Managerial Grid Model - Also known as Leadership Grid

The managerial grid model (1964) is a style leadership model

developed by Robert R. Blake and Jane Mouton.
This model originally identified five different leadership styles based
on the concern for people and the concern for production.
The optimal leadership style in this model is based on Theory Y.

CHANGE IN INDIVIDUAL GROUP AND ORGANISATION

MANAGERIAL GRID PHASES
INDIVIDUAL (Activities designed to
improve individual effectiveness)

MANAGERIAL GRID, PHASE1

GROUPS (Activities designed to improve

gap effectiveness)

Life and career planning

Behavioural modelling
Training and education to improve
skills
Knowledge
Problem solving
Planning
Goal setting skills
Interpersonal competence
Decision making
Sensitivity training
Coaching and counselling
Job design
Behavioural modification
Job stress analysis
MANAGERIAL GRID, PHASE
1&2
TEAM BUILDING
Task oriented
Process oriented
Survey feedback
1

Family sensitivity training

(ERP)
TRAINING AND EDUCATION TO
IMPROVE
Group goal setting skills
Group decision making
Group problem solving
INTEGRATED (Activities designed to
improve intergroup relations)

MANAGERIAL GRID, PHASE 3

ORGANISATIONAL (Activities designed

to improve the total system)

Survey feedback
Techno structural
Inter group activities
Task oriented
Process oriented
Conflict minimisation activities
MANAGERIAL GRID, PHASE
4,5,6
Techno structural
Survey feedback
Confrontation meeting
Goal setting
Modified workweek
Quality of work life

The five resulting leadership styles are as follows:

1. Impoverished Management (1, 1): Managers with this approach are low on
both the dimensions and exercise minimum effort to get the work done from
subordinates. The leader has low concern for employee satisfaction and work
deadlines and as a result disharmony and disorganization prevail within the
organization. The leaders are termed ineffective wherein their action is merely
aimed at preserving job and seniority.

2. Task management (9, 1): Also called dictatorial or perish style. Here leaders are
more concerned about production and have less concern for people. The style is
based on theory X of McGregor. The employees needs are not taken care of and
they are simply a means to an end. The leader believes that efficiency can result
only through proper organization of work systems and through elimination of
people wherever possible. Such a style can definitely increase the output of
organization in short run but due to the strict policies and procedures, high labour
turnover is inevitable.
3. Middle-of-the-Road (5, 5): This is basically a compromising style wherein the
leader tries to maintain a balance between goals of company and the needs of
people. The leader does not push the boundaries of achievement resulting in
average performance for organization. Here neither employee nor production
needs are fully met.
4. Country Club (1, 9): This is a collegial style characterized by low task and high
people orientation where the leader gives thoughtful attention to the needs of
people thus providing them with a friendly and comfortable environment. The
leader feels that such a treatment with employees will lead to self-motivation and
will find people working hard on their own. However, a low focus on tasks can
hamper production and lead to questionable results.
5. Team Management (9, 9): Characterized by high people and task focus, the
style is based on the theory Y of McGregor and has been termed as most
effective style according to Blake and Mouton. The leader feels that
empowerment, commitment, trust, and respect are the key elements in creating a
team atmosphere which will automatically result in high employee satisfaction
and production.

PHASE 1
THE MANAGERIAL GRID
Grid seminar is conducted by the company manager. Attention is given to assessing an
individuals managerial styles; problem solving; and communication skills etc..
PHASE 2
TEAMWORK DEVELOPMENT
The goal is perfecting teamwork in an organisation through analysis of team cultures;
traditions etc. Feedback is given to each manager about their individual team behaviour.
PHASE 3
INTERGROUP DEVELOPMENT
The goal is to move groups from their effective ways towards an ideal model. The phase
includes building operational plans for moving the two groups.
PHASE 4
DEVELOPING AN IDEAL STRATEGIC CORPORATE MODEL
The focus shifts to corporate planning. Top management design an ideal strategic
corporate model that would define what the corporation would be like.
PHASE 5
IMPLEMENTING THE IDEAL STRATEGIC MODEL
The organisation implements the model developed in phase 4. Each component
appoints a planning team whose job is to examine every phase of the components
operation. After the planning and assessment steps are completed, conversion of the
organisation to the ideal condition is implemented.
PHASE 6
SYSTEMETIC CRITIQUE
Systematic critiquing, measuring and evaluating lead to knowledge of what progress
has been made, what barriers still exists and must be overcome.

INDIVIDUAL
(MANAGERIAL GRID PHASE I)
LIFE AND CAREER PLANNING
Career planning is an ongoing process that can help you manage your learning and
development.
Career planning is the continuous process of:

thinking about your interests, values, skills and preferences;

exploring the life, work and learning options available to you;

ensuring that your work fits with your personal circumstances; and

For example:

still at school;

a school leaver;

an adult adding on skills; or

an adult changing job or career.

