4.1 Belbin’s team roles
There are many different theories of personality styles but one of the most popular and influential that is strongly associated with working in teams is Meredith Belbin’s 9 team roles (2024). First proposed in the 1980s, his model has since evolved but is still widely used.
Watch this short film describing Belbin’s work.
As you’ve just seen, Belbin identified nine clusters of behaviour or roles which have been developed and amended over the years. He suggested that while other roles can be adopted, an individual is more likely to be effective if they play the roles that they are most inclined to play or more skilled at. By ensuring that there is a balance of these roles in a team there is a greater likelihood that the team will perform well. Interestingly, none of the roles are identified as being better than any other and each role is seen to have strengths and weaknesses associated with it.
It should be noted that there are weaknesses in the framework Belbin has described. Research has shown that some of these roles are not easy to distinguish from others and there are other frameworks to describe personality that may work better for describing recognisable types. But the roles Belbin identified have stood the test of time and it is well worth considering how they relate to your own experience of working in a team.
| Role name | Team function | Strengths | Allowable weaknesses |
|---|---|---|---|
| The social roles | |||
| Resource investigator | Uses their inquisitive nature to find ideas to bring back to the team. | Outgoing, enthusiastic, explores opportunities and develops contacts. | Might be over-optimistic, and can lose interest once the initial enthusiasm has passed. They might forget to follow up on a lead. |
| Team worker | Helps the team to gel, using their versatility to identify the work required and complete it on behalf of the team. | Co-operative, perceptive and diplomatic. Listens and averts friction. | Can be indecisive in crunch situations and tends to avoid confrontation. They might be hesitant to make unpopular decisions. |
| Co-ordinator | Needed to focus on the team's objectives, draw out team members and delegate work appropriately. | Mature, confident, identifies talent. Clarifies goals. | Can be seen as manipulative and might offload their own share of the work. They might over-delegate, leaving themselves little work to do. |
| The thinking roles | |||
| Plant | Tends to be highly creative and good at solving problems in unconventional ways. | Creative, imaginative, free-thinking, generates ideas and solves difficult problems. | Might ignore incidentals, and may be too preoccupied to communicate effectively. They could be absent-minded or forgetful. |
| Monitor/evaluator | Provides a logical eye, making impartial judgements where required and weighs up the team's options in a dispassionate way. | Sober, strategic and discerning. Sees all options and judges accurately. | Sometimes lacks the drive and ability to inspire others and can be overly critical. They could be slow to come to decisions. |
| Specialist | Brings in-depth knowledge of a key area to the team. | Single-minded, self-starting and dedicated. They provide specialist knowledge and skills. | Tends to contribute on a narrow front and can dwell on the technicalities. They could overload you with information. |
| The action or task roles | |||
| Shaper | Provides the necessary drive to ensure that the team keeps moving and does not lose focus or momentum. | Challenging, dynamic, thrives on pressure. Has the drive and courage to overcome obstacles. | Can be prone to provocation, and may sometimes offend people's feelings.They could risk becoming aggressive and bad-humoured in their attempts to get things done. |
| Implementer | Needed to plan a workable strategy and carry it out as efficiently as possible. | Practical, reliable, efficient. Turns ideas into actions and organises work that needs to be done. | Can be a bit inflexible and slow to respond to new possibilities. They might be slow to relinquish their plans in favour of positive changes. |
| Completer/finisher | Most effectively used at the end of tasks to polish and scrutinise the work for errors, subjecting it to the highest standards of quality control. | Painstaking, conscientious, anxious. Searches out errors. Polishes and perfects. | Can be inclined to worry unduly, and reluctant to delegate. They could be accused of taking their perfectionism to extremes. |
In Activity 4, you’ll look at where you might fit in Belbin’s model – considering your own strengths and weaknesses in a team situation.
Activity 4 Considering your own behavioural role
Look at the columns in Table 2 that describe the strengths and allowable weaknesses associated with each of the 9 team roles of Belbin. Select the descriptions which you would most associate with yourself. In the box below, record which, if any, of the Belbin roles that this suggests you may fall into. Have a look at the roles these types play in a team and some of the disadvantages associated with these roles. How accurate would you say this is in terms of identifying some of your preferred team roles?
Comment
This activity is intended to stimulate self-reflection and give you an opportunity to consider your own strengths and weaknesses in a team situation. Remember, the roles that you naturally gravitate towards and perform well in are likely to be ones that use your strengths – the skills that you are good at and enjoy using. Identifying your strengths can make you more aware of the roles that suit you and help you to make better workplace and career decisions.
If you struggled to identify just one – were you able to align yourself with one of the three role groups, i.e. social, thinking or action/task?
If you want to explore this framework more formally, the organisation you work for may have access to the Belbin questionnaires, but you can also pay to complete the official Belbin® Self-Perception Inventory online. At the time of writing, the cost was £46.80 for an individual report.
Now you'll move on to Activity 5 which aims to start your thinking about what team role type would be best suited in different situations.
Activity 5 Matching team roles to team issues
Using Belbin’s theory of team roles, it is possible to see that different ‘types’ of team player may be useful in different situations depending on the kind of problem facing the team or the stage in the team’s development. Can you match which team role may be best in helping out in these situations?
| Problem/issue | Team role which may help |
|---|---|
| Underachieving team | |
| Conflicted team | |
| Mediocre performance | |
| Error prone | |
| Newly formed team | |
| Competitive situation | |
| High risk |
Answer
| Problem/issue | Team role which may help |
|---|---|
| Underachieving team | Co-ordinator or completer/finisher |
| Conflicted team | Team worker or co-ordinator |
| Mediocre performance | Resource investigator or shaper |
| Error prone | Evaluator |
| Newly formed team | Shaper |
| Competitive situation | Innovator |
| High risk | Evaluator |
Comment
There are not necessarily any right or wrong answers here as each of the roles could bring something different to the problem or issue. The key is to be aware that having a balance of different roles in the team can make solving these kinds of problems easier.
As the Belbin website (Belbin, 2024) explains:
‘It's not always necessary to have all Team Roles working simultaneously. It's important to consider the team objectives, and then work out which tasks need to be undertaken. Once this has been done, discussions can take place regarding how and when each Belbin Team Role behaviour should be utilised.’
Next you’ll explore the case study of Mark and use it to highlight the importance of identifying different roles for individuals in a team.