Team Development – The Belbin Team Roles
Dr. Belbin who developed the Team Roles theory says that it is not enough to put together a group of people and expect them to perform as a team. In order to achieve this, individuals within a team have to understand the roles they play, the roles their colleagues play and how to achieve a balance of roles within the team.
Team contributions and team balance
This training program is based on the well-known Team Role theory developed by Meredith Belbin and his team of researchers. At the end of the program every member will identify and decide to develop certain skills and behaviours that will allow them to contribute to the success of the team and in the same time will aim to avoid those roles that are not compatible with their inclinations. The team will work to establish a balance of contributions so that all team roles needed for a good performance are present and played effectively within the team.
Benefits of the Team Roles Theory
The team roles technique can be used for:
- self awareness: giving feedback on how the rest of the team view each team member;
- counselling: providing individuals with direction appropriate to their style
- team building: advising on the overall balance of the team and suggesting how responsibilities might be distributed;
- job placement: assisting decisions on placement and reducing the chance of appointing misfits;
- assessment: discovering special behavioural talents;
- management education: increasing the understanding of participants about different human behaviours in the work place.
Individual and team development
The program serves two key directions: personal development through evaluation, self-awareness and roles development and team performance improvement through a wise exploitation of contributions that are available to the team.