3. Teambuilding

So what is a team and how does it operate? If you are going to be a successful manager you have to know the answers to these questions.

A team is not just a collection of people. It is an organization with its own dynamics, qualities and conventions. Without knowing these things you will flounder. Knowing them, you can work your team to achieve greatness.

In every team there are a variety of people all pushing and showing in different directions and with unequal force. Some shove louder. Others are happy to push from the back. Others don’t appear to be doing anything, but you’ll need them for ideas.

If you haven’t looked at team dynamics before, you should pay your attention to Dr. Meredith Belbin’s¹ theory of team roles. Belbin Team Roles are used to identify people's behavioral strengths and weaknesses in the workplace. This information can be used to build productive working relationships, select and develop high-performing teams, raise self-awareness and personal effectiveness, build mutual trust and understanding and aid recruitment processes.

Belbin says that there are nine team roles – and we all carry out one or more functions of these team roles. Yes, it is fun to identify our own, but it is much more useful to identify your team’s and then work with that information.

1. The first Team Role to be identified was the Plant. The role was so-called because one such individual was “planted” in each team. They tended to be highly creative and good at solving problems in unconventional ways.

2. One by one, the other Team Roles began to emerge. The Monitor Evaluator was needed to provide a logical eye, make impartial judgments where required and to weigh up the team’s option in a dispassionate way.

3. Co-ordinators were needed to focus on the team’s objectives, draw out team members and delegate work appropriately.

4. When the team was at risk of becoming isolated and inwardly-focused, Resource Investigators provided inside knowledge on the opposition and made sure that the team’s idea would carry to the world outside the team.

5. Implementers were needed to plan a practical, workable strategy and carry it out as efficiently as possible.

6. Completer Finishers were most effectively used at the end of a task, to “polish” and scrutinize the work for errors, subjecting it to the highest standards of quality control.

7. Team-workers helped the team to gel, using their versatility to identify the work required and complete it on behalf of the team.

8. Challenging individuals, known as Shapers, provided the necessary drive to ensure that the team kept moving and did not lose focus or momentum.

9. It was only after the initial research had been completed that the ninth Team Role, Specialist emerged. In the real world, the value of an individual with in-depth knowledge of a key area came to be recognized as yet another essential team contribution.

During his research, Meredith found that each of the behaviors were essential in getting the team successfully from start to finish. The key was balance. For example, Meredith Belbin found that a team with no Plants struggled to come up with the initial spark of an idea with which to push forward. However, once too many Plants were in the team, bad ideas concealed good ones and non-starters were given too much airtime. Similarly, with no Shaper, the team ambled along without drive and direction, missing deadlines. With too many Shapers, in-fighting began and morale was lowered.

Belbin Team Roles are used to identify peoples behavioral strengths and weaknesses in the workplace. This means that wherever people are involved within an organization, Belbin can provide the language to ensure that individuals and teams communicate and work together with greater understanding.

Belbin Team Roles can be used in: