1. High Performing Teams & Belbin Team Roles

2. High Performance Teams & Team Roles
The formation of effective teams is more by good fortune than good judgment….it doesn’t have to be that way!
Rapid, high quality team performance is not an accident. It requires discipline & effective interaction skills:
Balanced, diverse team
Effective process
Relevant experience
Team Role Profiles – a scientifically proven, rapid way to predict team effectiveness:
Design effective teams
Diagnose and improve performance of existing teams

3. Belbin Team Roles
Dr. Meredith Belbin from Cambridge University discovered over 20 years of research into team effectiveness:
The skill or individual excellence of the team members was not a predictor of a team’s results.
It was the way that the individual members behaved that contributed to or detracted from the team’s effectiveness.
He identified nine predictable behavior patterns or “team roles.”
He demonstrated that with a careful balance of technical skills and the optimal behavior patterns, we can select and develop teams with a predictably higher degree of success.

4. Predicting Team Performance
A typical example of Belbin’s ability to predict the order of finish of teams in the Henley Management Simulations.
The red x's on the graph represent the different teams participating in the simulation.
Red x’s on the diagonal line represent where Belbin's predictions and the team's performance matched exactly.
Predicted
Actual 5 4 3 2 1 X
Predicted Order of Finish
Actual Order of Finish 1 2 3 4 5

5. Team Roles
What is a Team Role?
A tendency to behave, contribute, and interrelate with others in a particular way when working in a team
(Vs. A Functional Role which refers to the job demands that a person has been engaged to meet by supplying the requisite technical skills and operational knowledge)
Nine Roles Identified
The team roles for most people fall into three categories:
Natural or Preferred roles
Manageable roles they can assume
Least Preferred roles
As individuals differ greatly in personality & behavior so too will their team role profiles vary.

6. Factors Determining Individual Behavior in a Team
Observed behavior can be misleading – Beware first impressions!
Tendency to over-rate Extroverts & under-rate Introverts
Instability between the factors can create inner-conflict, Team Roles unclear – conflict needs to be consciously resolved
Absence of conflicting factors leads to simple, uncomplicated behavior – Team Roles easy to see 6.
Role
Learning 1.
Personality
Set of
Observable
Behaviors 5.
Experience 2.
Mental
Abilities 4.
Environment
&
Constraints 3.
Current
Values
&
Motivations

7. The Complexity of Team Interaction1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 ? ? 1 2 3 4 5 6 ?? ? ?? ? 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6

8. Team Role Contribution
The Nine Team Roles
Creative, Original, Unorthodox
Solves difficult problems
Objective, Strategic, Discerning
Judges all options
Deep Knowledge, Single-minded,
Self-starting
Team Role Contribution
Absent-minded
Ignores details
Uninspiring, Critical
Limited contribution
Abrasive, Insensitive
Easily provoked
Inflexible
Reluctant to change
Worrier, Nit-Picks
Reluctant to delegate
Indecisive, Avoids
Conflict
Over-optimistic
Easily Bored
Manipulative
Over-delegates
Allowable Weakness
Thinking PL
Plant ME
Monitor
Evaluator SP
Specialist
Action SH
Shaper
IMP
Implementer CF
Completer
Finisher
Hard Driving, Influencer, Dynamic
Challenges, Puts on the Pressure
Organizing, Disciplined, Reliable
Turns ideas into practical actions
Meticulous, Conscientious, On time
Searches out errors and omissions
People TW
Team Worker RI
Resource
Investigator CO
Coordinator
Diplomatic, Cooperative, Perceptive
Listens, Averts friction
Outgoing, Enthusiastic, Networker
Recognizes Opportunities
Motivator, Orchestrator, Facilitator
Clarifies goals & decision-making.