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BEHAVIOUR MODELLING
Behaviour modelling in the workplace, a component of social learning theory, is the act
of showing employees how to do something and guiding them through the process of
imitating the modelled behaviour. Behaviour modelling has practical applications for
daily work tasks as well as deeper applications for developing company culture.
For example: at workplace training manager first shows how to do the task and the
employee starts doing the same.

TRAINING AND EDUCATION TO IMPROVE:

SKILLS:

experience and

particular
that

is

ability that

you

useful

in

develop through
job-

training and

communication/interpersonal/

negotiation skills,
For example- Many young people have never learned the basic skill of

good writing.
business/specialist skills -A growing part of the charity's work is providing

business skills to developing economies.

improve/sharpen/upgrade skills- Improving your computer skills can

help you find higher-paid work.

KNOWLEDGE: Knowledge is a familiarity, awareness or understanding of
someone or something, such as facts, information, descriptions, or skills, which is

acquired through experience or education by perceiving, discovering, or learning.

PROBLEM SOLVING: problem solving refers to a state of desire for reaching a

definite 'goal' from a present condition that either is not directly moving toward the
goal, is far from it, or needs more complex logic for finding a missing description of
conditions or steps toward the goal. Problem solving may include mathematical
or systematic operations and can be a gauge of an individual's critical thinking skills.
For example- The key to a good problem definition is ensuring that you deal
with the real problem not its symptoms. For example, if performance in your
department is substandard, you might think the problem is with the individuals
submitting work. However, if you look a bit deeper, the real issue might be a
lack of training, or an unreasonable workload.

PLANNING: planning is the act or process of making a plan to achieve or do

something, the process of thinking about and organizing the activities required to
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achieve a desired goal. It involves the creation and maintenance of a plan, such as
psychological aspects that require conceptual skills. As such, planning is a
fundamental property of intelligent behaviour.
GOAL SETTING SKILLS: Goal setting is a Motivational technique based on
the concept that the practice of setting specific goals enhances performance, and
the setting difficult goals results in higher performance than setting easier goals. A
huge part of success is when you take the time to really understand what it is that
you want to accomplish, and put aside the time for goal setting.
INTERPERSONAL COMPETENCE is defined as a set of positive social skills
necessary to get along well with others and function constructively in groups,
including. : Interpersonal competence is the ability to choose a type of
communication that is most effective in a given situation.
For example- a) respecting and expressing appreciation for others; b) being
able to work and communicate well with others and listen to others' ideas; c)
demonstrating context-appropriate behaviour that is consistent with social
norms; and) using a range of skills or processes aimed at resolving conflict.

DECISION MAKING: it is the thought process of selecting a logical choice from the
available options. When trying to make a good decision, a person must weigh the
positives and negatives of each option, and consider all the alternatives.
For effective decision making, a person must be able to forecast the outcome of
each option as well, and based on all these items, determine which option is the best
for that particular situation.

 SENSITIVITY TRAINNING
Sensitivity training is about making people understand about themselves and others
reasonably, which is done by developing in them social sensitivity and behavioral
flexibility.
Social sensitivity in one word is empathy. It is ability of an individual to sense what
others feel and think from their own point of view.
Behavioral flexibility is ability to behave suitably in light of understanding.

COACHING AND COUNSELLING

COACHING
The term coaching typically refers to methods of helping others to improve, develop,
learn new skills, find personal success, achieve aims and to manage life change and
personal challenges. Coaching commonly addresses attitudes, behaviours, and
knowledge, as well as skills, and can also focus on physical and spiritual development
too.
For example: providing post-training workplace coaching support to managers,
employees for improved on-the-job performance.

COUNSELLING
counselling can be defined as the provision of brief psychological therapy for employees
of an organization, the employees can be stressed, depressed, suffering from too much
anxiety arising out of workplace related issues like managing deadlines, meeting
targets, lack of time to fulfil personal and family commitments, or bereaved and
disturbed due to some personal problems.
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For example: An external service, such as an Employee Assistance Program (EAP),

typically comprises face-to-face counselling, a telephone helpline. In an in-house
service,

counsellors

may

be

JOB

DESIGN:

Aimed

at

directly

employed

reducing

or

by

the

organization.

overcoming job dissatisfaction

and employee alienation arising from repetitive and mechanistic tasks. Through job
design, organizations try

to

raise productivity levels

by

offering non-monetary

rewards such as greater satisfaction from a sense of personal achievement

in meeting the
enlargement, job

increased

challenge

enrichment, job

and responsibility of

rotation,

and job

one's

work. Job

simplification are

the

various techniques used in a job design exercise.

