Belbin Team

Role Theory

TEAM ROLE: BELBINS

DEFINITION

A tendency to
behave, contribute
and interrelate with
others in a
particular way

BASIC MAXIMS

Individuals are seldom good at

everything

Out-going

Motivating

Organised

Creative

Diplomatic

Knowledgeable

Meticulous

Hard-driving
Objective

BASIC MAXIMS

Individuals usually have a lot more to

contribute than their particular
profession or experience may
suggest At work, we have 2 roles:
Functional role= F (acquired
knowledge, professional
experience)
Team role= F (basic capacities,
personal characteristics, ability to
relate to others)

BASIC MAXIMS

The effectiveness of a team will depend on

the extent to which members correctly
recognize and adjust themselves to the
relative strengths within the team

BELBIN TEAM ROLE EXPERT

SYSTEM

Belbin - 9 team roles type

Each type has a typical behavioural strength
and a characteristic weakness

Action-oriented roles
SHAPER, IMPLEMENTER &
COMPLETER FINISHER
People-oriented roles
CO-ORDINATOR, TEAMWORKER,
RESOURCE INVESTIGATOR
Cerebral roles
PLANT, MONITOR EVALUATOR &
SPECIALIST

TEAM ROLE OPPOSITES

MONITOR
EVALUATOR judges
impartially

PLANT theorises

SHAPER drives

RESOURCE
INVESTIGATOR recognises opportunities

SPECIALIST - specifies

CO-ORDINATOR generalises

COMPLETER
FINISHER perfects
established
systems
TEAMWORKER supports

IMPLEMENTER - applies

Belbin Team
Role Theory

 Belbin Team Role Theory

Dr. Meredith Belbin is well known for his team roles

concept. The team roles identified by Belbin are based
on certain patterns of behaviour that people exhibit
within teams. These patterns of behaviour can
potentially have an impact on the performance of the
team. The basic premise of theBelbin team
rolestheory is quite simple. When individuals become
aware of their own strengths and abilities, and
understand the role that he or she is capable of
playing within a team, it helps them to deal better
with the demands of the team environment.

 Belbin Team Role Theory

Belbins team roles are based on a study that

examined personality traits, intellectual styles and
behaviours within teams. The team roles evolved from
the clusters or patterns of these that emerged during
the study. Initially defined as 8 roles, the Belbin model
now sports 9 roles, the new one being the Specialist.

Plant
Co-ordinator
Shaper
Monitor Evaluator
Teamworker
Implementer
Completer Finisher
Specialist

Belbin Team Roles

Resource Investigator

 Belbin Team Roles

Plant

Plants are creative, unorthodox and a generator of

ideas. If an innovative solution to a problem is
needed, a Plant is a good person to ask. A good plant
will be bright and free-thinking. The Plant bears a
strong resemblance to the popular caricature of the
absentminded professor-inventor, and often has a hard
time communicating ideas to others.
Contribution
Creative, imaginative, unorthodox. Solves difficult
problems.
Weaknesses
Ignores incidentals. Too pre-occupied to communicate
effectively.

 Belbin Team Roles

Resource Investigator
The Resource Investigator gives a team a rush of enthusiasm
at the start of the project by vigorously pursuing contacts and
opportunities. He or she is focused outside the team, and has
a finger firmly on the pulse of the outside world. Where a
Plant creates new ideas, a Resource Investigator will quite
happily steal them from other companies or people. A good
Resource Investigator is a maker of possibilities and an
excellent networker, but has a tendency to lose momentum
towards the end of a project and to forget small details.
Contribution
Extrovert, enthusiastic, communicative. Explores
opportunities. Develops contacts.
Weaknesses
Over-optimistic. Loses interest once initial enthusiasm has
passed.

 Belbin Team Roles

Co-ordinator
A Coordinator often becomes the default chairperson
of a team, stepping back to see the big picture.
Coordinators are confident, stable and mature and
because they recognise abilities in others, they are
very good at delegating tasks to the right person for
the job. The Coordinator clarifies decisions, helping
everyone else focus on their tasks. Coordinators are
sometimes perceived to be manipulative, and will
tend to delegate all work, leaving nothing but the
delegating for them to do.
Contribution
Mature, confident, a good chairperson. Clarifies goals,
promotes decision-making, delegates well.
Weaknesses
Can be seen as manipulative. Offloads personal work.

