Time
Management
|
Career Excellence Club
Quick Start
Useful Links
Relevant
Courses & Resources
|
Belbin's Team Roles
|
How often does this happen in the teams you work with? Perhaps some team members don't complete what you expect them to do. Perhaps others are not quite flexible enough, so things 'fall between the cracks'. Maybe someone who is valued for their expert input fails to see the wider picture, and so misses out tasks or steps that others would expect. Or perhaps one team member becomes frustrated because he or she disagrees with the approach of another team members.
Dr Meredith Belbin studied team-work for many years, and he famously observed that people in teams tend to assume different “team roles”. He defined a team role as “a tendency to behave, contribute and interrelate with others in a particular way" and named nine such team roles that underlie team success.
Belbin suggests that, by understanding your role within a particular team, you can develop your strengths and manage your weaknesses as a team member, and so improve how you contribute to the team.
Team leaders and team development practitioners often use the Belbin model to help create more balanced teams.
Teams can become unbalanced if all team members have similar styles of behavior or team roles. If team members have similar weakness, the team as a whole may tend to have that weakness. If team members have similar team-work strengths, they may tend to compete (rather than co-operate) for the team tasks and responsibilities that best suit their natural styles.
Knowing this, you can use the model with your team to help ensure that necessary team roles are covered, and that potential behavioral tensions or weaknesses among the team member are addressed.
Tip 1: |
Belbin identified nine team roles and he categorized those roles
into three groups: Action Oriented, People Oriented, and Thought
Oriented. Each team role is associated with typical behavioral and
interpersonal strengths.
Belbin also defined characteristic weaknesses that tend to
accompany each team role. He called the characteristic weaknesses
of team-roles the "allowable" weaknesses; as for any behavioral
weakness, these are areas to be aware of and potentially improve.
The nine team-roles are:
Shapers (SH)
Shapers are people who challenge the team to improve. They are
dynamic and usually extroverted people who enjoy stimulating
others, questioning norms, and finding the best approaches for solving
problems. The Shaper is the one who shakes things up to make sure
that all possibilities are considered and that the team does not
become complacent.
Shapers often see obstacles as exciting challenges and they tend
to have the courage to push on when others feel like quitting.
Their potential weaknesses may be that they're argumentative, and
that they may offend people's feelings.
Implementer (IMP)
Implementers are the people who get things done. They turn the
team's ideas and concepts into practical actions and plans. They
are typically conservative, disciplined people who work
systematically and efficiently and are very well organized. These
are the people who you can count on to get the job done.
On the downside, Implementers may be inflexible and can be somewhat
resistant to change.
Completer - Finisher (CF)
Completer-Finishers are the people who see that projects are
completed thoroughly. They ensure there have been no errors or
omissions and they pay attention to the smallest of details. They
are very concerned with deadlines and will push the team to make
sure the job is completed on time. They are described as
perfectionists who are orderly, conscientious, and anxious.
However, a Completer-Finisher may worry unnecessarily, and may find it
hard to delegate.
Coordinator (CO)
Coordinators are the ones who take on the traditional team-leader
role and have also been referred to as the chairmen. They guide
the team to what they perceive are the objectives. They are often
excellent listeners and they are naturally able to recognize the
value that each team members brings to the table. They are calm
and good-natured and delegate tasks very effectively.
Their potential weaknesses are that they may delegate away too
much personal responsibility, and may tend to be manipulative.
Team Worker (TW)
Team Workers are the people who provide support and make sure that people within the team are working together effectively. These people fill the role of negotiators within the team and they are flexible, diplomatic, and perceptive. These tend to be popular people who are very capable in their own right, but who prioritize team cohesion and helping people getting along.
Their weaknesses may be a tendency to be indecisive, and to maintain
uncommitted positions during discussions and decision-making.
Resource Investigator (RI)
Resource Investigators are innovative and curious. They explore
available options, develop contacts, and negotiate for resources
on behalf of the team. They are enthusiastic team members, who
identify and work with external stakeholders to help the team
accomplish its objective. They are outgoing and are often
extroverted, meaning that others are often receptive to them and
their ideas.
On the downside, they may lose enthusiasm quickly, and are often
overly optimistic.
Plant (PL)
The Plant is the creative innovator who comes up with new ideas
and approaches. They thrive on praise but criticism is especially
hard for them to deal with. Plants are often introverted and
prefer to work apart from the team. Because their ideas are so
novel, they can be impractical at times. They may also be poor
communicators and can tend to ignore given parameters and
constraints.
Monitor - Evaluator (ME)
Monitor-Evaluators are best at analyzing and evaluating ideas that
other people (often Plants) come up with. These people are shrewd
and objective and they carefully weigh the pros and cons of all
the options before coming to a decision.
