Through his
extensive and world renowned research Professor Meredith Belbin has devised a
world recognized method of identifying team preferences which help us to
understand why people behave in certain ways in teams. He identified eight
types of preference for working in teams. Below are listed some of the
essential characteristics of each type:
The company worker/implementor
The chair/co-ordinator
The shaper
The plant
The resource investigator
The monitor evaluator
The team worker
The completer finisher
1.The company worker/implementor
Role
Translates general ideas and
plans into practical working objectives.
Gets down to implementation.
Breaks things into tasks and
actions.
Delivers actions and results.
Methods
Helps ensure that the team’s
objectives have been properly established and that any tasks have been clearly
defined.
Clarifies any practical details
and deals with them.
Maintains a steady, systematic
approach to the job at hand.
Is calm under pressure and
reliable – will not let you down.
Perseveres in the face of
difficult and challenging targets. Is tenacious.
Provides practical support to
other team members.
Behaviours to avoid
Unconstructive criticism of
other team members’ ideas and suggestions.
Lack of flexibility. Company
workers have a high efficiency concern which means they question the
introduction of the ‘new’.
Being resistant to new ideas or
innovations.
As a manager, a company worker or implementor’s strengths are their ability to define objectives and practical details. They are also very effective in introducing and maintaining procedures and structures. In organizations they are often promoted because of their inherent organizing abilities and skills. They value what organizations like.
2. The chair/co-ordinator
Role
Controls and organizes the
activities of the team, making best use of the resources available.
Pulls the team together.
Stands back and helicopters
above the team.
Is able to get people working
together.
Methods
Encourages team members to
achieve the team’s objectives by helping them identify their roles and
contributions.
Encourages people to put the
team’s objectives before their own.
Provides positive feedback on
individual performance.
Smoothes over disagreements and
inter-team competition with keen people insight and understanding. Uses tact
and diplomacy to control and manage.
Identifies weaknesses in the
team’s composition and organizes and develops the team to neutralize any
weaknesses.
Exercises self-discipline and
perseverance. Acts as a focal point for the team’s effort, especially when
under pressure.
Delegates effectively.
Behaviours to avoid
Not recognizing the full
capabilities of the team. Not using all of the team’s resources.
Competing with other team types.
Failing to add a creative,
innovative or challenging aspect to their role.
Abdicating the leadership role
in the face of strong competition (particularly from shapers and possibly
plants).
As a manager, a chair or co-ordinator is in a good position to lead the team. They are comfortable standing back from the detail and can mobilize people to tackle the issues. Their effective interpersonal skills also mean that people will listen and take their lead from an effective chair.
3. The shaper
Role
Makes things happen.
Gives shape and strong direction
to the team’s activities.
Injects energy and drive into a
team’s proceedings.
Methods
Directs the team’s focus,
setting objectives and clear priorities.
Adopts a wide perspective of the
team’s goals and helps individuals understand their roles and contributions.
Exerts a strong directive
influence on the team’s discussions.
Summarizes outcomes in terms of
objectives and targets.
Will often appear impatient and
in a rush.
Focuses on progress and
achievements. Intervenes when the team wanders from their objectives.
Challenges others if they are
pursuing another direction.
Can be argumentative and
dismissive of people who do not move as fast.
Behaviours to avoid
An overly directive style that
assumes undue authority.
Being too directive in making
summaries, appraisals or interventions.
Not being tactful. Avoid being
overly blunt or even rude and insensitive to the needs of others.
Becoming isolated or remote from
the team. Losing identity as a team member. Being seen as too egotistic.
Competing with other team
members, particularly the plant and the monitor evaluator.
A shaper performs best when operating in a team of peers. If they find themselves in a formal leadership position they may well need to adopt more Co-ordinator type behaviours. This may require more involvement in routine activities and more self-discipline. Shapers normally focus on a broad brush approach to getting things done. They have little time for the detail and want to drive forward. They also need to watch that their insensitivity to the needs of others does not, in the long-term, create problems for them. Tact and diplomacy is not always a high priority for shapers.
4. The plant
Role
Acts as a primary source of
ideas and innovation for the team.
Creative – an ‘agent
provocateur’.
An independent perspective.
Methods
Concentrates their attention on
the big issues and major strategies.
Formulates new and often radical
ideas and approaches.
Looks for possible breakthroughs
in approaches and methods.
Times their contributions;
presenting proposals at appropriate moments.
Behaviours to avoid
Attempting to demonstrate their
capabilities over too wide a field.
Contributing ideas for reasons
of self-interest and indulgence rather than the team’s needs, and so may
alienate the team.
Taking offence when their ideas
are evaluated, criticized and possibly rejected. Sulking and refusing to make
any further contributions to the team.
Becoming too inhibited about
putting ideas forward, especially in dominant, extrovert, or over-critical
groups. Being intimidated or alternatively arguing with Shapers.
