BELBIN TEAM ROLES
EVER WONDERED WHY YOUR TEAM DOESN’T ALWAYS GEL, OR WHY SOME MEMBERS OF YOUR TEAM ALWAYS SEEM TO BUTT HEADS?
Ever wondered why you just can’t seem to get the best out of your team?
Lots of ideas, but poor execution or
A team that lacks direction and ideas, but is great at executing or
A group of individuals that know what needs to be done, but can’t see the obstacles and plan for them along the way?
Every business needs a high-performing team for success – your teams may need a little tweak, a little knowledge of how to perform at their best together, or they may need a lot! Read on for a bit more info…
Be it project-based work, or general day-to-day team interactions, Belbin Team Roles may be your answer. The Nine Belbin Team Roles are the result of extensive research into what makes a successful team – across any industry.
There are nine clusters of behaviour which equate to nine Team Roles that are crucial for a high-performing team. Meredith Belbin said ‘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’
Unlike other similar tools in the marketplace, Belbin focusses on the practical, rather than just the theory on building a team that hums - all built around Nine Team Roles:
The Monitor / Evaluator
The Co-ordinator
The Plant
The Specialist
The Resource Investigator
The Implementer
The Shaper
The Completer-Finisher
The Teamworker
You don’t need nine people in a team to make things tick – but every role needs to be covered off, with team members often taking multiple roles depending on their core behaviours.
Defining your Team Role, and building a Team Profile
This is done very simply through an online self-survey (which ascertains how an employee sees themselves and what their strengths / weaknesses are within a team) and an online feedback survey (from 4 – 6 other colleagues). This feedback survey is done anonymously, the results of which are totalled to create a Feedback Report, which demonstrates how other team members see the employee in terms of strengths and weaknesses.
These two sources of data create both an Individual Report as well as a Team (Observers) Report - see below. Sometimes the self-perception report is similar to the observers report, although it often differs quite markedly, which is where issues with performance of teams and team behaviour can arise.
Belbin Team Report Example.
Like any good recipe, these reports tell you what ingredients you may be missing, or what you have too much of! These reports are the conduit for a practical & informative workshop with the team to illustrate and discuss the strengths and weaknesses in your team.
Belbin also helps you work through team conflicts - the "oil and water" elements, explaining why team members might clash with another (and how we can help them):
An Implementer (executes and applies tasks) or a Shaper (drives the team) interacting with a Plant (the innovator and ideas person)
A Resource Investigator (see opportunities and networks) and a Completer Finisher (focuses on the details of executing a job)
Belbin Team Workshops not only create awareness and practical knowledge on how to create a highly-functioning team, but also help to resolve simmering tensions and conflicts, in a fun engaging environment.
In order to introduce Belbin to your team, contact HR Unplugged on mel@hrunplugged.com.au or 0424 995 502 for assistance. As a Belbin-accredited provider, we have access to the online survey tools and report generation, to help you translate team success to your workplace.
It’s not a high cost or “fluffy” workshop. Belbin will practically impact your bottom line, with a team that can better relate to each other, why they interact the way they do, and how to get the best out of themselves and others.