Belbin Associates, Inc. is a global human resource consulting firm. The 9 Belbin Team Roles model provides a framework for managing people in organizations. The model was developed by Raymond Meredith Belbin and has been widely used by organizations around the world.
Belbin team roles are important for managing teams. Each role has a specific task to complete to support the team's larger goal. Working together as a team, each role can help achieve success. The nine team roles are:
- The Plant (Thought Oriented)
- The Monitor Evaluator (Thought Oriented)
- The Specialist (Thought Oriented)
- The Shaper (Action Oriented)
- The Implementer (Action Oriented)
- The Completer/Finisher (Action Oriented)
- The Coordinator (People Oriented)
- The Team Worker (People Oriented)
- The Resource Investigator (People Oriented)
Each of these nine roles represents one of these three categories:
- Thought Oriented: Analyze options and provide technical expertise
- Action Oriented: Challenge the team to improve the performance and take action to meet deadlines
- People Oriented: Draw people together to achieve the team objectives
A. Three Thought Oriented Roles:
1. The Plant
The Plant is responsible for creating new products and innovations. They are the masterminds behind the team's efforts and constantly come up with new ideas.
Generally, the Plant is introverted and lacks communication skills.
2. The Monitor Evaluator
The Monitor Evaluators are good at analyzing and evaluating skills. They are critical thinkers in the team. They evaluate the ideas presented by Plants objectively. The Plants can sometimes be too impractical when presenting their ideas. The Monitor Evaluators fill that gap by evaluating the ideas for practicality.
3. The Specialist
Specialists are experts in a field. They know everything there is to know about the subject they are working on and can provide invaluable advice and guidance to the team. Specialists often have a deep understanding of the problem at hand, offering sound solutions quickly. Because Specialists are highly skilled, they can be resourceful when it comes to finding solutions.
Although Specialists are valuable members of any team, they work best when their skills are needed explicitly for the task at hand.
B. Three Action Oriented Roles:
4. The Shaper
The Shapers challenge the team to improve. They question the team and the status-quo to find the best solution.
They are usually very outgoing and have good communication skills. This could sometimes be their weakness since they might become argumentative and push people too hard.
5. The Implementer
Implementers take the team’s ideas and turn them into reality. They are the ones who make things happen or get the thing done.
Implementers have the ability to work quickly and efficiently. They are well organized. They can handle a lot of pressure and manage their time well.
6. The Completer/Finisher
Completers/Finishers keep everyone on track and make sure everyone meets their deadlines.
They are usually perfectionists, very detail-oriented, and have a lot of knowledge about their field. They also have good communication skills.
C. Three People Oriented Roles:
7. The Coordinator
The Coordinator is responsible for keeping everyone on track and ensuring that everyone works together harmoniously. They are good listeners and understand each team member's value to the team. They keep track of deadlines, assignments, and other important team information and ensure that everyone understands what needs to be done. The Coordinator also helps resolve disputes between team members and resolves any conflicts that may arise.
Coordinators also provide support when needed, such as helping with project management or tracking down information needed for a project.
8. The Team Worker
Team Workers do the work that needs to be done to get the project completed. They are usually the ones who are assigned the tasks to perform a particular activity.
They also have good communication skills, essential for working as a team.
9. The Resource Investigator
Resource Investigators are responsible for finding the proper resources necessary to complete the project. For this purpose, they explore various options, maintain contacts with internal and external stakeholders, and perform negotiations to obtain essential resources. They also keep track of what resources are needed and where they can be found.
Summary
Knowledge of Belbin's Team Roles model can help individuals better understand their role in a team and how it affects the completion of a project. This model helps in creating a more balanced team.