Managerial Grid

Robert Blake and Jane Mouton believe that management exists to encourage efficiency and performance, creativity, experimentation and innovation, and learning from colleagues. This needs teaching and learning. It combines an approach for people and an approach for production and around the as formulated into a grid applied ell as organisations hich

orld and in many business departments, as

have a production of some sort but may not usually be counted as businesses. Indeed different organisations can ask themselves here abouts in the grid should

they be aiming their o n management approaches. The grid itself suggests that management is best at a !,! co"ordinates, concerns are fully addressed, but a #uestion is either all the time or at different times. here both people and production hether this is al ays appropriate,

!,$% &ountry club management 'roduction is incidental to lack of conflict and good fello ship.

!,!% Team management 'roduction is from integration of task and human re#uirements. (,(% )ampened pendulum *middle of the road+ 'ush for production but not all out giving space and being fair but firm.

$,$% Impoverished management ,ffective production is unobtainable because people are la-y, apathetic, and indifferent and also sound and mature relationships are impossible because human nature inevitably leads to conflict. / ! by ! grid is suggested, matter of simplicity.

$,!% Task management 'eople are a commodity, .ust like machines. / manager0s responsibility is to plan, direct and control the ork of subordinates.

ith degrees of variation, but five positions are given as a

'roduction means

hat ever the organisation is supposed to be doing. ,ach hich it should be dedicated. 'eople means all the

department has its o n task to

human relations goals set out by an organisation, including commitment to e#ual opportunities, personal commitment, respect and proper procedures.

The grid relates to organisations as a

hole and to managements

ithin them both

as teams and individuals. Management may vary for a variety of reasons, such as individual personalities, but an organisation should properly attempt to guide appropriate management. This is itself a production and people matter.

/nother simplified

ay to look at this is see

hich tendency managers gravitate

to ards, perhaps via a #uestionnaire process as part of training *see belo +%

$,!% &ountry &lub $,$% Impoverished

!,!% Team 1eader !,$% /uthoritarian

$,! management has been called country club management in that it concerns itself ith positive encouragement but the avoidance of conflict. 2ork *or the task+ is something people do, but they do it in ork time. ,veryone *or the person+ .ollies

and .okes along

ith one other and cannot criticise, in the hope that things get done

as a result. ,conomic protectionism or cost"plus accountability leads to this relaxed, inefficient approach. Many religious organisations may be like this because a production concern is fello ship itself, but at times of decline more instrumental needs for recovery may come into play.

!,$ Task management is all about the rigour associated

ith high efficient output.

There are orders to be given, received and obeyed, and schedules should not be missed. Mistakes lead to blame and correction, and if the employee is not up to the task under this regime then another .ob is the only medium term outcome. There is a high degree of supervision and control, and creativity is only placed high ithin the

hierarchy. 1o er do n people do not need to be creative and indeed to say anything different is insubordination. 2hilst high output is achievable in the short term, much ill be lost through an inevitable high labour turnover. 3nly the money paid matter, as the rest of the The #uestion is are repetitive ork involvement is likely to be apathetic ill

ith no input.

hether this management suits any business. It does in that there ork tasks re#uiring lo innovation and lo education4 training. There

are also short term economic tasks

hich, once complete, end the producing unit. In

these t o cases, such management may be appropriate.

$,$ must be inept management because it neither sho s much concern for production nor people. The fact is that there are such people around and many of them ho have perhaps been overlooked by the organisation in terms of career ith a

progression. 'eople reciprocate. 5o these managers go in, do their .obs minimum of effort,

ait for home time to come, and then leave. If responsibility is

re#uired, then it is avoided6 if people need to be motivated, nothing much happens beyond the minimum of instructing. In terms of accountability, the instructions and that as that. / orkforce had its

hole organisation run like this, perhaps after

considerable and repeated infighting, is simply going to drift. 5ometimes drift is needed as a gap that takes place after infighting so that slo ly *but not too slo ly+ the pieces can be picked up.

(,( management is a kind of realistic medium practical. It is also an outcome

ithout ambition. It is deemed as

hen production and people issues are seen as in

conflict *as indeed are !,$ and $,!, but such an organisation values both people and production matters and settles for (,(% it is al ays a $7 sum game+. There is never too much .ollying and humour " but some, and never too much criticism " but some if really needed. 5uch an approach may follo period of ambition, or deficiencies times of lack of success in a previous ork due to perceived

hen a $,! or !,$ approach did not

hich created problems in the organisation. This position is called

pendulum dampening because so often a pendulum s ings bet een $,! and !,$. managers change approach% perhaps ne ork comes in or there is a perceived

need to increase performance and the firm must geet busy6 or perhaps there has been a dispute and the organisation needs to repair relationships. 'erhaps though in certain voluntary organisations (,( is a good position to hold, as volunteers need the social aspect to cro d out some of the ork aspects. 1ife is both bread and circuses.

!,! management then is

hen there is no -ero sum game or cro ding out, and

hen

systems are in place, and management teams

orking, to get the best out of an up

organisation in terms of commitment and human relations. Information must flo

and do n the system, and everyone must feel valued. That value must be highly purposive, and directed into the ob.ectives of the organisation, and indeed valuing is gained. Managers must feel able to consult ith each other here the

ithout mini"

empires developing in a spirit of co"operation to achieve the overall ob.ectives. 3f course conflict does arise, but it has systems that allo avoidance, so that people can continue their ork and it to ork through ithout

ork together. It may be that

conflict cannot be completely ended, but the organisation faces it and seeks the best outcome. Blake and Mouton themselves looked at intergroup conflict seem to like this number+ approaches " ith nine *they

in"lose po er struggle, third party decision,

stalemate until a so called fate arbitration *something happens unplanned+, one gives up, parties isolate, a facade of indifference, stressing common intersts, compromise through bargaining to ards accommodation, and positive resolution of difference through genuine effort. The last is the most promising and of !,! management. ould be part

To get to !,! management re#uires a phased programme, according to Blake and Mouton *of this time only 8 phases+. Before it a good idea is to place individual managers ithin the grid. Many placing themselves on the grid over estimate

themselves to ards the !,! position and some 879 deceive themselves. They revise this after training hen correction can take place.

'hase $ 3ff site training in the managerial grid that does not allo conflict in a company to

'hase ; 3n site training in problem solving team management. 2orking out tasks according

'hase < Inter group training here co"operation and co"ordination is re#uired. This looks at ideal"actual comparisons and ho the actual might get to ards the idea that groups identify.

carry for ard. There might be to the grid in these groups of up to nine that can criti#ue the testing of oneself according to the grid carried out again circumstances is more testing because real ork issues are

present. &onflict solving

ith colleagues. :or strategies for each person0s ho is skills are orked on because

example, a person

seen to alter behaviour from o n claims made can be

these are essential for getting to a !,! position and both !,$

reclassified according to the grid. 'hase = >roup goals are set for the hole organisation0s optimal performance. This might be through a study of some considerable time hich

and $,! people are not skilled conflict solvers. 'hase ( 2hat is learnt is 'hase 8 &hanges are

implemented. The ideal model measured for is activated perhaps by task forces. consolidation and stabilisation under the ne regime and goals.

brings into exposure for change the first three phases and sets up the ideal models.

creating ne

?o ever it is done, it should be obvious that a combination of stable maximum production and maximum people performance takes training and processes of information exchange and methods of handling conflicts ith all goals in mind.