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This Belbin Team Role and Work Role information site is sponsored by CERT Consultancy & Training
It is edited by Barrie Watson, a member of Belbin Associates. The purpose of the site is to provide free information for people using or planning to use Meredith Belbin's Team Role model and other Belbin tools techniques and philosophies.
Please Note: The answers and information provided on this website represent my own personal views and opinions, except where stated otherwise.
FAQ’s relating to using the Belbin Team Role reports and methodology
Q Is there a link between learning styles and Belbin Team Roles?
A I strongly believe
there is a link between learning styles and Team Roles as both are influenced by
the same things, our DNA, Genetics and Personality. For example I am a "Shaper" and
prefer to learn by doing and tend to be motivated to learn primarily as a means to
achieve.
Q How would Belbin profiling benefit a Management Development Programme?
A A Management Development Programme would benefit in the following ways:
1. By enhancing managers' awareness of their own management style which could then
be used as a basis for improving their personal effectiveness.
2. By providing managers
with a better understanding of their subordinates and thereby enabling them to tap
into these natural preferences when assigning work and when planning their future
development.
3. By equipping managers with the ability to select effective teams and
diagnose underlying weaknesses in existing teams.
Q Are there any particular mixtures of Belbin team types that work (and don't work!)?
A
This is a good question. There are in fact a number of Team Roles where the chemistry
is difficult. For example, the Shaper/Monitor Evaluator, the Resource Investigator/Specialist
and the Plant/Implementer.
Without any intervention the above, and other similarly
difficult pairings, will probably experience conflict. The fact is tough that each
one of the roles will benefit from the contribution of the other if their different
approaches can be reconciled.
The Belbin e-interplace Working relationship report
is very effective in identifying Team Role chemistry problems and provides valuable
advisory and diagnostic advice to help with managing relationships. (If you would
like to receive an example of the Working Relationship report please click here)
Q We need to motivate our staff and would like to know how to assess what would most
motivate each individual?
A I suggest you consider getting each person to do a Belbin
profile. This will provide you with valuable insights about each person's natural
behavioural tendencies. This information can then be used to help decide who should
be doing what and, as far as possible, ensure natural preferences and motivations
are taken into account. For example Monitor Evaluators are motivated by having the
opportunity to analyse problems and prevent superficial decisions being made based
on emotion rather than logic. They are not likely to be motivated however by being
placed in situations that require a lot of people empathy or quick results.
On this page you will find FAQ’s relating to the Belbin Team Role reports and using the Belbin methodology. For more FAQ’s relating to the Belbin Team Role model and the Belbin assessments etc. please use the navigation bar or the search facility.
Q Is it possible to use Belbin assessments for selection and career planning purposes?
A
By using the Belbin Interplace Self Perception Inventory, Observer Assessment, Job
Requirement and the Job Observation assessment the process of matching people to
jobs can be greatly enhanced. This applies equally to the selection and recruitment
process and to career planning and personal development decisions. For more information
click here and ask for a free copy of A Guide to Matching People to Jobs.
Q I am particularly concerned at present about resolving a personality clash. How
can the Belbin model help with this?
A This issue can be dealt with by using the Belbin
Working Relationship report, an example of which, along with other Belbin reports,
can be obtained by clicking here. This report enables differences in natural behavioural
tendencies between the two people to be identified and areas of difficult chemistry
to be pinpointed.
Q How can I use the Belbin Working Relationship report to improve workplace relationships?
A
I find that the best way to use this report is to get both of the people to jointly:
-
Identify where there is difficult Team Role chemistry.
- Cite examples of where they
have experienced difficulties with their working relationship.
- Identify what they
do well together by complementing each other.
- Agree a working relationship strategy.
Q I am concerned that Belbin assessments do not take into consideration cultural
influences. What is your view on this?
A This is something I get asked frequently,
particularly when I am outside the UK. The fact is that as the Belbin Self Perception
Inventory and Observer Assessments are trying to elicit a persons natural or preferred
behavioural tendencies they are indirectly taking cultural influences into consideration.
This is due to a person's behavioural tendencies being, in part, the result of cultural
factors. The fact that it does not specifically identify the causal influences is
not very important in most circumstances in my opinion. It is more important to know
what is than what caused it that matters and what we do with this information so
don't get overly obsessed about the cultural influences or even waste too much time
on the great nature/nurture debate if you are interested in results rather than theory.
Q Don’t team members get labelled as being less than competent in their least preferred
roles and then they get passed over for future promotion?
