How to Apply the Grid in 3 Easy Steps
The value of the Blake Mouton Managerial Grid is that it can help you become cognizant of your leadership style so that you can place high emphasis on both people and production. You may find that you use different approaches based on the situation, and there are certainly circumstances when the Team Style leadership approach wouldn’t be as effective as others.
Step One: Identify Your Leadership Style – There is probably a leadership style on the grid that you can best relate to, but you may employ different approaches based on the circumstance. Recall some of these situations, and then use your best judgment to mark their positions on the grid.
Step Two: Identify Areas of Improvement – If you recognize that you score high in one concern and low in another, you now know that you have an imbalanced approach and can begin to make improvements. You can now look for ways to hit on all cylinders and develop the skills necessary to be a more team oriented manager.
Step 3: Identify the Context – While you may strive to score high in concern for both people and production, there are times and situations when a different leadership style is more effective than the team approach. For instance, you may have employees doing dangerous jobs that require an authoritative approach emphasizing a rigid adherence to protocol. Or if you’re taking over for a domineering manager and inherit a deflated, overtaxed staff, you might want to take a Country Club approach to build the morale up before transitioning to the team oriented approach.
In reality, there is no one best style you should always use. Just like you have to use different psychological approaches with different personalities, certain styles work better in certain situations. The grid is helpful because it helps you to be mindful of both people and production when you adapt a style to a situation, and it also give you insight into your own general style and how you can make improvements.