A plant needs to
exercise self-discipline and be prepared to listen to team members’ comments on
their ideas and proposals (particularly their Monitor Evaluator colleague(s)).
If found in a leadership role a Plant must not let the stresses of controlling
the team stifle their creative input.
In non-directive roles a plant should expect to be used as a strong team resource; devoting their energies and talents towards establishing their role as a creative thinker and ideas person.
5. The resource investigator
Role
Explores the team’s outside
resources and develops useful contacts for the team.
Harnesses resources for the
team.
A networker and free agent.
Methods
Makes excellent contacts
quickly. Develops effective and useful relationships and allies for the team.
Uses their interest in new ideas
and approaches to explore outside possibilities. Introduces new people and
resources to the team.
Develops their role as the
team’s main point of contact with outside groups. Keeps up-to-date with new and
related developments that may be helpful to the team’s work.
Helps maintain good
relationships in the team and encourages team members to make best use of their
talents, especially when the team is under pressure.
Behaviours to avoid
Becoming too involved with their
own ideas at the expense of exploring others.
Rejecting ideas or information
before submitting them to the team.
Relaxing too much when the
pressure is off.
Getting involved in wasteful or
unproductive activities. This often results from the resource investigator’s
natural sociability.
Resource Investigators are skilled communicators with a creative outlook. They are vital to helping bring new resources into a team and their networking capabilities make them invaluable.
6. The monitor evaluator
Role
Analyzes ideas and suggestions.
Evaluates ideas and approaches
for their feasibility and practical value.
Deals with facts.
Introduces a high level of
critical thinking ability to any team.
Methods
Uses high levels of critical
thinking ability to assess issues and plans.
Balances an experimenting
outlook with a critical assessment.
Builds on others’ suggestions or
ideas. Helps the team to turn ideas into practical applications.
Makes firm but practical and
realistic arguments against the adoption of unsound approaches to problems.
Is diplomatic when challenging
suggestions.
Behaviours to avoid
Using their critical thinking
ability at the team’s expense.
Tactless and destructive
criticism of colleagues’ suggestions. Liable to upset others because of this.
Negative thinking; allowing
critical thinking skills to outweigh their openness to new ideas. Provoking a
“You always see reasons why it cannot be done!” type of response.
• Lowering the team’s morale by
being excessively critical and objective.
A successful monitor evaluator combines high critical thinking skills with a practical outlook. When a monitor evaluator is a team leader they need to ensure that they do not dominate other members of the team and stifle contributions. When in a non-directive role a monitor evaluator has the challenge of making their voice heard and not appearing threatening to colleagues. If they can avoid a tendency towards undue scepticism and cynicism their strengths will help them develop their management capability.
7. The team worker
Role
Strong team player.
Helps individual team members to
contribute.
Promotes and maintains team
spirit and effectiveness.
Methods
Applies themselves to the task.
Observes the strengths and
weaknesses of team members.
Supports team members in
developing their strengths, e.g. builds on suggestions and contributions.
Helps individuals manage their
weaknesses with personal advice and assistance.
Selfless in outlook.
Improves team communications and
builds relationships.
Fosters a strong sense of team
spirit by setting an example.
Behaviours to avoid
Competing for status or control
in the team.
Aligning with one team member
against another.
Not addressing or resolving
conflict situations.
Delaying tough decisions.
The team worker role can be exercised at different levels within a team. As a manager the team worker should see their role as a delegator and developer of people. Team worker’s qualities of conscientiousness and perseverance will help ensure that projects are completed on time, and to the necessary levels of cost and quality. But they have to watch that their sense of duty in wanting to help team members achieve objectives often overrides their concerns for overall task or goal achievements.
8. The completer finisher
Role
Ensures all the team’s efforts
are as near perfect as possible.
Ensures that tasks are completed
and that nothing is overlooked.
Injects urgency into problems
and projects that fall behind.
Provides attention to detail.
Methods
Perfectionist – looks for errors
or omissions; especially those that may result from unclear responsibilities.
Works on tasks where attention
to detail and precision are important.
Looks for mistakes in detail.
Actively identifies work or
tasks that require more detailed attention.
Raises the standards of all the
team’s activities.
Maintains a sense of urgency and
priority.
Behaviours to avoid
Unnecessary emphasis on detail
at the expense of the overall plan and direction.
Negative thinking or destructive
criticism.
Lowering team morale by
excessive worrying.
Appearing slow moving or lacking
in enthusiasm.
A completer finisher role can be
exercised at different levels within a team and can be easily combined with
another role. As a manager a completer finisher needs to pay careful attention
to their delegation skills and to keep unnecessary interference to a minimum.
In a junior role a completer finisher will need to develop tact and discretion
so as to avoid earning a reputation as a ‘nit picker and worrier’. Completer
finishers also tend to possess a nervous drive that needs to be controlled and
directed if it is to have positive results.