Belbin team roles

From CEOpedia | Management online

Belbin team roles is a model passed by Dr. Mertith Belbin in 1981. It concerns the success or failure of the team. He states that to have a successful team, nine roles were needed to work in a team. Inventorying roles in the Belbin team provides an effective way to estimate the behavior of individuals in the team conditions. Belbin's model identifies individual tendencies for many roles. There are no "good" or "bad" roles, and team roles are not equivalent to kinds of personality. Units have different characteristics, so one person can assess each person's coordination ability with others. BTR aims to determine as much information as possible about the role preferences in a person's team, while maintaining inventory management in terms of item length, inventory length and response style (S. Fatahi, A. R. Lorestani 2010, p. 1).

The Belbin team perception study is designed to measure behavioral traits that individuals present when working in teams. The four most important traits of each person are:

  • Intelligence
  • Domination
  • Introversion / Extroversion
  • Determination / Anxiety (S. Fatahi, A. R. Lorestani 2010, p. 2).

Team roles

Belbin describes the roles of people in the team that are primary, secondary or sometimes tertiary roles. The different team-role types described by Belbin:

  • Plant (PL): creative and unorthodox, but is too busy to communicate
  • Chairman (CH): mellow, good leader, promotes decision making, but can often seem manipulative.
  • Monitor-Evaluator (M-E): strategic, demanding, strict, but can't inspire others.
  • Implementer (IMP):disciplined, efficient, but slowly responds to new opportunities
  • Completer Finisher (CF): diligent, punctual, searches for errors, but anxious
  • Resource Investigator (RI): communicative, enthusiastic, but burns out too quickly
  • Shaper (SH): brave, dynamic, but provocative
  • Team worker (TW): gentle, diplomatic, prevents conflicts, but hesitant
  • Specialist (SP): independent, dedicated, but only contributes to the narrow front (A. Gibson, T. Nesbit 2006, p. 108).

Examples of Belbin team roles

  • The Coordinator: Can think of the bigger picture and provide direction for the team. They are a great leader and motivator. Examples of Coordinators include Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos.
  • The Implementer: They are the practical doers who can turn ideas into plans and complete tasks. Examples of Implementers include Elon Musk and Larry Page.
  • The Resource Investigator: They are great explorers who can find new and innovative ideas to help the team. Examples of Resource Investigators include Bill Gates and Steve Wozniak.
  • The Shaper: They are the challenge-seeking team members who can push the team to reach their goals. Examples of Shapers include Oprah Winfrey and Jack Welch.
  • The Team Worker: They are the glue that holds the team together. They are good at facilitating communication and cooperation. Examples of Team Workers include Sheryl Sandberg and Warren Buffett.
  • The Completer Finisher: They are the detail-oriented team members who make sure the job is done correctly. Examples of Completer Finishers include Tim Cook and Indra Nooyi.

Advantages of Belbin team roles

  • Belbin team roles provide a structured approach for identifying and assessing individual roles in a team. This helps teams to understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and how to use them to the team's advantage.
  • Belbin team roles can help teams to develop their communication and cooperation skills, enabling them to work together effectively.
  • It can help teams to identify the roles that each team member is best suited for, in order to maximise the team's potential.
  • Belbin team roles can help teams to identify areas where they may need more help or resources, in order to achieve their goals.
  • The model can also be used to assess potential team members, in order to make sure they have the right skills and personality to fit in with the team.

Limitations of Belbin team roles

  • Belbin team roles is a model that has been used successfully to assess team roles and identify team strengths and weaknesses. However, there are some limitations to this model that must be taken into account when using it.
  • One of the main limitations is that the model is based on the assumption that behavior within a team can be classified into nine distinct roles. This may not always be the case, as teams may have different dynamics and team members may not fit neatly into any of the nine roles.
  • Another limitation of the model is that it does not account for changes in team dynamics over time. The model is based on the assumption that team dynamics are static and that roles within a team are fixed. However, this may not always be the case, as team dynamics can change over time.
  • Furthermore, Belbin team roles does not take into account the different ways that individuals may approach tasks and how their approaches may change over time. This means that the model may not accurately reflect the actual dynamics of a team, as team members may approach tasks differently depending on the situation.
  • Finally, Belbin team roles can be difficult to apply in practice. The model relies heavily on self-assessment, which can be subjective and open to bias. Additionally, the model may be difficult to use in large teams, as it may be difficult to assess each member's role preferences.

Other approaches related to Belbin team roles

  • Goleman’s Leadership Model: This model suggests that leadership is composed of six different leadership styles that can be used in different situations, such as task-focused, relationship-focused, transformational, transactional, charismatic, and servant.
  • Tuckman’s Stages of Group Development: This model suggests that teams go through five stages of development: forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning.
  • Jung’s Personality Types: This model suggests that there are eight personality types: extraversion, sensing, thinking, judging, introversion, intuition, feeling, and perceiving.
  • Kolb’s Learning Styles: This model suggests that there are four different learning styles: concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation.

In summary, these approaches are related to Belbin team roles in that they provide insight into the dynamics of teams and how individuals interact within teams. They can be used to assess individual roles and preferences, as well as to gain a better understanding of how teams work.


Belbin team roles — recommended articles
Management styles — Blake and Mouton managerial grid — Belbin team role inventory — Predictive Index System — Marston model — Skills and competencies — Contingency leadership — Social Style — Process of learning

References

Author: Katarzyna Satro

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