BelBin Team Roles

Dr Meredith Belbin originated the concept in his work described initially in his book, Management Teams: Why They Succeed or Fail (Butterworth Heinemann 1981) and further developed in Team Roles at Work (Butterworth Heinemann 1993). Belbin defined a team role as:

“… a pattern of behaviour characteristic of the way in which one team member interacts with another where performance serves to facilitate the progress of the team as a whole. The value of team-role theory lies in enabling an individual or team to benefit from self knowledge and adjust according to the demands being made by the external situation.”

A practical set of computer-based tools was subsequently developed which has enabled the application of Team Role Theory to be applied easily in any organisation as an integral part of human resources management approaches.

Where Did the Concept Come From?

Belbin conducted extensive studies involving successful and unsuccessful teams competing in Business Games at Henley Management Centre, England. Managers taking part in the exercise were tested on a range of psychometric instruments and placed into teams made up in a variety of ways.

Ultimately nine different clusters of behaviour, or “Team Roles”, were identified as underlying the success of teams.

For those interested, independent detailed statistical analysis of nearly 12000 subjects concluded that the model generated results which demonstrated a “Very Significant Correlation”.

What are the Benefits of Identifying Team Roles?

A BelBin© Profile produced using both a Self Perception Inventory (SPI) and Observers’ Assessments (OAs) shows how an individual feels and how an individual behaves in a group. The information is valuable on several levels:

Team Roles as a Self-Awareness Tool

It is only by knowing ourselves that we have any chance of improving ourselves and achieving our full potential. The BelBin© Team Role process offers a unique insight into the perceptions which we hold about ourselves, as well as the perceptions which others hold of us. At the very basic level, therefore, obtaining a personal Team Role analysis is, for most people, an experience of personal awareness and potential growth. There are many forms of psychometric and similar feedback tools, but most of them omit to include inputs from the people best able to give it - your boss, colleagues and subordinates. The BelBin© process uses both "self" and "observer" inputs to derive a profile, and one of the important learning experiences to be gained from the analysis is to discover the differences between self perception and the perceptions of others. Many people will have already encountered the concept of the “Johari Window”. The Johari Window addresses the concept of knowledge of the self - both by the self and by others and if you are not already familiar with the concept, you might like to explore it here.

Team Roles as a Tool for Effective Teams

The effective performance of a group of people - a team - is dependent on the way the team is able to interact and draw on the strengths of its members.

People working within a group or team bring to the group two key things. The first is their competency – specialist knowledge, qualifications, experience, etc – which are typically the reasons why they have been hired. These might include: computer skills; carpentry ability; understanding of production techniques; typing proficiency; knowledge of health and safety; and an almost infinite array of other things. Let’s call this the “Task” focus. The second is the way they work with and contribute to a group, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of the group. We’ll call this the “Team” focus.

Obviously the Task focus is concerned with getting the job done. Less obviously, the Team focus is concerned with how the job gets done.

The nine BelBin© Team Roles indicate how an individual operates within the Team and concerns their tendency to behave, contribute to the team, or inter-relate with others in a particular way.

Belbin’s research showed that a balanced team - one with the greatest chance to develop fully effective working arrangements - would contain a balance of Team Roles. Further, every team goes through phases of its activities during which some Team Roles are able better to contribute than others. 

Belbin’s model allows a group to analyse its collective strengths and weaknesses in Team Role terms and objectively plan to capitalise on those strengths and minimise the negative impact of its weaknesses. Moreover, the process offers tools to enable a team to be structured for maximum Team Role effectiveness in advance of starting work where, for example, a new working group, project team or similar unit is to be created.

Team Roles as a Tool for Effective Staff Selection

Typically and traditionally staff selection and recruitment is based on what we earlier described as the Task focus - the qualifications, experience and practical skills an individual has, which are usually defined as an individual’s eligibility for the job.

However, that research shows a very weak correlation between the eligibility for a job and actual job performance. Some Human Resource experts suggest that few organisations are successful at achieving even a fifty percent success rate in selection when depending on traditional questions of eligibility. Given the total costs associated with a poor selection, this represents a major area for potential cost savings by almost every organisation.

Belbin’s research shows clearly that much of the uncertainty associated with achieving a successful job placement is related to job “suitability” (ie what a person is, or the "Team" focus already mentioned) rather than job “eligibility” (ie what a person knows, or the "Task" focus). Further it is now clear that a person recruited to a job who is “unsuitable” in Team Role terms will be, at least, a poor fit for the job and will often be a total misfit! Indeed a person recruited who is “suitable” in Team Role terms, but “ineligible” (in the sense that perhaps experience or qualifications are deficient) will often prove to be a surprise success in the job.

In simple terms, “eligibility” deficiencies can often be overcome by the gaining of further experience, etc, on or off the job, providing that the individual is “suitable”. However, no matter how “eligible” a person may be, it will often prove impossible for them to overcome serious deficiencies in “suitability”.

Using the BelBin© process to support recruitment efforts, organisations can now easily produce a profile of any individual job in terms of its “suitability” requirements. Individual job applicants, or an existing organisational data base of staff, can then be compared to determine the most suitable likely appointee.

The same concept can also be used successfully to facilitate succession planning within an organisation.

Team Roles in Workplace Design

Among the more exciting recent developments in the field of Team Role theory is the recognition that different sorts of work can be categorised and that the type of person likely best to be able to perform that work can be identified. Further, different people may “gravitate” towards different categories of work. And all of this can be identified and predicted on the basis of Team Role Profile!

These concepts then extend related issues such as the way in which work is performed in the organisation and the type of cultural work places which then emerge.

These discoveries offer organisations the opportunity to gain new understandings as to how work should be arranged, and how strategies for planning and cultural change should be put in place.

They can be explored more fully in Meredith Belbin’s book Changing the Way We Work (Butterworth Heinemann 1997).

Adrian Walsh & Associates welcome enquiries about the application of Dr Meredith Belbin’s work in your organisation.

Go to:    Team Role Summaries

              BelBin in Recruitment

              Johari Window