Belbin’s Team Role Theory

The Belbin Team Roles theory suggests how to select the right mix of people for a team that will help the team succeed. Every person has unique strengths and behaviour that can facilitate the progress of a team. Belbin’s theory identify behavioural strengths and weaknesses of workers at the workplace.

Introduction

While every firm desires the most capable employees, these employees often have to work in teams and it is important that the team also performs at its best. Research shows that the most successful teams were made up of a diverse mix of behaviours.

A team is not a bunch of people with job titles, but a congregation of individuals, each of whom has a role which is understood by other members.

However, its often seen that teams fall short of expectations despite every team member having clear roles and responsibilities. This can happen due to various reasons such as team members are not flexible, or are unable to see the wider picture, or don’t agree to the overall approach of the team, or have trouble working with some other members.

The research of Dr Meredith Belbin in the 1970’S lead to the development of Belbin Team Roles, nine clusters of behaviour that individuals adopt when participating in a team. During extensive experiments at Henley Management College it became clear that teams comprising a balanced mix of Team Roles outperformed unbalanced teams.

Subsequent research has also demonstrated that teams consistently outperform individuals when dealing with high risk- high complex issues where a wide range of complementary behaviours is required.

Today, the Belbin Team Role model is widely used by thousands of organisations throughout the world to build high-performing teams for specific projects, to enhance individual and team performance.

Benefits

Wherever teams exist within organisations, Belbin can be used to bring the right people together so that the team is as high performing as possible, and is more likely to achieve its goals.

By using Belbin, individuals have a greater self-understanding of their strengths, which leads to more effective communication between colleagues and managers. Great teams can be put together, existing teams can be understood and improved, and everyone can feel that they are making a difference in the workplace.

By assessing the behavioural contribution individuals make to your teams, rather than an abstract psychometric test which will tell you about their personality, Belbin looks at how people actually behave in the workplace and which roles they are best suited to take on in a team environment – we call these Team roles.

What is Belbin’s Team Role Theory?

Belbin suggests that there are nine team roles that most successful teams have, and the behaviour of the employee in each of these roles complement one another thereby facilitating the progress of the team.

Each team needs access to each of the nine Belbin Team Role behaviours to become a high performing team.

However, this doesn’t mean that every team requires nine people!

Most people will have two or three Belbin Team Roles that they are most comfortable with, and this can change over time.

Each Belbin Team Role has strengths and weaknesses, and each Team Role has equal importance.

However, not all are always required at the same time – it is important to first look at the team objectives, and work out which tasks need to be undertaken. Once this has been done, discussions can take place regarding which and when each Belbin Team Role behaviour should be utilised.

Self-Perception Inventory (SPI)

In order to find out more about the behaviour patterns of the employees and the roles they may be suited to, every employee has to take a questionnaire known as the Self-Perception Inventory (SPI). The answers to these questions determine which role will suit an employee better.

How to complete an individual Belbin questionnaire

Belbin’s Nine Team Roles

PLANT (PL)

Role

Advancing new ideas and strategies with special attention to major issues and looking for possible breaks in approach to the problems with which the group is confronted.

Attributes

• Strengths – Independence of outlook, high intelligence, imagination.
• Tolerable weaknesses – A tendency to be impractical or to be ‘up in the clouds’ at times and to be weak in communicating with others.

Plants are innovators and inventors and can be highly creative. people. They provide the source of original ideas to support innovation.

Usually they prefer to operate by themselves at some distance from other members of the team, using their imagination and often working in an unorthodox way. They tend to be introverted and react strongly to criticism and praise.

Their ideas may often be radical and may lack practical constraint. They are independent, and usually regarded as being clever as a result of their original and radical perspective. They don’t always manage to communicate in a compelling way and offer their ideas in a practical and relevant framework.

The main use of a PL is to challenge conventional and established ways of doing things and provide suggested solutions for solving complex problems.

PLs are often needed in the initial stages of a project or when a project is failing to progress. PLs have usually made their mark as founders of companies or as originators of new products.

However, too many PLs in one team or group may be counter-productive as they tend to spend their time reinforcing their own ideas and engaging each other in combat.

RESOURCE INVESTIGATOR (RI)

Role

Exploring and reporting on ideas, developments and resources outside the group; creating external contacts that may be useful to the team and conducting any subsequent negotiations.

Attributes

• Strengths – An outgoing relaxed personality, with a strong inquisitive sense, and a readiness to see the possibilities inherent in anything new.
• Tolerable weaknesses – Over-enthusiasm and a lack of follow-up.

Resource Investigators are usually enthusiastic extroverts. They are natural communicators with people both inside and outside the company. They are natural negotiators and are adept at exploring new opportunities and developing contacts.

Although not a great source of original ideas, the RI is effective when it comes to picking up other people’s ideas and promoting them. As the name suggests, they are adept at finding out what is available and from whom.

They usually receive a warm reception from others because of their warm outgoing nature. RIs are generally relaxed people with a strong inquisitive sense and a readiness to see the possibilities in anything new.

However, unless they remain stimulated by others, their enthusiasm can rapidly fade. Function RIs are good at exploring and reporting back on ideas, developments or resources outside their immediate group.

They are the natural people to set up external contacts and to carry out any subsequent negotiations. They have an ability to think on their feet and to probe others for information.

Co-ordinator (CO)

The distinguishing feature of Co-ordinators is their propensity for helping others to work towards shared goals. Mature, trusting and confident, they delegate readily. In interpersonal relations they are quick to spot individual talents and to use them in pursuit of group objectives.

While COs are not necessarily the cleverest or most senior member of a team, they are likely to have a broad outlook and perspective. The natural goal focus of CO’s can sometimes lead to them manipulating others to achieve their personal objectives. In some situations COs are inclined to clash with Shapers due to their contrasting management styles.

Function COs are well placed when put in charge of a team of people with diverse skills and personal characteristics. They perform better in dealing with colleagues of near or equal rank than in directing junior subordinates.

Their motto might well be “consultation with control“ and they usually believe in tackling problems calmly.

SHAPER (SH)

Role

Shaping the way in which team effort is applied, directing attention generally to the setting of objectives and priorities and seeking to impose some shape or pattern on group discussion and on the outcome of group activities.

Attributes

• Strengths – Drive and self-confidence.
• Tolerable weaknesses – Intolerance towards vague ideas and people.

NOTE – ‘Chairman’ and ‘Shaper’ roles can be considered as alternatives when establishing the various roles formally in a group.

Shapers are highly goal oriented people with great drive and energy. They push themselves and others and tend to overcome obstacles by sheer determination. They tend to be highly assertive and have very directive management styles. Shapers also tend to be competitive and like to win. They frequently progress upward in organisations because they get results and because many people are impressed by their courageous and decisive leadership style.

SHs are not noted for their interpersonal sensitivities and can be argumentative and even aggressive.

SHs are generally perceived as ideal managers because they generate action and thrive under pressure. They come into their own when quick and decisive action is called for to overcome threats and difficulties or when progress towards goals and objectives is unacceptably slow.

CHAIRMAN (CH)

Role

Controlling the way in which a team moves forward towards the group objectives by making the best use of team resources: recognising where the team’s strengths and weaknesses lie and ensuring that the best use is made of each team member’s potential.

Attributes

• Strengths – An ability to command respect and to inspire enthusiasm, a sense of timing and balance and a capacity for communicating easily with others.
• Tolerable weaknesses – No marked creative or intellectual power.

MONITOR-EVALUATOR (ME)

Role

(i)Analysing problems. (ii)Evaluating ideas and suggestions so that the team is better placed to take balanced decisions.

Attributes

• Strengths – Critical thinking ability, including the ability to see the complications of proposals: an objective mind.
• Tolerable weaknesses – hypercritical, unexciting, a little over-serious

Monitor Evaluators are serious-minded, prudent individuals with a built-in immunity for being over-enthusiastic. They are likely to be slow in making decisions preferring to carefully think things over. They are often regarded as over-critical and can be seen to be slow and boring Usually they have a high critical thinking ability. They have a good capacity for shrewd judgements that take all factors into account. A good ME is unlikely to make intuitive and reckless mistakes. They deal in facts and logic rather than emotion when considering options.

MEs are best suited to analysing problems and evaluating ideas and suggestions. They are very good at weighing up the pro’s and con’s of options. In a managerial position their ability to make high quality decisions consistently is likely to make them highly regarded.

Implementer (IMP)

Implementers are characterised by their practical approach and possess higher than normal levels of self-control and discipline. They are prepared to work hard to ensure things are done as prescribed in a systematic way. They are typically loyal to the organisation and prescribed and established ways of doing things. They are likely to be regarded as someone who will not seek personal agendas and self-interest.

On the downside IMPs may be inflexible in accepting new ways of doing things, particularly if they are radical or impracticable.

IMPS are valuable in an organisation because of their reliability and capacity for application. They succeed because they are efficient and because they have a sense of what is feasible and relevant. While many people might stray favouring the tasks they like to do and neglect things they find not to be to their liking an IMP is more likely to do what needs to be done in a systematic and relentless way.