BEHAVIOUR MODIFICATION: Behaviour modification refers to the techniques used

to try and decrease or increase a particular type of behaviour or reaction. This might
sound very technical, but it's used very frequently by all of us.
For example- employee behaviour modification plans might include offering a
pay bonus at work for a reaching a certain goal, taking disciplinary actions when an
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employee engages in unwanted behaviours on the job or arresting an adult who breaks
the law.
JOB STRESS ANALYSIS is stress related to one's job. Occupational stress
often stems from unexpected responsibilities and pressures that do not align with
a person's knowledge, skills, or expectations, inhibiting one's ability to cope. Job
stress can increase when workers do not feel supported by supervisors or
colleagues, or feel as if they have little control over work processes.

GROUPS
(MANAGERIAL GRID PHASE I&II)

TEAM BUILDING:
Team building generally refers to the concept of organizing groups of employees into
manageable units for various purposes. Building teams is important for several reasons,
including the culture teams create in the business. A positive business culture is
essential to continued profitability and customer retention.

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For example: The formal definition of team-building includes: Aligning around goals,
Building effective working relationships, Reducing team members role ambiguity,
Finding solutions to team problems.

TASK-ORIENTED:
Focusing on the completion of particular tasks as a measure of success.
Task-oriented (or task-focused) leadership is a behavioural approach in which the
leader focuses on the tasks that need to be performed in order to meet certain
goals, or to achieve a certain performance standard.

PROCESS ORIENTED:
Process work is a cross-disciplinary approach to support individual and collective
change. Also known as process-oriented psychology (POP) Process Work offers new
ways of working with areas of life that are experienced as problematic or painful.
Physical symptoms, relationship problems, group conflicts and social tensions, when
approached with curiosity and respect, can lead to new information that is vital for
personal and collective growth.

SURVEY FEEDBACK
Where

employees

are

surveyed

on

workplace

issues

and

attitudes.

This

survey feedback enables the head of organization to know about the issues of the
employees regarding their workplace.
For example:

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 FAMILY SENSITIVITY TRAINING

Family Sensitivity Training is a form of training with the goal of making people more
aware of their own prejudices and more sensitive to others.
It is a training designed to make people more aware of group dynamics and their own
behaviour, interpersonal traits, and role within a group.

TRAINING AND EDUCATIONTO IMPROVE:

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 GRP GOAL SETTING SKILLS

Group

Goal

setting involves

the

development

of

an

action plan designed

to motivate and guide a group toward a goal. Goal setting can be guided by goalsetting criteria (or rules) such as SMART criteria. Goal setting is a major component
of personal-development and management literature.

For example- At a workplace training the groups by smart criteria of goal setting.
The relationship between group goals and individual goals influences group
performance; when goals are compatible there is a positive effect, but when goals
are incompatible the effects can be detrimental to the group's performance. There is
another factor at work in groups, and that is the sharing factor; a positive correlation
exists between sharing information within the group and group performance. In the
case of group goals, feedback needs to be related to the group, not individuals, in
order for it to improve the group's performance.

GRP DECISION MAKING

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Group decision making is a situation faced when individuals collectively make a choice
from the alternatives before them. The decision is then no longer attributable to any
single individual who is a member of the group. This is because all the individuals
and social group processes such as social influence contribute to the outcome. The
decisions made by groups are often different from those made by individuals.
For example: Brainstorming is a useful means by which to generate alternatives, but
does not offer much in the way of process for the evaluation of alternatives or the
selection of a proposed course of action.

GRP PROBLEM SOLVING

The problem-solving process involves thoughts, discussions, actions, and decisions that
occur from the first consideration of a problematic situation to the goal. The problems
that groups face are varied, but some common problems include budgeting funds,
raising funds, planning events, addressing customer or citizen complaints, creating or
adapting products or services to fit needs, supporting members, and raising awareness
about issues or causes.

INTEGRATED
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(MANAGERIAL GRID PHASE III)

SURVEY FEEDBACK
Where employees are surveyed on workplace issues and attitudes. This
survey feedback enables the head of organization to know about the issues of
the employees regarding their workplace. Survey feedback is a tool that can
provide this type of honest feedback to help leaders guide and direct their
teams. Obstacles and gaps between the current status quo and the desired
situations may or may not be directly apparent.

