BLAKE AND MOUTON'S MANAGERIAL GRID: ELEMENTS AND STYLES - DUDAS - 2025

The Blake and Mouton managerial grid or managerial mesh is a leadership model that identifies the degree to which a manager or leader focuses on tasks or people, with five different combinations of these two aspects, thus generating five leadership styles.

Anticipating situational leadership, management theorists Robert Blake and Jane Mouton concluded in 1964 that a leader's behavior is derived from two criteria: an orientation or interest in people, and an orientation or interest in tasks. or results.

Source: Tumbarrancho, from Wikimedia Commons

Also known as the management grid or leadership grid, the managerial grid combines these two independent criteria, resulting in a 9 × 9 grid, of 81 different points or degrees. From 1 to 9 for task orientation, and from 1 to 9 for people orientation.

Through a questionnaire on leadership and management style given to each manager, it will be possible to assess and determine their position within the management grid of Blake and Mouton. Thus, your rating will fall within one of the five established leadership or management styles.

For example, if a manager is rated 3 as task orientation and 7 as people orientation, his position on the grid will be at point (3.7). Therefore, your leadership style will be "democratic."

The Blake and Mouton management grid helps to think about a manager's leadership style and its effects on the productivity and motivation of their work team.

Grid results

In outlining the interest in results vs. interest in people, the grid highlights how placing too much emphasis on one area at the expense of the other leads to poor results. It also discourages having only a half commitment.

The model proposes that when interest in people and results is high, employee engagement and productivity are likely to be excellent.

While the grid does not completely address the muddle of which leadership style is best, it certainly provides an excellent starting point for thinking about one's performance and for improving leadership skills in general.

Elements

Robert Blake and Jane Mouton proposed a graphic representation of leadership styles through a managerial grid.

The grid shows two dimensions of the leader's behavior. Interest in people is shown on the Y axis, giving priority to people's needs. The X-axis shows interest in results, which keeps task schedules tight.

Each dimension has a range, from low (1) to high (9), thus creating 81 different positions in which the leader's style can fall.

The position of a manager can be anywhere on the grid, depending on the relative importance that they attach to people and results.

Treating results-orientation and people-orientation as two independent dimensions was an important step in leadership studies.

Through a series of questions about leadership and management style, Blake and Mouton's management grid position is assigned in terms of:

Interest in people

This is the degree (from High = 9 to Low = 1) in which a leader considers the needs, interests and areas of personal development of team members when deciding the best way to perform a task.

Interest in the results

This is the degree (from High = 9, to Low = 1) in which a leader emphasizes concrete objectives, organizational efficiency and high productivity when deciding the best way to perform a task.

Leadership styles according to the managerial grid

Blake and Mouton defined five leadership styles based on the elements, as illustrated in the diagram below.

Impoverished management - Low in results / Low in people

In this quadrant are qualified managers with an interest in results between 1 and 5, and an interest in people between 1 and 5.

The vast majority of managers who are poorly managed, or who are "indifferent," are not effective at all.

With little interest in creating systems for getting work done, and with little interest in creating a satisfying or motivating team environment, your results will inevitably be disorganization, dissatisfaction, and disharmony.

Task management - High in results / Low in people

In this quadrant are qualified managers with an interest in results between 5 and 9, and an interest in people between 1 and 5.

Also known as authoritarian or "compliance with authority" managers, people in this category believe that their team members are simply a means to an end. The team's needs are always secondary to its productivity.

This type of manager is autocratic, has strict work rules, policies, and procedures, and may view punishment as an effective way to motivate team members.

This approach can generate impressive results at first, but low team morale and motivation will ultimately affect people's performance. This kind of leader will have trouble retaining top performers.

You probably adhere to the Theory X perspective of motivation. This theory assumes that employees are naturally unmotivated and do not like to work.

A manager who believes that people are internally motivated and happy to work is said to follow Theory Y.

Halfway management - Average in results / Average in people

There are qualified managers with an interest in results at 5, and an interest in people at 5.