9. Team Roles Key Concepts – Individual
Be aware of and manage your Allowable Weaknesses:
This is the price to be paid for being good in your preferred roles, e.g., a strong Shaper is going to hurt some peoples feelings as they forge ahead
Ensure that Allowable Weakness does not become “Disallowable”:
Lose a Plant’s attention during a meeting because they are dreaming up a creative solution = OK
Plant forgets to come to meeting because they are thinking about something else = NOT OK!
Focus on what you do best:
Understand and excel in your natural, preferred roles & manage, rather than struggle to be good at your least-preferred roles

10. Team Roles Key Concepts – Team
Diversity is essential - Need all 9 roles to be most effective long-term
Belbin demonstrated that diversity is a key predictor of actual results, it provides a framework for constructive conflict
Doesn’t mean a team needs 9 people (4-7 is best)
Each role should be represented (who plays each role may evolve & change over time)
Some roles will be more or less important at a given time or for certain tasks facing the team
Beware of having too many of same role on team:
Too many Plants – all brainstorming, no action
Too many Monitor Evaluators – analysis paralysis
Too many Shapers – CONFLICT & !!***#%!!/
BEWARE OF LABELLING PEOPLE!!:
Everyone has 3 to 6 roles they prefer or are comfortable with and they may prefer/need to use different roles in different circumstances.

11. Individual Belbin Profiles
                                                                                                                                  
REPORTS

12. Assessment Results in Rank Order
What are my Top Roles ?
In the example above the Observers see the candidate (David) as making a very strong Coordinator or Resource Investigator contribution.
The overall rank order on the bottom line is the weighted addition of the Self-Perception rank order and the total of the Observers’ rank order.
(Note: Observers names can be shown or remain anonymous: Observer 1, 2 etc.)

13. Pie Charts Self-Perception vs Observers
Am I coherent ?
In this example, many of David's perceived roles are in general accord with the perceptions of others.
However, there are disconnects in the RI and SH roles, shown by large differences between self perception and observer scores at the bottom.
Differences of 8 or more

14. Self-Perception Team Role Profile
In this example, the candidate (David) would PREFER to play the roles of Team Worker (TW), Resource Investigator (RI), Coordinator (CO) or Plant (PL),
Can MANAGE the roles of Monitor Evaluator (ME) and Specialist (SP) and
LEAST PREFERS the roles of Shaper (SH), Implementer (IMP) and Completer Finisher (CF).

15. Bar Graph of Observer Words
Are these weaknesses allowable ?
In the example above David's most prominent role, as seen by others is COORDINATOR (CO).
The role at the bottom of the graph, SPECIALIST (SP), is David's weakest role as perceived by others.

16. Counseling Report
Generated by the Belbin software – this report is based on the top two (#1,2) and bottom (#9) team roles from Overall Ranking line of the first report: Assessment Results in Rank Order
It offers advice on adopting a management style which fits in with the individual’s team role strengths and weaknesses:
It also makes an interactive comparison of the top role from David's Self-Perception Inventory compared to where this is seen by the Observers.

17. List of Observer Responses
This list shows at the top David’s main strengths, e.g. broad in outlook, diplomatic, calm & confident.
David should try to work with people who will cover what he lacks and who will most appreciate his strengths.
Most appreciated behavioral characteristics.
Maximum score = No. of Observers x 2
A score of 0 means no Observers felt these behaviors were descriptive

18. Team Role Mapping

19. Individual, Team, Organization
Self-Awareness
Self- Management
Self-Mastery
2. Team Maps & Pairs Analysis
Awareness of Others
Team Awareness & Effectiveness
1. Individual Team Role Reports
Organization Awareness & Change
3. Culture Analysis

20. Team Role Mapping Exercise
Use 1st report: ASSESSMENT RESULTS IN RANK ORDER PL ME SP SH CF
IMP CO TW RI
Susan
Denise
Mike
John
Beth
Tim
Raj 2 3 1 8 9 7
For each Team Role:
Surplus ?
Void ?
Tendencies?
What adjustments will be required ? 7 8 9 1 2 3
Thinking
Action
People

21. Information
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