Context: how to get a team working well?

These days more and more of us have to work in teams. Besides permanent teams, project teams are set for short periods of time for specific purposes. Sometimes these teams become problematic- not because their members do not know their subject area, but because they have problems accepting, adjusting and communicating with each other.

What are Belbin team roles?

A team role as defined by Dr. Meredith Belbin is a tendency to behave, contribute and interrelate with others in a particular way. The value of Belbin team-role theory lies in enabling an individual or team to benefit from self-knowledge and adjust according to the demands being made by the external situation.

How did the concept of Belbin team roles originate?

The concept was derived from a study of succesful and unsuccesful teams competing in business games at Henley Management College (UK). As time progressed different clusters of behaviour were identified as underlying the success of the teams. These succesful clusters of behaviour were then given names, hence the emergence of nine team roles: shaper, implementer, completer finisher, co-ordinator, teamworker, resource investigator, plant, monitor evaluator, specialist.

What can be gained by identifying people's Team Roles?

It is difficult to work effectively with people without some reasonable expectations of how they are going to perform. Self and observer assessments show how an individual feels and how an individual behaves in a group. Team roles develop and mature. These may change with experience and conscious attention. Different team roles may come to the fore in response to the needs of particular situations. Finally, the sharing of team roles increases understanding and enables mutual expectations to be met. Disappointments will then be less frequent.