The Nine Team Roles
In
his model Dr Meredith Belbin has distinguished nine different Team Roles, and
typical combinations of positive qualities and allowable weaknesses that add up
to the propensity of the individual to fit one or other of these roles. The
following offers a very brief summary of the principal characteristics of roles,
with an indication of the tasks which the team member should ideally be
allocated within the team. This
information is provided for general interest, but readers are encouraged to seek
more comprehensive information about the system and the way it works. Feel free
to contact us for a no-obligation discussion about the BelBin Team Role Tools.
There
are nine identified Team Roles. In the following summary, the name given to the
Team Role by Dr Belbin is given first, and this is followed by the abbreviation conventionally
used to refer to the Role, and a graphic image, representative of the nature of
the Role. Click on the relevant Team Role to be taken to information about that
Role:
|
CO
|
Characteristics:
|
Mature,
confident, good chairperson; clarifies goals; promotes decision making;
delegates well;
recognises where team's strengths and weaknesses lie and ensures best use
is made of each member's potential. |
Tolerable Weaknesses:
|
Can be seen as
manipulative; offloads personal work. |
Suggested Task Allocation:
|
Should
be best person to co-ordinate group effort; ensure that everyone has a
useful role and team works towards common and agreed goal. |
|
SH
|
Characteristics:
|
Challenging,
dynamic, thrives on pressure; drive and courage to overcome obstacles; shapes
way in which team effort is applied, directing attention generally to
objectives and priorities; seeks to impose some shape or pattern on group
discussion and on outcome of group activities. |
Tolerable Weaknesses:
|
Prone to provocation; offends
peoples' feelings. |
Suggested Task Allocation:
|
Should
be person best suited to overcome obstacles and opposition; create a sense
of urgency and ensure that talk is turned into worthwhile action. |
|
PL
|
Characteristics:
|
Creative,
imaginative, unorthodox; solves difficult problems; redefines problems; advances
new ideas and strategies with special attention to major issues and
possible breaks in approach to group problem. |
Tolerable Weaknesses:
|
Ignores incidentals; too
preoccupied to communicate effectively. |
Suggested Task Allocation:
|
Should
do most problem solving or be responsible for generating new strategies or
ideas and proposing solutions to rest of team. |
|
ME
|
Characteristics:
|
Sober,
strategic, discerning; sees all options; judges accurately; analyses
problems; evaluates ideas and suggestions so team is better placed to take
balanced decisions. |
Tolerable Weaknesses:
|
Lacks drive and ability to
inspire others. |
Suggested Task Allocation:
|
Should
be responsible for ensuring all worthwhile options are considered; needs a
key role in planning; an arbiter in event of controversy. |
|
RI
|
Characteristics:
|
Extrovert, enthusiastic,
communicative; explores opportunities, develops contacts; explores
and reports on ideas, developments and resources outside group; creates
external contacts that may be useful to team; conducts negotiations. |
Tolerable Weaknesses:
|
Over-optimistic; loses
enthusiasm once initial enthusiasm has passed. |
Suggested Task Allocation:
|
Should be
responsible for developing outside contacts and exploring new
opportunities; needs a chance to conduct negotiations but must report back
to group.
|
|
TW
|
Characteristics:
|
Supports
members in their strengths; eg building
on suggestions, underpinning members in their shortcomings, improving
communications between members and fostering team spirit generally. |
Tolerable Weaknesses:
|
Indecisive in crunch
situations. |
Suggested Task Allocation:
|
Should
play a floating role, using versatile qualities to help with features of
work that others cannot manage. Should
use diplomatic skills to overcome conflict. |
|
IMP
|
Characteristics:
|
Turns
concepts and ideas into practical working procedures; carries out agreed
plans systematically and efficiently. |
Tolerable Weaknesses:
|
Somewhat inflexible. Slow to
respond to new possibilities. |
Suggested Task Allocation:
|
Should
be appointed organiser, responsible for procedures and practical steps to
be taken once team reaches significant decisions. |
|
CF
|
Characteristics:
|
Ensures
team is protected as far as possible from mistakes of both commission and
omission; actively searches for aspects of work that need a more than
usual degree of attention; maintains sense of urgency within team. |
Tolerable Weaknesses:
|
Inclined to worry unduly. Slow
to respond to new possibilities. |
Suggested Task Allocation:
|
Should
ensure team's work meets necessary deadlines and conforms to highest
standards. Responsible for ensuring no inaccuracies or errors. |
|
SP
|
Characteristics:
|
Feeds
technical information into group; translates from general into technical
terms. Contributes
professional viewpoint on subject under discussion. |
Tolerable Weaknesses:
|
Contributes on only a narrow
front; dwells on technicalities. |
Suggested Task Allocation:
|
Should
provide focus on technical issues confronting team; should provide
knowledge and techniques in short supply. |
