Managing Teams Effectively with Belbin's Team Role Theory

One of the roles of a manager in the workplace is to lead and manage team members to achieve common goals. Therefore, the ability to be able to manage a team  effectively is an important skill for managers. One approach that can be taken by managers is through Team Role Theory, which can help managers identify the roles needed in the team and ensure that each team member contributes optimally.

What is Belbin's Team Role Theory?

Team Role Theory was first coined in 1981 by Meredith Belbin, a researcher and management consultant from England, in her book entitled Management Teams. According to him, the most successful teams consist of various types of behavior. Although the behavior displayed is  unlimited, the types of behavior that are useful and can make an effective contribution have limits. Team Role itself is a behavior that is collected into nine types of clusters. The nine clusters themselves are:

• Social Roles: Resource Investigator, Teamworker, Co-ordinator
• Thinking Roles: Plant, Monitor-Evaluator, Specialist
• Implementing Roles: Shaper, Implementer, and Completer-Finisher

1. Resource Investigator.

Resource Investigators are those who  have a high curiosity to find ideas from various sources, collect them, and convey these ideas to the team. Generally, they are the sociable type, like to build networks with lots of people, and tend to be optimistic about opportunities. However, they can be overly optimistic and positive, and easily lose interest if they discover something new.

2. Teamworkers.

Teamworkers are those who use their adaptability to identify what kind of tasks are needed to achieve goals, and focus on completing those tasks as part of a team. In general, they are cooperative, willing to listen, and avoid conflict. Therefore, they are usually reluctant to make decisions if faced with pressure or potential disputes

3. Co-ordinator.

Co-ordinators are those who ensure the team can focus on goals, divide and delegate tasks, and ensure team members complete these tasks. In general, they are the ones who take on leadership roles, and can identify team member capabilities and ensure clarity of goals. On the other hand, they can be too delegative to team members and actually not get tasks to do.

4. Plants.

Plants are a type of thinker who is generally very creative, imaginative, and can solve problems in unconventional ways through a variety of ideas and concepts. However, his ideas may not always be implemented, and he may not be able to convey these ideas

5. Monitor Evaluators.

Monitor evaluators are those who demonstrate critical and logical behavior, where they can carry out detailed analysis and make fair judgments about the team's choices and decisions. While on the one hand he can ensure the team makes logical decisions, he may  be overly critical/insensitive to needs, which can make him less liked by the rest of the team.

6. Specialists.

Specialists are those who have in-depth knowledge in a team. The ideas provided by Specialists are generally sharp and accurate, and can help the team in making decisions. However, the scope of the ideas can be too limited, and may be less applicable to different scenarios.

7. Shapers.

A shaper is an implementer who always provides encouragement to team members to ensure the team always moves with focus towards the goal. Shapers are those who are "resilient", and have the desire and courage to face obstacles. However, they can "miss" in providing encouragement and instead be provocative, sarcastic and aggressive towards team members.

8. Implementers.

Implementers are those who work practically, planned and efficiently, where they turn ideas into actions and manage the tasks that need to be done. Meanwhile, they can become too dependent on the plans they have made and become less flexible to changes and opportunities.

9. Completer Finisher.

Completer Finishers are those who try to ensure that the work is completed well, with minimal errors, and meets high quality standards. Generally they act as quality control (QC) on work output, and are willing to look for, find, and correct errors or deficiencies. In some situations, they can become too perfectionistic and lack trust in others, making it difficult to delegate tasks to others

Application of Team Role Theory in Teams

After understanding the concept of Team Role Theory, here are several things that managers can do when using Team Role Theory in managing teams.

Select the Right Team Members.

The application of Belbin's Team Role Theory allows managers to more effectively select team members who have roles and abilities that match the team's goals. This means using valid and reliable assessment methods to identify the personality characteristics and skills required in a particular role.

Clear Roles and Responsibilities

According to Team Role Theory, each role in a team has a special function. Therefore, managers are advised to be able to define roles and responsibilities clearly so that each team member understands what is expected of him. Managers can utilize this theory to allocate tasks and responsibilities according to individual abilities and preferences so that team goals can be achieved.

Periodic Evaluation and Feedback.

Managers can use information and observations from team members' roles to provide constructive feedback to team members about their performance and how they can improve their contributions.

Land Development and Development.

Managers can use Belbin's Team Role Theory to assist in coaching and developing team members. This may include training, mentoring, or providing projects that can strengthen their abilities in a particular role.

Managing Conflict.

Managers can use an understanding of Team Roles to resolve conflict and ensure that team members can collaborate effectively.

Flexibility and Change.

Managers can apply Team Role theory to bring team members to adapt according to changes in projects, goals, or market conditions. For example, those with the roles “Plant”, “Resource Investigator”, and “Implementer” can be paired to plan change, “Shaper” and “Co-ordinator” to drive change, and “Monitor Evaluator” and “Completer Finisher” to ensure that the changes are in line with what was expected.

Leadership and Motivation.

Managers can use an understanding of Team Roles to motivate team members and ensure that leadership is distributed effectively within the team

Each team member certainly has unique abilities, personalities, and preferences for how they behave on the team. Assessment can help managers identify the needs and conditions of their team members, so that managers can obtain and manage team members according to the demands, situation and goals of the team they lead.

 

Article by Herjuno Tisnoaji - Resident Assessor of prasmul-eli