A midway or "status quo" manager tries to balance results with people. However, this strategy is not as effective as it might seem.

Through ongoing commitment, it fails to inspire high performance or fully meet people's needs. The upshot is that your team will likely only deliver mediocre performance.

Club management - High in people / Low in results

In this quadrant are qualified managers with an interest in results between 1 and 5, and an interest in people between 5 and 9.

The club or "accommodating" management style is more concerned with the needs and feelings of your team members. Assume that as long as they are happy and safe, they will work hard.

What tends to result is a work environment that is very fun and relaxed. However, productivity suffers from a lack of direction and control.

Team management - High in results / High in people

In this quadrant are qualified managers with an interest in results between 5 and 9, and an interest in people between 5 and 9.

According to the Blake and Mouton model, team management is the most efficient leadership style. It shows a leader that you are passionate about your job and doing the best you can for the people you work with.

Team or "healthy" managers are committed to the mission and goals of the company. They motivate their reporting staff and work hard to get people to strive to deliver great results.

In addition, they are inspiring figures who take care of their work team. Someone led by a team manager feels respected and empowered, and is committed to achieving goals.

When people are committed and interested in the success of the organization, their needs and the need for results coincide.

This creates an environment based on trust and respect, leading to high satisfaction, motivation and excellent results.

Team managers probably take the Theory Y approach to motivation, as mentioned above.

Other leadership styles

Blake and his colleagues added two more styles of leadership after Mouton's death in 1987. None appear on the grid for reasons explained below.

Paternalistic management

A paternalistic manager will jump between the club and task management styles. This type of leader can be supportive and encouraging, but will also protect their own position. Paternalistic managers don't appreciate anyone who questions their thinking.

Opportunistic management

This style could appear anywhere within the grid. Opportunistic managers put their own needs first, adopting whatever grid style works for them. They will manage others to get what they want.

Profit in the company

The management or leadership grid is used to help managers analyze their own leadership styles through a technique known as grid training.

This is done by administering a questionnaire that helps managers identify how they are doing with regard to their interest in results and in people. The training is basically aimed at helping leaders reach the ideal state of 9, 9.

It is important to understand the management or leadership style of managers. Thus, ways to achieve the desired position of team manager can then be identified.

Identify the management style

A list is made of five or six recent situations in which the manager was the leader. For each situation, it is placed on the grid, according to where it is believed to fit.

Some self-assessment leadership questionnaire should be used to help detect traits.

Identify areas to improve and develop leadership skills

The current approach should be observed. Are you settling for "halfway" management, because it is easier than achieving more? You have to think about whether that style suits the situation in which you find yourself.

If you feel overly results-oriented, you can try to involve team members in creative problem solving. Also improve the way you communicate with them or work on tutoring skills.

If you tend to focus too much on people, this may mean that you need to be clearer in scheduling and checking project progress, or improving decision making.

Performance should be continuously monitored and situations observed in which it slips into old habits.

Put the grid in context

The team management style is often the most effective approach. However, there are situations that require more attention in one area than another.

For example, if the company is in the midst of a merger or some other significant change, then it may be acceptable to place greater emphasis on people than results, guiding and reassuring them in a potentially difficult time.

Similarly, in the face of an emergency, economic hardship or physical risk, interest in people can be set aside, at least in the short term, to achieve good results and efficiency.

References

1. Mindtools (2019). The Blake Mouton Managerial Grid. Taken from: mindtools.com.
2. Tutor2u (2019). Blake Mouton Managerial Grid. Taken from: tutor2u.net.
3. Prachi Juneja (2019). Blake and Mouton's Managerial Grid. Management Study Guide. Taken from: managementstudyguide.com.
4. Business Jargons (2019). Blake and Mouton's Managerial Grid. Taken from: businessjargons.com.
5. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (2019). Managerial grid model. Taken from: en.wikipedia.org.
6. Patty Mulder (2019). Managerial Grid by Blake and Mouton. Taken from: toolshero.com.