How can you balance your team's roles with Belbin?

1 What are Belbin team roles?

Belbin team roles, based on the research of Dr. Meredith Belbin, identify nine distinct roles with specific behaviours, skills, and preferences that teams need to function effectively. These roles include the Plant, who is creative and innovative; the Resource Investigator, who is outgoing and enthusiastic; the Co-ordinator, who is calm and confident; the Shaper, who is dynamic and challenging; the Monitor Evaluator, who is logical and critical; the Teamworker, who is supportive and cooperative; the Implementer, who is practical and disciplined; the Completer Finisher, who is meticulous and conscientious; and the Specialist, who provides in-depth knowledge and skills in a specific area.

2 Why is it important to balance your team's roles with Belbin?

Balancing your team's roles with Belbin can help you reap a variety of rewards, such as increasing your team's performance and productivity, enhancing their communication and collaboration, reducing conflict and stress, and developing their potential. This is done by ensuring that all aspects of the work are covered by the right people, fostering mutual understanding and respect for each other's contributions, avoiding role overlap, confusion, or gaps, and identifying and addressing their strengths and weaknesses.

3 How can you identify your team's roles with Belbin?

To identify your team's roles with Belbin, you can use a self-assessment tool called the Belbin Team Role Inventory, which consists of a series of questions that measure how you behave in a team setting. You can also ask for feedback from your colleagues, managers, or clients to get a more accurate and comprehensive picture of your team role profile. You can then compare your results with the descriptions of the nine roles and see which ones suit you best.

4 How can you balance your team's roles with Belbin?

When balancing your team's roles with Belbin, you need to take several factors into account, such as the size and composition of your team, the stage and goal of your project, and the preferences and development of your team members. Ideally, you want to have a diverse and balanced mix of roles that can handle different tasks and situations. However, depending on the size and nature of your team, you may not be able to have all nine roles represented. In that case, you may need to adjust your role allocation or ask some team members to take on more than one role. Additionally, depending on the stage and goal of your project, you may need to emphasize certain roles more than others. Furthermore, when assigning roles, you want to match them with the interests, skills, and motivations of your team members while also challenging them to learn and grow. To do this effectively, it's important to ask for their input, provide feedback, and offer support and guidance.

5 How can you apply Belbin to your own team?

To apply Belbin to your own team, you can assess the current roles using the Belbin Team Role Inventory or other methods. Then, analyze the strengths and weaknesses based on the results and compare them with the project's requirements. Identify any role imbalances, such as too many or too few of a certain role, role conflicts, or role gaps. Plan how to address these imbalances, such as by reassigning tasks, recruiting new members, or developing existing members. Implement the changes and monitor the impact on performance and satisfaction. Lastly, review and revise the role balance as needed according to feedback and changes in the team or project.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?