preference. Here are the five different leadership styles that can result from a combination of task and people-oriented approaches:
Country club management style
Country club management is a leadership style where the leaders show more interest in the social requirements of the members of their team rather than the task. In such cases, team members work in a friendly environment but may also be less productive. Team members may become disorganised in the absence of strict schedules.
In such a case, a leader with a country club management style may be unable to impose persistent powers upon their team members. This can also affect the overall productivity of the team. If your score results in a country club management style, it means you possess the important quality of a manager who cares about the team members. You can set smaller objectives to improve the productivity of your team.
Authority-compliance management style
Authority-compliance management is a leadership style where the leaders show more interest in productivity rather than the emotions and feelings of the team members. This leadership style is also known as the produce-or-perish management style. To obtain desired results, the leaders can set rules and deadlines that the team members can follow. Leaders with an authority-compliance management style may ignore what their team members require and focus on maximising the overall productivity of the team by any means. Their main goal can be to accomplish the objectives and finish the project or task within the deadline. If you score high in the task-oriented section of the Blake Mouton grid, you can implement strategies to improve your people-oriented approaches. You can do this by organising a team meeting or scheduling a day for team-building activities.
Impoverished management style
Impoverished management is a type of leadership style where the leader can direct and divide the tasks, responsibilities and authority between team members. Leaders with an impoverished management style may show less interest and have low concern for both the team members and the overall productivity. They may want the team to handle all the troubles on their own and fail to perform well under pressure or heavy workload. If your score results in an impoverished management style, consider developing a leadership plan for improvement. Involve your team members in the improvement plan by devising team-building strategies.
Middle-of-the-road management style
The leaders who have mid-level interest in both their team members and the overall productivity of the team may fall under this leadership style. Leaders with a middle-of-the-road management style can be good at balancing and managing the fine line between the company’s goals and the requirements of team members. These leaders may also fail in fulfilling both approaches at once. Such leaders can effectively convey the project requirements to the team members. If your score shows the middle-of-the-road management style, you can consider analysing your work priorities. Create an action plan for improving your approach to both productivity and team engagement.
Team management style
The leaders who have a time management leadership style may show high interest and concern for both the team members and the overall productivity of the team. Such leaders can understand how to keep team members motivated and satisfied at the workplace. This leadership style can increase the overall productivity of the team and allows them to achieve goals. Leaders with a team management style may have the ability to build a perfect team with dedicated members to complete the assigned task. They can be able to find the issues team members are facing and assist them with the required solution. If your score shows team management as your leadership style, you can offer your mentorship to other professionals who work as team leaders and managers.
