Design the team you need to succeed using Belbin's team roles

Abstract

As complex as projects can be, the people that need to solve them can be equally or even more complex and that is why there in recent years has been an increasing interest in how highly efficient teams can be designed. The beginning of a project is one of the project managers’ most important times, as the foundation of the project is laid by designing the team that he/she needs for the project to succeed. A tool that can help the project manager with this task is Belbin’s team roles, which can identify personal traits and help to create balanced teams based on behavioral contributions rather than job titles.[1] The Belbin team roles were developed by Dr. Meredith Belbin with collaboration from Henley Management College in England. It contains 9 different team roles, that each has its core competencies and limitations. These can overlap but are equally important to create synergy and efficiency in a team. The model is used by over 40 percent of the top 100 companies in the UK, the United Nations, the World Bank and thousands of organizations throughout the world to enhance individual and team performance.[2]

This article will describe the when, why, and how you should design your team using the 9 Belbin team roles, the gains, limitations of the method and give a few examples of team synergies, and will cover the following topics:

• Background
• The 9 team roles
• Important phases for success in the team
• Team Synergies
• Limitations of the Belbin analysis
• Applications

Background

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