managerial grid theory by blake and mouton

The Managerial Grid is based on two behavioral dimensions:ġ. According to this theory leaders are most effective when they achieve a high and balanced concern for people and for tasks. This theory by Blake and Mouton (1978) has a popular application of both task and person orientation. This is one of the tools that is very helpful for you to understand your natural leadership tendencies. Leaders can be oriented towards both tasks and persons. There is nothing right or wrong in being on the either side of this preference. If as a leader you prefer to lead by setting and enforcing task level timelines and keeping a close follow-up on remaining tasks, you tend to be more production/task-oriented whereas on the other hand if you make people your priority and generally try to accommodate employee needs before tasks, then you’re more people-oriented. Some leaders are very task-oriented and their immediate focus is to simply get the things done and on the other hand some leaders are very people-oriented and they strive to make people happy. We as a person are either very task oriented or very person oriented and same is true for leaders. This became a very popular activity within management training, various schemes appeared, designed to diagnose and develop people’s style of working. Different patterns of behavior were grouped together and labeled as styles. They suggested that the ideal is the 'team style', which balances concern for the task with concern for people.

(See figure for managerial grid). Blake and Mouton, in their managerial grid model, proposed five leadership styles based on two axes – concern for the task versus concern for people. Mouton used task versus people orientation to chart a person’s leadership “style.” The result is what researchers call the Managerial or Leadership Grid. Do you know whether you are task oriented or person oriented? What is your leadership style in a given situation? Learn about the task v/s people orientation and understand “The Blake Mouton Managerial Grid” in this article and explore how you can apply these principles in your day to day leadership journey.

Managerial grid theory by blake and mouton