Belbin Team Roles
| Type | Team Size | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Me, Myself and I | Group Collaboration | The Academic System | Software | 1 | 2-10 | 11-30 | 30+ |
Why & When
The Belbin Team Inventory is a role test for groups. The behavioral test developed by Meredith Belbin fosters effective teamwork and is based on personal questions that you answer online. As a result, you receive an evaluation of your individual preferences regarding the following nine team roles: plants, monitor evaluators, specialists, resource investigators, co-ordinators, team workers, shapers, implementers and completer-finishers.
To form an effective team, diverse roles should be represented. Therefore, it is recommended to do the test before forming groups. However, existing groups can also use the test in order to gain a deeper understanding of competencies and responsibilities. The ideal is of course a team in which all nine different roles are distributed. In reality, however, this is often not possible. If there are some roles that are not represented in your group, you may want to talk about what skills you lack and how you would like to compensate them.
Let's take a concrete example to show how the test allows groups to work more efficiently: Anna's seminar is planning a group work. As preparation, all students do the Belbin test. Anna is assigned to the role called plant. Based on the results of the whole seminar group, teams are put together which have as many different roles as possible. Anna takes on the role of the plant in her group. Thus, her team members know from the beginning that Anna is a very creative and open minded person and likes to think outside of the box. Therefore she takes over the creative tasks in the group and is available to everyone as a brainstorming partner.
There are some things to take care of: First of all, this method involves personal questions. Thus, it is important to make sure that everyone feels comfortable in the process. Second, the Belbin roles only refer to group work and therefore are not to be equated with character traits. And finally, the roles should not be seen as fixed constructs. Team members can also take on different roles at the same time or change roles in the course of group work. The Belbin roles should rather be understood as a basis for an open discussion.
Not a fan of long texts? Check this video.
What
Here is a short overview of the different roles and a list of keywords for each role (extracted from Peter Mackechnie). In addition, the nine roles can be assigned to three categories: thought, people and action oriented roles.
| Role | Keywords | Category |
|---|---|---|
| Plants | Independent, unorthodox, imaginative, original, radical, clever, loner, dominant, socially bold, uninhibited, forthright | thought oriented |
| Monitor Evaluators | Prudent, hard-headed, intelligent, dispassionate, analytic, unemotional, hardly ever wrong, serious minded, shrewd, judge of proposals, uncommitted, immune to enthusiasm, rations interventions to a minimum | thought oriented |
| Specialists | Calm, logical, detached, uncommunicative, highly competent in his/her field of expertise, interested only in the exercise of that expertise, accurate, conscientious, may be a dogged finisher | thought oriented |
| Resource Investigators | Communicative, relaxed, sociable, enthusiastic, outgoing, gregarious, versatile and innovative | people oriented |
| Co-Ordinators | Calm, self-confident, open, good listener, talent spotter,self-disciplined, commands respect, trusting by nature, strong moral commitment, unflappable in face of controversy, naturally enthusiastic, good speaker, thinks positively | people oriented |
| Team Workers | Sympathetic, understanding, sensitive, aware, sociable, low dominance, trusting, strong interest in human interaction and communication, leads from behind | people oriented |
| Shapers | Dynamic, impulsive, challenging, looks for a pattern, compulsive drive, nervous energy, strong need for achievement, sociable, opportunistic rather than conscientious, tough minded, emotional, fearless and unflinching in face-to-face contact | action oriented |
| Implementers | Methodical, practical, hard working, reliable, systematic, tough minded tolerant, self controlled, orthodox, strength of character, organizational flair | action oriented |
| Completer-Finishers | Painstaking, conscientious, follows through, strong attention to detail, relentless, high self-control, appears unflappable but prone to internal anxiety, consistent, capacity for hard and effective work, impatient of slapdash | action oriented |
Goals
- Forming diverse teams
- Distributing responsibilities based on personal prefernces
- Beeing aware of personal strengths and weaknesses
- Enabling effective teamwork
Getting started
- Do the Belbin test online. There is a free questionnaire in pdf-format, which is linked below. Alternatively, you can do the test on the official Belbin homepage for a fee.
- After you have received your individual team role, discuss and analyse the results in your large group. Based on this you can now form diverse teams.
- Once you have found your team, it is important to discuss the roles explicitly and to clarify the tasks and responsibilities associated with them.
Links & Further reading
- Official Belbin homepage https://www.belbin.com/
- Book: Belbin, Meredith. "Belbin team roles." Book Belbin Team Roles (2004)
- Belbin team role theories https://www.businesscoaching.co.uk/files/belbin_team_role_theories.pdf
- Video explaining the Belbin test https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMesDq_rNOw
- Free Belbin test questionnaire https://stevensonsino.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/BELBIN-questionnaire.pdf
The author of this entry is Esther Kohlhase.