TECHNO-STRUCTURAL
Techno-structural includes job and process design, improve project management,
organisational assessments and training for inter groups.
For example:
Reengineering
Employee involvement
Downsizing

CONFLICTS MINIMIZATION ACTIVITIES

Organizational conflict occurs when two or more parties, who have
different objectives, values or attitudes compete for the same resources.
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Conflicts can arise due to disagreements between individuals or

departments due to their dissimilar focus. Conflicts minimization activities
help in solving such conflicts.For example:

The four most popular methods of handling conflict can be summarized as fight,
flight, fake or fold. Fighting is where one party tends to dominate another by way
of repetitive arguments and name-calling. Flight is where people run away from
problems instead of confronting them. Faking, as its name implies, means
agreeing to the solution presented, although in reality, the opposite holds true.
Folding is where an individual is made to agree to a solution by means of
browbeating.
Communication skills, negotiation skills and the ability to see the whole picture
are necessary skills in conflict management. Listening skills and the ability to find
solutions that do not compromise any party's interest are also worth developing
when handling conflict management.

INTERGROUP ACTIVITIES:
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Being

or

occurring

between

two

or

more

social

groups: intergroup

relations; intergroup violence. The word "group" in the phrase "intergroup

relations" is not a superfluous label. If our claim is the study of relations between
two or more groups or the investigation of intergroup attitudes, we have to bring
into the picture the properties of the groups and the consequences of
membership for the individuals in question. Otherwise, whatever we may be
studying, we are not, properly speaking, studying intergroup problems.

TASK ORIENTED:
Focusing on the completion of particular tasks as a measure of success.T
ask-oriented (or task-focused) leadership is a behavioural approach in
which the leader focuses on the tasks that need to be performed in order
to meet certain goals, or to achieve a certain performance standard.
PROCESS ORIENTED:
Process work is a cross-disciplinary approach to support individual and collective
change. Also known as process-oriented psychology (POP) Process Work offers
new ways of working with areas of life that are experienced as problematic or
painful. Physical symptoms, relationship problems, group conflicts and social
tensions, when approached with curiosity and respect, can lead to new
information that is vital for personal and collective growth.

ORGANIZATIONAL
(MANAGERIAL GRID PHASE IV, V, VI)
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 TECHNO STRUCTURE
Techno-structural includes job and process design, improve project management,
organisational assessments and training for inter groups.
For example:
Reengineering
Employee involvement
Downsizing
It deals with restructuring organizations, employee involvement and work design.

SURVEY FEEDBACK
Where employees are surveyed on workplace issues and attitudes. This
survey feedback enables the head of organization to know about the issues of
the employees regarding their workplace. Survey feedback is a tool that can
provide this type of honest feedback to help leaders guide and direct their
teams. Obstacles and gaps between the current status quo and the desired
situations may or may not be directly apparent.

CONFRONTATION MEETING
Confrontation meeting is an activity which allows entire management group,
composed of individual from all levels of the organization to take a quick reading
on its own health and within matter of hours to set action plan for improving it.

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For example:
General Electric's Work-Out" is a recent
example of how the confrontation meeting has been adapted to fit today's organi
zations. Although original model involved only managerial and professional peopl
e, it has since been used successfully withtechnicians, clerical personnel, and as
sembly workers.

GOAL SETTING
All business organizations should have written goals that are part of their
business plan. These goals can describe what the company plans to accomplish
in terms of market share, growth and profitability.
For example: Goals may also be set for internal measurement like expanding
staff or boosting employee morale. Businesses should aim to have goals that are
specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely. There are many benefits to
setting goals.
The definition of goal setting is the process of identifying something that you want
to accomplish and establishing measurable goals and timeframes. When you
decide on a financial change to save more money and then set a certain amount
to save each month, this is an example of goal setting.

MODIFIED WORKWEEK
A modified work schedule is most simply defined as any schedule that deviates
from an organization's normal workweek. Conventional work hours in the United
States are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. or 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, though
organizations sometimes set their own work weeks.
For example:
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Compressed Workweek
A compressed workweek is an alternative schedule in which an employee works
fewer than the normal five days in a week. Examples include four 10-hour days,
three 12-hour days, or rotating weeks of more days one week and fewer the next.
Flexible Scheduling
Flexible scheduling can be accomplished in combination with a compressed
workweek, or on its own to produce a modified work schedule. Some employers
allow employees to schedule flexible, varying work hours to accommodate family
needs or other responsibilities. For example, the employee may work 9 to 5 one
day, 11 to 7 the next, then 10:30 to 6:30 the following day.

QUALITY OF WORKLIFE
Quality of work life (QWL) refers to the favorableness or unfavourableness of a
job environment for the people working in an organization. The period of scientific
management which focused solely on specialization and efficiency, has
undergone a revolutionary change. The traditional management (like scientific
management) gave inadequate attention to human values. In the present
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scenario, needs and aspirations of the employees are changing. Employers are
now redesigning jobs for better QWL.

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