Just imagine today is the day you begin a new project and you’ve got a new team, but how can you turn them into a well oiled machine? How can you determine how they’ll approach their work and how can you identify their strengths and weaknesses?
Simple! Meredith Belbin developed a model to assess how individuals behave in a team. The model describes how each role comes with various strengths and weaknesses which can affect the productivity of a team.
Belbin says that an effective team requires all nine roles to be fulfilled however this does not mean that a team always requires nine people as most people will fulfil two or three roles. Some people have a natural preference for certain roles and others can be and are willing to be trained to undertake certain roles. This needs to be taken into consideration when forming a team and applying advanced leadership skills.
Lets look at the 9 roles in more detail:
We start by grouping the 9 roles into three distinct categories, they are: action–oriented roles thinking roles and social oriented roles.
Action–Oriented Roles:
• Shaper (SH)
• Implementer (IMP)
• Completer Finisher (CF)
People–Oriented Roles:
• Coordinator (CO)
• Team Worker (TW)
• Resource Investigator (RI)
Thought–Oriented Roles:
• Plant (PL)
• Monitor Evaluator (ME)
• Specialist (SP)
So what are the characteristics of each role:
The shaper: Outgoing and dominant; the task leader; can be domineering.
• Strengths: driven, challenging, copes with pressure well, finds ways around problems
• Allowable weaknesses: prone to short temper, can be seen as blunt, rude and insensitive
The implementer: A practical organiser
• Strengths: methodical, disciplined, organised
• Allowable weakness: may be inflexible
The completer–finisher: Checks details, worries about deadlines, keeps putting pressure on to complete.
• Allowable weaknesses: worries, does not delegate
The co–ordinator: A co–ordinator of efforts; good people skills; social leader.
• Strengths: gets on well with people and is good at motivating others
• Allowable weakness: can be manipulative
The team worker: Smooths over conflicts, uncompetitive; mediator.
• Strengths: supportive and diplomatic.
• Allowable weakness: indecisive under pressure
The resource investigator: The most popular, the salesperson, the diplomat; Mr Fix–it.
• Strengths: outgoing, picks up new ideas
• Allowable weakness: becomes easily bored
The plant: Most creative and intelligent but introverted; ideas person; easily put off, needs to be brought out of shell.
• Strengths: clever and creative
• Allowable weakness: non conformity; loner
The monitor–evaluator: Analytically rather than creatively intelligent; works slowly and methodically.
• Strengths: careful objective approach, sees all options
• Allowable weakness: seen as slow moving and uninspiring
The specialist: Has detailed, technical knowledge.
• Strength: in–depth expertise
• Allowable weakness: may be unrealistic.
Belbin’s model can help to better understand your team’s dynamic and utilise every individual strengths while managing their weaknesses and this can bring your team a step closer to realizing their full potential and leading high performance teams.
The same thinking applies to sales teams. Knowing who naturally opens doors and who closes them is a strong starting point for tailored sales training, where each person’s strengths can be put to work.
Watch our video on Belbin’s Team Roles here:
If you are interested in leadership and management training or advanced leadership training please contact Sales Training International on +44 (0) 1704 889325 or email info@salestrainingint.com for more information.
