Belbin s Team Roles

Know thy self, know thy neighbor

How do you build a perfect team out of imperfect people?

The perfect individual could be described as:

Out-going Organised Motivating Creative Hard-driving Objective Diplomatic Meticulous Knowledgeable

Unlikely to find all of these qualities in one person...

What Makes Successful Teams

Successful Teams contain members with different key attributes & are not collections of ‘SIMILAR’ people

Group behaviourGroup behaviour in sociology refers to the situations where people interact in large or small groups. The field of group dynamics deals with small groups that may reach consensus and act in a coordinated way. Groups of a large number of people in a given area may act simultaneously to achieve a goal that differs from what individuals would do acting alone (herd behaviour). A large group (a crowd or mob) is likely to show examples of group behaviour when people gathered in a given place and time act in a similar way—for example, joining a protest or march, participating in a fight or acting patriotically.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociology

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crowd

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_group

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_dynamics

just knowing about the Belbin Team Roles model can bring more harmony to your team, as team members learn that there are different approaches that are important in different circumstances and that no one approach is best all of the time.

Key Points• Belbin's Team Roles is based on nine team roles, categorized into

three groups: Action Oriented, People Oriented, and Thought Oriented.

• You can use the model with your team to help ensure that necessary team roles are covered, and that you address potential behavioral tensions or weaknesses among team members. This will help you to create a more-balanced team.

• You can also use it to understand your role within a particular team, so that you can develop your strengths and manage your weaknesses as a team member

Belbin team roles

– Plant. Creative, imaginative, unorthodox, solves difficult problems. – Resource Investigator. Extrovert, enthusiastic, communicative. Explores

opportunities, develops contacts. – Co-ordinator. Mature, confident, a good chairperson. Clarifies goals,

promotes decision making, delegates well. – Shaper. Challenging, dynamic, thrives on pressure. The drive and courage to

overcome obstacles. – Monitor Evaluator. Sober, strategic and discerning. Sees all options, judges

accurately. – Teamworker. Co-operative, mild, perceptive and diplomatic. Listens, builds,

averts friction. – Implementer. Disciplined, reliable, conservative and efficient. Turns ideas into

practical actions. – Completer Finisher. Painstaking, conscientious, anxious. Searches out errors

and omissions, delivers on time. – Specialist. Single-minded, self-starting, dedicated. Provides knowledge and

skills

Belbin team roles is a system developed by Dr. M. Belbin and proved by extensive research and development over more than twenty years. The system considers an individual's preference for the role they play when they inter-react with other people. A variety of team-role types have been identified:-

Belbin - The Team Roles

Plant

Plants are creative, unorthodox and a generator of ideas. If an innovative solution to a problem is needed, a Plant is a good person to ask. A good Plant will be bright and free-thinking. Plants can tend to ignore incidentals and refrain from getting bogged down in detail. The Plant bears a strong resemblance to the popular caricature of the absent-minded professor/inventor, and often has a hard time communicating ideas to others. Multiple Plants in a team can lead to conflicts, as many ideas are generated without sufficient discernment or the impetus to follow the ideas through to action.


Resource InvestigatorThe Resource Investigator gives a team a rush of enthusiasm at the start of the project by vigorously pursuing contacts and opportunities. He or she is focused outside the team, and has a finger firmly on the pulse of the outside world. Where a Plant creates new ideas, a Resource Investigator will quite happily appropriate them from other companies or people. A good Resource Investigator is a maker of possibilities and an excellent networker, but has a tendency to lose momentum towards the end of a project and to forget small details


Co-ordinatorA Co-ordinator is a likely candidate for the chairperson of a team, since they have a talent for stepping back to see the big picture. Co-ordinators are confident, stable and mature and because they recognise abilities in others, they are very good at delegating tasks to the right person for the job. The Co-ordinator clarifies decisions, helping everyone else focus on their tasks. Coordinators are sometimes perceived to be manipulative, and will tend to delegate all work, leaving nothing but the delegating for them to do


ShaperThe Shaper is a task-focused individual who pursues objectives with vigor and who is driven by nervous energy and the need to achieve - for the Shaper, winning is the name of the game. The Shaper is committed to achieving ends and will ‘shape’ others into achieving the aims of the team. He or she will challenge, argue or disagree and will display aggression in the pursuit of goal achievement. Two or three Shapers in a team, according to Belbin, can lead to conflict, aggravation and in-fighting.


Monitor EvaluatorMonitor Evaluators are fair and logical observers and judges of what is going on in the team. Since they are good at detaching themselves from bias, they are often the ones to see all available options with the greatest clarity and impartiality. They take a broad view when problem-solving, and by moving slowly and analytically, will almost always come to the right decision. However, they can become very critical, damping enthusiasm for anything without logical grounds, and they have a hard time inspiring themselves or others to be passionate about their work.


TeamworkerA Teamworker is the oil between the cogs that keeps the machine that is the team running smoothly. They are good listeners and diplomats, talented at smoothing over conflicts and helping parties understand one other without becoming confrontational. Since the role can be a low-profile one, the beneficial effect of a Teamworker can go unnoticed and unappreciated until they are absent, when the team begins to argue, and small but important things cease to happen. Because of an unwillingness to take sides, a Teamworker may not be able to take decisive action when it is needed.


ImplementerThe Implementer takes their colleagues' suggestions and ideas and turns them into positive action. They are efficient and self-disciplined, and can always be relied on to deliver on time. They are motivated by their loyalty to the team or company, which means that they will often take on jobs everyone else avoids or dislikes. However, they may be seen as closed-minded and inflexible since they will often have difficulty deviating from their own well-thought-out plans, especially if such a deviation compromises efficiency or threatens well-established practices.


Completer FinisherThe Completer Finisher is a perfectionist and will often go the extra mile to make sure everything is "just right," and the things he or she delivers can be trusted to have been double-checked and then checked again. The Completer Finisher has a strong inward sense of the need for accuracy, and sets his or her own high standards rather than working on the encouragement of others. They may frustrate their teammates by worrying excessively about minor details at the expense of meeting deadlines, and by refusing to delegate tasks that they do not trust anyone else to perform.


SpecialistSpecialists are passionate about learning in their own particular field. As a result, they are likely to be a fountain of knowledge and will enjoy imparting this knowledge to others. They also strive to improve and build upon their expertise. If there is anything they do not know the answer to, they will happily go and find out. Specialists bring a high level of concentration, ability, and skill in their discipline to the team, but can only contribute on that specialism and will tend to be uninterested in anything which lies outside its narrow confines.The Belbin Team Inventory was revised to include the Specialist role, since the role was not revealed in the original research, owing to the fact that no specialised knowledge was required for the simulation exercise.

belbin team roles and descriptionsrole name strengths and styles

Coordinator (CO)* able to get others working to a shared aim; confident, mature - (originally called 'Chairman' by Belbin)

Shaper (SH)* motivated, energetic, achievement-driven, assertive, competitive

Plant (PL)* innovative, inventive, creative, original, imaginative, unorthodox, problem-solving

Monitor-Evaluator (ME) serious, prudent, critical thinker, analytical

Implementer (IMP) systematic, common sense, loyal, structured, reliable, dependable, practicable, efficient (originally called 'Company Workers')

Resource Investigator (RI)* quick, good communicator, networker, outgoing, affable, seeks and finds options, negotiator

Team Worker (TW) supportive, sociable, flexible, adaptable, perceptive, listener, calming influence, mediator

Completer-Finisher (CF)attention to detail, accurate, high standards, quality orientated, delivers to schedule and specification

Specialist (SP) technical expert, highly focused capability and knowledge, driven by professional standards and dedication to personal subject area

* Belbin suggested these roles are more extravert than introvert.

'belbin team roles' within teams

• The Co-ordinator clarifies group objectives, sets the agenda, establishes priorities, selects problems, sums up and is decisive, but does not dominate discussions.

• The Shaper gives shape to the team effort, looking for pattern in discussions and practical considerations regarding the feasibility of the project. Can steamroller the team, but gets results.

• The Plant is the source of original ideas, suggestions and proposals that are usually original and radical.

• The Monitor-Evaluator contributes a measured and dispassionate analysis and, through objectivity, stops the team committing itself to a misguided task.

• The Implementer turns decisions and strategies into defined and manageable tasks, sorting out objectives and pursuing them logically.

• The Resource Investigator goes outside the team to bring in ideas, information and developments to it.

• They are the team's sales-person, diplomat, liaison officer and explorer. • The Team Worker operates against division and disruption in the team, like cement, particularly in

times of stress and pressure. • The Finisher maintains a permanent sense of urgency with relentless follow-through.

In small teams, people can, and do, assume more than one role. All of these roles have value and are missed when not in a team; there are no stars or extras.

In addition, analysing existing teams and their performance or behaviour, using these team role concepts, can lead to improvements, for example:

Under-achievement demands a good coordinator or finisher Conflict requires a team worker or strong coordinator Mediocre performance needs a resource investigator, innovator or shaper Error prone teams need an evaluator

Different roles are important in different circumstances, for example:

New teams need a strong shaper to get started. Competitive situations demand an innovator with good ideas. In areas of high risk, a good evaluator may be needed.

Teams should, therefore, be analysed both in terms of what team roles members can play, and also in relation to what team skills are most needed.

Despite having well defined roles within a team, the interaction between the different personalities of individuals can be a frequent source of friction. However, this can largely be avoided by understanding and valuing people's differences.

'belbin team roles' within teams

Behaviour Clusters by Orientation

Winning Teams A competent Co-ordinator A good Plant A spread of mental abilities Team-role capabilities A good match between attributes of individuals and their responsibilities in the team Recognition of and adjustment to imbalance

GOD SAVE The Teams with..

Many Shapers Competing Views Horses Pulling a Ball in Different Directions Common Minimum Programme

Many Plants Lot of Ideas, Little Action

Many Monitor Evaluators Plant’s Hell Kill an Idea before it Gets Legs

Lots of Clever People Lots of PL, ME, maybe SH Intellectual competition can get in the way of success Too much analysis and argument Can become “winning” if Co-ordinator can create a culture of co- Operation

GOD SAVE the Teams with..

All Teamworkers Who will generate the ideas to build with

All Company Makers Mundane & predictable life Slow & steady may not win the race in the age of ‘Fast & Consistent’ Lacks direction, the organisers will not have much to organise Lots done, little achieved

No Completer Finisher May miss details & deadlines

Many Completer Finisher Immersed in detail & ‘Much Ado about Nothin

PEOPLE

Co-ordinator Teamworker Resource Investigator

CEREBRAL Plant Monitor Evaluator

ACTION ShaperImplementer Completer Finisher



Doing / Acting ImplementerShaperCompleter/Finisher

Thinking / problem-solving PlantMonitor / EvaluatorSpecialist

People / feelings CoordinatorTeamworkerResource / Investigator

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 Explores outside Investigator opportunities.

Thought Oriented Roles Plant Presents new ideas and approaches.

Monitor-Evaluator Analyzes the options.Specialist Provides specialized skills

Is yours a winning team?

What’s the Chairman’s (Leader’s) personality? How evenly is the level of intelligence spread across the team? Is there a Plant in the team? Do team memebrs have complementary areas of expertise? Is there a balance amongst the members in roles and responsibilites?

Belbin s Team Roles

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