Grid Organisation Development programmes (Grid OD)
While the Managerial Grid was considered useful in helping managers to understand their own behaviour patterns it was recognised that only so much could be achieved through individual management development, and that problems needed to be addressed at work group and organisational level. Consequently, Grid theory was used as a starting point for the development of organisation development programmes designed to enhance managerial effectiveness, resolve conflict and develop teamwork within the organisation.
The programmes follow a six-phase approach:
Grid seminar
Team development
Inter-group development
Goal setting and strategy development
Implementation
Stabilisation
The Grid seminar generates awareness of how personal behaviours have an impact on others in the workplace. Participants learn and practise specific skills in teams, and engage in a structured critique that measures activity results on several levels. The skills are commonsense ones in any workplace, and include, for example, the best ways to take initiative, resolve conflict, or make sound decisions. Participants use Grid theory to clarify personal values and attitudes regarding behaviours, and then work in teams to complete structured activities under time and performance pressures. The seminar is over 90 per cent experiential, placing the responsibility for learning, practice, and change into the hands of participants. This level of team involvement and responsibility is found to make the learning effective and lasting.
Phases two and three focus on problem solving and conflict resolution, both within and between work groups. A major concern is to enable teams to develop the ability to work together towards a common goal in a synergistic way. In phase four the focus moves to reaching agreement on broader, organisation-wide goals. Planned changes are implemented in phase five and in the final phase progress is monitored, to ensure that the changes continue in the workplace, and are consolidated and stabilised. This programme is applied throughout the organisation at all levels, and in large organisations the process may take three to five years to complete. In the course of the programme the focus moves from the behaviour of individual managers to the effectiveness of work groups and teams, and the involvement of the whole organisation.
Over the years the concepts and principles of Grid Organisation Development were refined and applied in a variety of different fields. Several new editions of The Managerial Grid(c) were published, as well as books covering the use of Grid programmes in areas such as sales management, academic administration, real estate, social work, medicine and even marriage. More recent publications emphasised the application of Grid principles to areas of topical interest such as team-building, change and stress management.