A First of all let me say
that the ownership of the Belbin profile is vested in the individual and if they
are to get ‘labelled’ it should only be a result of them choosing to communicate
their profile to others. This is something we should advocate of course once people
are confident about their natural strengths and weaknesses. In doing so however we
need to get the message across that none of us will be perfect in every way and will
have natural strengths (talents) and weaknesses. I often illustrate this by using
the analogy that some people are naturally left handed and weak with their right
hand and don’t seem to have any reservations about saying “Remember I am not right
handed”. As far as being “passed over for future promotion” is concerned I can’t
accept it as an inevitable result. I can see however that where ‘Suitability’ (The
behavioural fit) as well as ‘Eligibility’ (Skills, qualifications etc.) is taken
into account someone may be passed over for a job as being unsuitable even when they
are eligible. This is countered however by the occasions where someone who might
have been passed over as being ineligible being appointed and developed because they
were suitable. The fact is that it is not in the interest of anyone to place people
into jobs in which they may under perform of fail. We must strive hard therefore
to get this message across and help people into jobs where they are most likely to
succeed. I can’t pretend this is easy to put across to people who see things like
Team Role profiling in terms of measuring who are the good and bad people but we
need to tread a cautious but very clear path towards this end.
Q One of the participants asked me to comment on how her new Belbin profile report
differed from her profile based on the self-scoring Self Perception Inventory from
the original Belbin book. What advice can you offer?
A The only advice I can give
you is that I would not recommend using the results of a questionnaire that is over
25 years out of date and uses non-normalised data as a basis for sound discussion
and deciding what action to take. The old profile may of course be pointing the person
in the right direction but I would not have enough confidence about it, and of course,
confidence can be improved further by using the Observer Assessment facility that
is now available.
Q After asking the team to complete a Belbin questionnaire, none of the team came
out as coordinator. My preference was Completer Finisher followed by Specialist.
Is it possible for me to "role sacrifice" and instead take on the role of Coordinator,
as the team are missing this role.
A If your team is missing a naturally high Co-ordinator
it is a reasonable strategy for someone to make a “Team Role Sacrifice” and try and
adopt this role on behalf of the team. I would advise that this is done by someone
who has CO as a manageable role however rather than a low or least preferred role
as this would be asking a lot of a person, particularly when things get emotive or
heated.
Q I had one person who was reluctant to accept the results of his Self Perception Inventory as he he didn’t care much for some of the negative Shaper attributes reported. How would you deal with this?
A This is one of the most common causes of people being reluctant to accept the validity of their reports and here is one of the ways I deal with this:
1. I ask for people to obtain a minimum of four Observer Assessments whenever possible as this provides a more robust multi-perspective report.
2. Two of the additional reports available when we have the Observer Assessments show clearly the extent of any negative (allowable weaknesses) aspects of a person’s profile as follows:
- The Bar Graph of Observer Words report shows graphically the proportion of positive/negative features for each Team Role.
- The Most Highly Rated Observer Responses report shows the actual words reported by observers.
If you would like to receive examples of these report please click here.
Q Can you please tell me how the Belbin Team Role inventory can be used to improve
team performance?
A The Belbin Team Role model can be used to improve team performance
in a number of ways. Here are four of them:
1. It helps each person to be clear about
their natural contribution when working in a team.
2. By sharing this information
between team members each person is aware of the role of other team members and can
use this information to improve synergy.
3. By analysing the Team Roles of the whole
team the team balance can be checked and steps taken to remedy any imbalance.
4. Hierarchy
within teams is de-emphasised and individual contributions are encouraged on merit
as teams apply the Team Role model.
Q Where can I find details of consultants who provide team building using the Belbin
methodology?
A Go to http://www.cert-uk.info/index.html or http://www.cert-uk.info/collaborative-partners.html
if you are outside the UK. For other countries please contact me by clicking here.
Q Can you kindly advise if Team Roles change with different team members and external
factors e.g. company setting, cultural context?
A Yes. All of the factors you describe
will have some impact on a person’s natural Team Role tendencies. It is important
to recognise however that there is not unlimited scope for changing a person’s natural
Team Roles as this is partly influenced by DNA and genetics. This becomes evident
when the ‘going gets tough’ when you will see people reverting to their natural tendencies.
Whilst some behavioural modification is quite realistic, particularly in managing
natural Team Roles, my advice is always to build on what comes naturally rather than
undertaking massive behavioural re-engineering.
Q What should I do to realise my full potential now that I am aware of my Team Roles?
A
The first thing to say is be sure that you are clear about what your Team Role tendencies
are before planning any personal development or your future career. Using the self
reporting questionnaires alone is not robust enough for such important decisions
that's why I recommend combining the latest normalised computer version of the Belbin
Self Perception Inventory with 4 to 6 Observer Assessments by work colleagues who
know you well. Armed with this multi-perspective information and some deep reflection
my advice to you is best summarised in the last paragraph of the answer to the previous
question on this page. Follow this advice and I promise you will find your work more
enjoyable and realise your full potential.
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