Monitor-Evaluators are critical thinkers and very strategic in
their approach. They are often perceived as detached or
unemotional. Sometimes they are poor motivators who react to
events rather than instigating them
Specialist (SP)
Specialists are people who have specialized knowledge that is
needed to get the job done. They pride themselves on their skills
and abilities, and they work to maintain their professional
status. Their job within the team is to be an expert in the area,
and they commit themselves fully to their field of expertise.
This may limit their contribution, and lead to a preoccupation with technicalities at the expense of the bigger picture.
Figure 1: Belbin's Team Roles
| Action Oriented Roles | Shaper | Challenges the team to improve. |
| Implementer | Puts ideas into action. | |
| Completer Finisher | Ensures thorough, timely completion. | |
| People Oriented Roles | Coordinator | Acts as a chairperson. |
| Team Worker | Encourages cooperation. | |
| Resource Investigator | Explores outside opportunities. | |
| Thought Oriented Roles | Plant | Presents new ideas and approaches. |
| Monitor-Evaluator | Analyzes the options. | |
| Specialist | Provides specialized skills. |
To find out which team roles you naturally fulfil, or to profile your team, visit www.belbin.com. |
The Belbin Team Roles Model can be used in several ways: you can
use it to think about team balance before a project starts, you
can use it to highlight and so manage interpersonal differences
within an existing team, and you can use it to develop yourself as
a team player.
The tool below helps you analyze team membership, using the Belbin
team roles as checks for potential strengths and weakness within your team.
Use Belbin's model to analyze your team, and as a guide as you
develop your team's strengths, and manage its weaknesses:
Tip 2: Prevalent team roles |
Tip 3: |
|
Was this article helpful? |
|
|
|
| Where to go from here: | |
Join Mind Tools | |
Free Newsletter |
| Download & Print | |
Next Article |
How to Be a Good Team Player - Maximizing your contribution
Team Management Skills - The core skills needed to manage your team
Benne and Sheats' Group Roles - Identifying positive and negative group roles
Cog's Ladder - Understanding and accelerating group formation*
Team Charters - Getting your teams off to a great start
Team-Building Exercises - Planning activities that actually work
Building the Trust of Your New Team - Getting real and living the "we" in team*
Succession Planning - Seamlessly transferring key knowledge, skills and abilities*
The GROW Model - Coaching team members to improve performance
Performance Management and KPIs - Linking activities to vision and strategy*
Management by Objectives (MBO) - Aligning people objectives with organizational goals*
Management By Wandering Around (MBWA) - Staying in touch with your team*
DILO (Day In the Life Of) - Improving team effectiveness by analyzing daily activity*
Sirota Three-Factor Theory - Keeping employees enthusiastic
Expectancy Theory - Motivate your team by linking effort with outcome*
Rewarding Your Team - Learning why "Thank You" is so vital
Job Enrichment - Increasing job satisfaction
Re-Engaging Team Members - Turning negative back to positive*
Dealing with Poor Performance - Is it lack of ability or low motivation?
Performance Agreements - Increasing personal accountability
Resolving Team Conflict - Building stronger teams by facing your differences
A full list of Mind Tools articles is available here.
Learn to manage the stress in your life with our sister site, stress.mindtools.com.
Online Training
Mind Tools Store: Mind Tools Ebook, Make Time for Success
Stress Management Masterclass, How to Lead
Relaxation MP3s
© Mind Tools Ltd, 1995-2010, All Rights Reserved
We welcome appropriate reprinting and reuse of Mind Tools material,
however, you must
get our permission first!
To do this, please visit our Permissions Center.
Newsletter · Store · Corporate Services · Search · Advertisers
MindTools.com is one of the Internet's most-visited career skills resources.
Click here to see analysis.
"Thank you I use my Mind Tools EBook all the time – it's a real comfort knowing I have such a detailed and exhaustive book to refer to for help and guidance."
Patricia Wright,
Bodmin, Cornwall, UK
"I really enjoy the new Mind Tools Showcase newsletter. The 'refresher' courses help to solidify the foundation of skills necessary to add new skills, grow professionally, and excel in a career. They work really well in tandem with the existing newsletter. Plus, the more Mindtools the better!"
Bryan Seely,
Bellingham,
WA, USA
"Thanks tons for the article - it was so timely - I have a couple of clients to whom I sent it - I appreciate your effort with the newletter - I always read it."
Sherry Nau, Rochester, NY, USA
"I'd like you to know that I really enjoy your newsletters. I think they are the best I have seen. Please do not stop as they are very informational, very useful, and for real."
Gabriele Dani, Woodbury, MN, USA