Blake-Mouton Managerial Grid

This article is mainly based on the book the Managerial Grid III: The Key to Leadership Excellence, written by the developers of the Grid.

Abstract

Project managers play a critical role of leading a team towards achieving the objectives of a project. The leadership style of a project manager may be a result of combination of multiple factors related to the project or be of a personal preference. Leadership is a productive field of study, with many theories reaching back decades. Thoughts on leadership and the ideal characteristics of a leader have evolved through time, but some of the thoughts have passed the test of time.

The Managerial Grid developed by Robert Blake and Jane Mouton was first published in 1964. It was the outcome of their research for Exxon, where they worked towards improved leader effectiveness. It was developed with influence from the work of Fleishman’s, using attitudinal dimensions rather than behavioural, like Fleishman.

The Managerial Grid is a 9x9 matrix and it quantifies the degree to which the emphasis is on tasks and the emphasis is on the relationship with the subordinates, with Concern for Production as the x-axis of the matrix and Concern for People as the y-axis. Blake and Mouton labelled and characterised the extreme corners as well as the center of the matrix. The Managerial Grid is a widely accepted as an important and critical analysis of the behaviour of a leader. Its simplicity captures vital truths about management styles and implications. The following consists of what is needed to know about the Managerial Grid, the application of it, suggestions for improvements for a leader, as well as the limitations of the Grid.

Leadership in Project Management

Project manager plays a critical role of leading a team to achieve the objectives of a project. He provides the team with leadership, planning and coordination through communication. Leadership skills are the ability to guide, motivate and direct a team (p.56). These skills may include abilities regarding negotiation, resilience, communication, problem solving, decision making, critical thinking and interpersonal skills. A common denominator in all projects is people, and therefore, a big part of the role of a project manager involves dealing with people and different stakeholders of a project. The project manager should strive to be a good leader, as leadership is a crucial part of a successful project (p.60).

Project managers need to possess over both leadership abilities as well as abilities in management, in order to succeed at their job. The key is finding the correct balance for all occurring situations. It is often displayed in the project manager’s leadership style, how the management and leadership is employed. The leadership style of a project manager may be result of a combination of multiple factors related to the project or be more of a personal preference. The style can change and evolve through time, based on the factors in play each time. The major factors are for example characteristics of different elements related to the project, that is characteristics of the leader, of the team members, of the organization and/or of the environment (p.65). Thoughts on leadership and the ideal characteristics of a leader have evolved through time, but many thoughts have passed the test of time, one of them being the Managerial Grid.

Development of the Grid

The Managerial Grid was developed by Robert Blake and Jane Mouton between 1958 and 1960 and it was first published in 1964. Blake and Mouton were management theoreticians, and the model were the outcome of their research for Exxon, where they worked towards improving leader effectiveness. The Grid was developed with influence from Fleishman’s work and according to him, there were two underlying dimensions of leaderships’ behaviour which he called consideration and initiating structure.

Blake and Mouton used attitudinal dimensions rather than the behavioural like Fleishman, their attitudinal dimensions being Concern for Production and Concern for People. The dimensions are claimed to reflect the character of thinking and feeling applied behaviourally to achieve an intended purpose, rather than being a reflection of behaviour. (p.6)

The Managerial Grid

The Managerial Grid is a 9x9 matrix with Concern for Production, that is getting results, as one dimension of the grid or as the x-axis. The other dimension, or y-axis, being Concern for People, subordinates and colleagues. The phrasing of concern for is not referring a mechanical term that indicates the amount of actual production achieved or actual behaviour towards other people. It is more about indicating the character and strength of assumptions present behind any given style of leadership The dimensions are viewed as interdependent and the interaction of the two dimensions to create a specific leadership approach, is specified by a comma (p.4). The Managerial Grid is a widely accepted as an important and critical analysis of the behaviour of a leader. Its simplicity captures vital truths about management styles and implications.

Concern for Production

Concern for production includes results, bottom line, performance, profits or mission. It covers both quantity and quality and can be displayed in different forms. It may be revealed in the scope of a decision, the number of ideas or products that the development converts into sellable products, accounts processed in a collection period, or the service quality by staff. It also may take the form of measurements of efficiency, amount produced, amount of time needed to complete production, sales volume or attainment of specified level of quality. Production can be a project or whatever an organisation requires their employees to accomplish (p.10).

Concern for People

An important factor regarding determination of effectiveness are the assumptions that managers make about people, as they lead with and through other people. Concern for people can be revealed in different ways. Some show it in their efforts to ensure that their subordinates like them, while others are more concerned that subordinates finish their jobs. Despite the differences, getting results based on respect and trust, sympathy, obedience, or understanding and support, is a manifestation of Concern for people. It can become evident through salaries, benefits, job security, etc. (p.10).

Intercorrelation of Concerns

The Managerial Grid is shown as a nine-point scale, where 1 is low concern, 5 is an average amount of concern and 9 is high concern, numbers in between denote intermediate degrees of concern. The way these concerns are expressed by a leader, defines the usage of authority. If the concern for people is high, coupled with low concern for production, the leader weighs the well-being and happiness of the people the most. The other way around, if the concern for production is high but the concern for people is low, the leader is production efficiency oriented (p.11).

To increase managerial competences and productivity in people, a leader needs to know different leadership styles. Blake and Mouton identified five benchmark styles, that display significant differences in characteristic actions and outcomes. Following are the titles they used, but the styles have often gotten different titles.

 

Annotated bibliography

The following are the main resources used for the construction of this article, and can provide basis for further and deeper studies on the topic.

1. Blake, R, and Mouton, J. (1985). The Managerial Grid III: The Key to Leadership Excellence. Houston: Gulf Publishing Company.

This is the third edition of the book that Robert Blake and Jane Mouton wrote about the Managerial Grid. The book discusses the Grid in great details. It presents the Grid framework, the five different leadership styles and examinates the 9.9 orientation in great depth. The three additional leadership theories are discussed as well as how the Grid can be used to increase organizational effectiveness in a company. In addition, there is a conceptual analysis of current leadership theories as well as a research evaluating the validity of the 9.9 orientation.

2. Molloy, P. (1998). A Review of the Managerial Grid Model of Leadership and its Role as a Model of Leadership Culture. Aquarius Consulting.

This article provides a more critical perspective of the Managerial Grid, other than what is displayed in the original book, as might be expected as it is written by the developers of the Grid. The Grid is described in a pretty detailed way, but the main focus of the article is to show the Grid as a OD process and as a model of leadership culture. The Grid is tested, with the main focus being on the longitudinally on Grid OD as a process.

3. Blake, R, and Mouton, J. (1981). The Versatile Manager: The Grid Profile. Homewood, Ill. : R.D. Irwin.

This book is about the dilemma of managerial leadership, and it identifies behavioural principles that underlie organizational effectiveness and how to put them into use. It shows the Grid in detail, but it also describes in depth how important healthy communication is, especially with the subordinates. In addition, it deals with conflicts, confrontations and responsibilities, in a team setting and shared participation in general. Versatility refers to the capacity of a manager to solve a wide range of dilemmas, either regarding production or people, in a sound way.