1. Team roles in design companies
21 November 2018
Powerpoint presentation Tebodin
Team roles in design companies
KRZYSZTOF
BYTOMSKI

2. Powerpoint presentation Tebodin
21 November 2018
Powerpoint presentation Tebodin
Agenda
Meredith Belbin and his conception of team effectiveness.
Belbin’s „Team Roles”.
Design company and team roles.
How to improve our teams.

3. Powerpoint presentation Tebodin
21 November 2018
Powerpoint presentation Tebodin
Belbin Team Roles
Dr. Meredith Belbin, Henley Management College - research on team effectiveness:
Team results don’t depend only on skills or individual excellence.
Team results depend also on behaviour of individual members.
Balance of technical skills and optimal behavior patterns => success.
Belbin identified 9 predictable behavior patterns, called “TEAM ROLES”.
A bit of back ground on Belbin Team Roles and the validity. Back in the late 60’s and early 70’s Henley Management College in England was the premier executive Management training. It was similar to an executive MBA. It was a business simulation, where they were put in teams and then measured results. Some teams did outstanding and stayed in touch with each other for years while other teams could hardly stand to be in the same room together – much less stay in touch! They were perplexed and brought in noted industrial psychologist Dr. Meredith Belbin to help them understand why this was so. Dr. Belbin was so intrigued that he began an intense 9.5 year observational research study. And what began to emerge is that there were 9 distinct - identifiable and predictable “clusters of behavior” or different areas of contribution. And it was in fact when you had all 9 of these “areas of contribution” or “clusters of behaviors” present that a team had a higher predictability to perform better. These became known as the Belbin 9 Team Roles.
It is not a psychometrics test or personality test, it is about how you behave and contribute in a team setting.
It is also not to be confused with your job function, like project manager.

4. Powerpoint presentation Tebodin
21 November 2018
Powerpoint presentation Tebodin
What is a team role?
A tendency to behave, contribute, and interrelate with others in a particular way. vs
Functional Role – refers to job demands (technical skills / operational knowledge).

5. Powerpoint presentation Tebodin
21 November 2018
Powerpoint presentation Tebodin
Team role categories
So we’re going to go through the 9 Team Roles – they are broken down into the 3 thinking roles: PL, ME and SP. 3 Action-oriented Roles: SH, IMP and CF and the 3 People-oriented roles: CO, TW & RI.
A key point is – I said we tend to have 3 preferred roles, 3 managable roles and 3 least-preferred – I want to be clear it can be in any order at all. You don’t have to have 1 in each of these areas – it is like a fingerprint – everyone is unique in their Team Role make up.
So I’m going to go through each Team Roles and explain what contribution it makes. So I’m going to pass out a sheet with Team role information and I’d like to ask each of you to think about yourself and which ones you really relate to. If the Team Role contribution sounds like your area of strength, make a note. Also if you think of people you know that behaviour similar to the description, capture that. We are going to be doing an exercise later where I am going to ask you to identify which of the Team Roles you believe most reflect how you contribute. Alternatively, I will as you to identify which roles you least identify with.
Belbin have identified nine different behavior types that individuals show in teamwork.
most people have two or three Team Roles that they are most comfortable with
a few other roles they can manage to cover if they need to
and the rest that they prefer not to adopt at all.

6. Action-orientated roles
21 November 2018
Powerpoint presentation Tebodin
Action-orientated roles
Shaper
Drives the team forward. Challenging, dynamic, pushing. Takes hard decisions.
Provocative. Aggressive. Impatient. Offends people’s feelings. Too task-focused.
Implementer
Turns ideas into action. Disciplined, reliable, efficient. Follows procedures.
Somewhat inflexible. Slow to see possibilities. Obstructing change.
Completer Finisher
Attention to detail. Painstaking, conscientious. Delivers results. Perfectionist.
Anxious. Inclined to worry unduly. Reluctant to delegate. Obsessive behaviour.
Each team role has:
Strengths
Allowable weaknesses
Non-allowable weaknesses

7. People-orientated roles
21 November 2018
Powerpoint presentation Tebodin
People-orientated roles
Coordinator
Clarifies goals, promotes decision making. Mature, confident, delegates well.
Manipulative. Delegate personal work. Over-reliance on teamwork.
Team worker
Provides support and encourages cooperation. Diplomatic, listens, averts friction.
Indecisive. Avoids pressure situations. No focus on task.
Resource Investigator
Explores opportunities and contacts. Extrovert, enthusiastic, communicative.
Over-optimistic. Loses interest after initial stages.

8. Powerpoint presentation Tebodin
21 November 2018
Powerpoint presentation Tebodin
Thinking roles
Plant
Creates ideas. Innovator, imaginative, unorthodox..
Problems with communication. Out of touch with reality. Loves created ideas.
Monitor-Evaluator
Judges accurately. Questioning, discerning. Sees all options.
Uninspiring. Sceptical. Cynicism without logic. Overly pessimistic.
Specialist
Technical knowledge and skills. Single-minded, self-starting and dedicated.
Contributes on only a narrow front. Dwells on technicalities.

9. Team Roles – Key Concepts
21 November 2018
Powerpoint presentation Tebodin
Team Roles – Key Concepts
Diversity is essential.
Each role should be represented within the team.
Some roles will be more or less important at a given time.
Beware of having too many of the same role on a team.
Too many Plants – all brainstorming, no action ????
Too many Monitor Evaluators – analysis paralysis
Too many Shapers – CONFLICT & !!***#%!!/

10. Team Roles – My reasearch
21 November 2018
Powerpoint presentation Tebodin
Team Roles – My reasearch
Belbin Team Roles tests for 3 project teams (designers).
30 people.
Individual talks with team members.

11. Powerpoint presentation Tebodin
21 November 2018
Powerpoint presentation Tebodin
Reality - Design Team

12. Powerpoint presentation Tebodin
21 November 2018
Powerpoint presentation Tebodin
Conclusions
Design companies - recruitment criteria (importance):
1. Knowledge (skills, experience, building license)
2. Costs
3. Employee’s personality, but almost never Team Roles.
Designer’s career - based on experience and technical knowledge.
Design team – limited team roles diversity: Completer-Finisher & Specialist
Design company – homogeneous staff  It is difficult to create diversified team.
No all team roles – compensation mechanism but… only people-oriented roles.

13. How to improve our teams?
21 November 2018
Powerpoint presentation Tebodin
How to improve our teams?
HR strategy of design companies should be based on:
Competences (skills, experience, building license)
Employee’s team roles and personality.
Recruitment process or project team selection – take into account team roles.
Create teams internally balanced.
Before project start – inform memebers about their team roles.
Train your staff.

14. Thank You
KRZYSZTOF BYTOMSKI
Director, Promost Consulting