TEAM WORKER (TW)

Role

Supporting members in their strengths (e.g. building on suggestions), underpinning members in their short-comings, improving communications between members and fostering team spirit generally.

Attributes

• Strengths – Humility, flexibility, popularity and good listening skills.
• Tolerable weaknesses – Lack of decisiveness and toughness; a distaste for friction and competition.

Team workers possess a mild and sociable disposition and are generally supportive and concerned about others. They have a great capacity for flexibility and adapting to different situations and people. TWs are perceptive, diplomatic and caring and tend to be good listeners. Because of these qualities it is hardly surprising that they are popular with their colleagues.

Their concern about creating harmony and avoiding conflict can make them indecisive when faced with having to make difficult solo decisions.

The TW may be legitimately compared to the lubricating oil in a car engine. We don’t always appreciate how important it is until it isn’t there. Because of their ability to be able to resolve interpersonal problems TW’s come into their own when situations are tense and people feel uncared for and not appreciated. They can rise to senior positions because they have few enemies and the fact that they are ready to listen to the views and suggestions of others.

COMPLETER-FINISHER (CF)

Role

Ensuring that the team is protected as far as possible from mistakes of both commission and omission: actively searching for aspects of work which need a more than usual degree of attention; and maintaining a sense of urgency within the team.

Attributes

• Strengths – An ability to combine a sense of concern with a sense of order and purpose; self-control and strength of character.
• Tolerable Weaknesses – Impatience and an intolerance towards those of casual disposition and habits.

Completer Finishers have a great capacity for the attention to detail. They constantly strive for perfection and correct errors. CFs are quite introvert and require less external stimulus than most people. The CF can be trusted to do work to the highest standard and to complete it on time.

The combination of striving for perfection and meeting deadlines often creates anxiety though and CFs are likely to be reluctant to trust others to do work to their own high standards.

The Completer Finisher is invaluable where tasks demand close concentration and a high degree of accuracy. The standards they set make them well suited to situations where precision and high standards are essential. CFs will also demand the same high standards from people around them and therefore create their own micro culture where the only standard acceptable is perfection.

The Specialist Team Role and the functional title of Specialist is often a cause for confusion. While it is true that both uses of the term may relate to people who are a source of technical knowledge and expertise the Specialist in Team Role terms has some very specific attributes.

Their main distinguishing feature is their love of learning. They see learning and the accumulation of knowledge as the main reason for their existence and their single minded and resolute pursuit of this end is their main motivation. The SP is likely to be recognised by colleagues as an expert to turn to for help and guidance.

The SP will usually try to avoid being involved in unstructured meetings and discussions or those of a social nature. They may also be somewhat unyielding when challenged about the validity of their knowledge or field of expertise.

While SPs may not be regarded as natural team players teams will be wise to engage the SP as a means of providing in depth research. As managers, they command respect because of their in-depth knowledge and they can be used to mentor others to raise their technical expertise.

COMPANY WORKER (CW)

Role

(i) Turning concepts and plans into practical working procedures. (ii) Carrying out agreed plans systematically and efficiently.

Attributes

• Strengths – Self-control and self-discipline combined with realism and practical common sense.
• Tolerable weaknesses – Lack of flexibility and an unresponsiveness to new ideas that remain unproven.

BELBIN Questionnaire

For each section distribute a total of ten points among the sentences which you think best describe your behaviour. These points may be distributed among several sentences: in extreme cases they might be spread among all the sentences or ten points may be given to a single sentence.

I – WHAT I BELIEVE I CAN CONTRIBUTE TO A TEAM

• (a) I think I can quickly see and take advantage of new opportunities.
• (b) I can work well with a very wide range of people.
• (c) Producing ideas is one of my natural assets.
• (d) My ability rests in being able to draw people out whenever I detect they have something of value to contribute to group objectives.
• (e) My capacity to follow through has much to do with my personal effectiveness.
• (f) I am ready to face temporary unpopularity if it leads to worthwhile results in the end.
• (g) I can usually sense what is realistic and likely to work.
• (h) I can offer a reasoned case for alternative courses of action without introducing bias or prejudice.