 Belbin Team Roles

Shaper

Shapers are the dynamic whip-crackers who provoke

their team into action. They thrive on pressure and
challenge, charging through obstacles and challenging
others to do the same. They will furthermore always
say what they feel needs to be said to reach their
goal. In their zeal to achieve their objectives, Shapers
sometimes forget to be sensitive to the feelings and
perceptions of others. They enjoy it rough and arent
afraid to play around.
Contribution
Challenging, dynamic, thrives on pressure. The drive
and courage to overcome obstacles.
Weaknesses
Prone to provocation. Offends peoples feelings.

 Belbin Team Roles

Monitor Evaluator
Monitor Evaluators are fair and logical observers and
judges of what is going on. Because they are good at
detaching themselves from bias, they are often the
ones to see all available options with the greatest
clarity. They take everything into account, and by
moving slowly and analytically, will almost always
come to the right decision. However, they can become
excessively cynical, damping enthusiasm for anything
without logical grounds, and they have a hard time
inspiring themselves or others to be passionate about
their work.
Contribution
Sober, strategic and discerning. Sees all options.
Judges accurately.
Weaknesses
Lacks drive and ability to inspire others.

 Belbin Team Roles

Teamworker
A Teamworker is the oil that keeps the machine that is
the team running. They are good listeners and
diplomats, talented at smoothing over conflicts and
helping parties understand each other without
becoming confrontational. The beneficial effect of a
Teamworker is often not noticed until they are absent,
when the team begins to argue, and small but
important things cease to happen. Because of an
unwillingness to take sides, a Teamworker may not be
able to take decisive action when it is needed.
Contribution
Co-operative, mild, perceptive and diplomatic.
Listens, builds, averts friction.
Weaknesses
Indecisive in crunch situations.

 Belbin Team Roles

Implementer
The Implementer takes what the other roles have
suggested or asked, and turns their ideas into positive
action. They are efficient and self-disciplined, and can
always be relied on to deliver on time. They are
motivated by their loyalty to the team or company,
which means that they will often take on jobs
everyone else avoids or dislikes. However, they may be
seen as close-minded and inflexible since they will
often have difficulty deviating from their own wellthought-out plans.
Contribution
Disciplined, reliable, conservative and efficient. Turns
ideas into practical actions.
Weaknesses
Somewhat inflexible. Slow to respond to new
possibilities.

 Belbin Team Roles

Completer Finisher
The Completer Finisher is a perfectionist and will often go the
extra mile to make sure everything is just right, and the
things he or she delivers can be trusted to have been doublechecked and then checked again. The Completer Finisher has
a strong inward sense of the need for accuracy, rarely needing
any encouragement from others because that individuals own
high standards are what he or she tries to live up to. They
may frustrate their teammates by worrying excessively about
minor details and refusing to delegate tasks that they do not
trust anyone else to perform.
Contribution
Painstaking, conscientious, anxious. Searches out errors and
omissions. Delivers on time.
Weaknesses
Inclined to worry unduly. Reluctant to delegate.

 Belbin Team Roles

Specialist
Specialists are passionate about learning in their own
particular field. As a result, they will have the
greatest depth of knowledge, and enjoy imparting it
to others. They are constantly improving their
wisdom. If there is anything they do not know the
answer to, they will happily go and find it. Specialists
bring a high level of concentration, ability, and skill in
their discipline to the team, but can only contribute
on that narrow front and will tend to be uninterested
in anything which lies outside its narrow confines.
Contribution
Single-minded, self-starting, dedicated. Provides
knowledge and skills in rare supply.
Weaknesses
Contributes on only a narrow front. Dwells on
technicalities.

http://www.belbin.com/

http://www.belbin.com/rte.asp?id=8

http://www.teambuildingportal.com/articles/systems/belbin-tea
m-roles
http://www.srds.co.uk/cedtraining/handouts/hand40.htm

http://www.kvaes.be/pm/belbins-tea
m-roles/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meredith_Belbin

* links font size shows their importance

by Nikita Serzhantov BTK-91

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