II – IF I HAVE A POSSIBLE SHORTCOMING IN TEAMWORK, IT COULD BE THAT

• (a) I am not at ease unless meetings are well structured and controlled and generally well conducted.
• (b) I am inclined to be too generous towards others who have a valid view-point that has not been given a proper airing.
• (c) I have a tendency to talk too much once the group gets on to new ideas.
• (d) My objective outlook makes it difficult for me to join in readily and enthusiastically with colleagues.
• (e) I am sometimes seen as forceful and authoritarian if there is a need to get something done.
• (f) I find it difficult to lead from the front, perhaps because I am over-responsive to group atmosphere.
• (g) I am apt to get too caught up in ideas that occur to me and so lose track of what is happening.
• (h) My colleagues tend to see me as worrying unnecessarily over detail and the possibility that things may go wrong.

III – WHEN INVOLVED IN A PROJECT WITH OTHER PEOPLE

• (a) I have an aptitude for influencing people without pressurising them.
• (b) My general vigilance prevents careless mistakes and omissions being made.
• (c) I am ready to press for action to make sure that the meeting does not waste time or lose sight of the main objective.
• (d) I can be counted an to contribute something original.
• (e) I am always ready to back a good suggestion in the common interest.
• (f) I am keen to look for the latest in new ideas and developments.
• (g) I believe my capacity for judgement can help to bring about the right decisions.
• (h) I can be relied upon to see that all essential work is organised.

IV – MY CHARACTERISTIC APPROACH TO GROUP WORK IS THAT:

• (a) I have a quiet interest in getting to know colleagues better.
• (b) I am not reluctant to challenge the views of others or to hold a minority view myself.
• (c) I can usually find a line of argument to refute unsound propositions.
• (d) I think I have a talent for making things work once a plan has to be put into operation.
• (e) I have a tendency to avoid the obvious and to come out with the unexpected.
• (f) I bring a touch of perfectionism to any job I undertake.
• (g) I am ready to make use of contacts outside the group itself.
• (h) While I am interested in all views I have no hesitation in making up my mind once a decision has to be made.

V – I GAIN SATISFACTION IN A JOB BECAUSE:

• (a) I enjoy analysing situations and weighing up all the possible choices.
• (b) I am interested in finding practical solutions to problems.
• (c) I like to feel I am fostering good working re1ations.
• (d) I can have a strong influence on decisions.
• (e) I can meet people who may have something new to offer.
• (f) I can get people to agree on a necessary course of action.
• (g) I feel in my element where I can give a task my full attention.
• (h) I like to find a field that stretches my imagination.

VI – IF I AM SUDDENLY GIVEN A DIFFICULT TASK VITH LIMITED TIME AND UNFAMILIAR PEOPLE

• (a) I would feel like retiring to a corner to devise a way out of the impasse before developing a line.
• (b) I would be ready to work with the person who showed the most positive approach.
• (c) I would find some way of reducing the size of the task by establishing what different individuals might best contribute.
• (d) My natural sense of urgency would help to ensure that we did not fall behind schedule.
• (e) I believe I would keep cool and maintain my capacity to think straight.
• (f) I would retain a steadiness of purpose in spite of the pressures.
• (g) I would be prepared to take a positive lead if I felt the group was making no progress.
• (h) I would open up discussions with a view to stimulating new thoughts and getting something moving

VII – WITH REFERENCE TO THE PROBLEMS TO WHICH I AM SUBJECT IN WORKING IN GROUPS

• (a) I am apt to show my impatience with those who are obstructing progress.
• (b) Others may criticise me for being too analytical and insufficiently intuitive.
• (c) My desire to ensure that work is properly done can hold up proceedings.
• (d) I tend to get bored rather easily and rely on one or two stimulating members to spark me off.
• (e) I find it difficult to get started unless the goals are clear.
• (f) I am sometimes poor at explaining and clarifying complex points that occur to me.
• (g) I am conscious of demanding from others the things I cannot do myself.
• (h) I hesitate to get my points across when I run up against real opposition.

Based on the questionnaire, fill the points table for self-perception inventory. To interpret the self-perception inventory one should now look at the self-perception inventory Analysis Sheet. Transpose the scores taken from the point table entering them section by section in the table below. Then add up the points in each column to give a total team-role distribution score.

In a Nutshell

Belbin philosophy is about celebrating –and making the most of – individual differences. The message is that there is room for everyone in the team: all positive contributions are welcome. It can be seen that each Team Role has its own distinctive cluster of behavioural characteristics – with potential strengths and allowable weaknesses. There are no good or bad Team roles but it is important for each person to know their own Team Roles and those of their colleagues with whom they interact. It is only by making use of complementary and collective strengths that individuals and teams can achieve their full potential – in short, Nobody’s perfect, but a team can be.

References

Belbin, M. (1981). Management Teams. London; Heinemann. ISBN 0470271728

Source: Belbin.com/about/belbin-team-roles