Exploring the Benefits and Limitations of Belbin's Team Roles in Project Management

Developed by Torbjørn D. Rosseland

Introduction

This article aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of how and why Belbin's Team Roles can be effectively utilized in Project Management. It furthermore explores the benefits and limitations of utilizing Belbin's Team Role model for team dynamic. The article aims to target and appeal to everybody, but a basic understanding of fundamental elements within Project Management is advised.

The article will first delve into the origins and development of Belbin's Team Role theory by Dr. Meredith Belbin, explaining the nine different roles that can be adopted within a team. An explanation of the difference between Functional Roles and Team Roles will be described given the significances they both have in a team context.

Two different standards are used to identify and describe the importance of Belbin’s Team Roles in Project Management. The first one is ISO 21500:2012 , which is an international standard for Project Management that aims to provide guidelines for initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and closure of projects. The other standard is PMBOK® (Project Management Body of Knowledge) , and is a comprehensive guide which includes a set of standard terminology, guidelines and best practices for managing projects.

Lastly, the article analyzes and explores the potential benefits and limitations of utilizing Belbin's Team Roles in Project Management. The article aims to provide a balanced view of the strengths and weaknesses of the approach and highlights the importance of considering various factors when implementing this method in a team setting.

History & Background information

The history of Meredith Belbin's Theory

To create a successful team, it is important to have a mix of personalities that can take on various roles. Assigning tasks based on individual’s strengths and weaknesses is an effective approach to building a team, as people tend to achieve great results when working on tasks that align with their strengths. Usually, people are given roles; they do not find them.(page 1).

Raymond Meredith Belbin is a British researcher born 4 June 1926. He started studying Classics at Clare College, Cambridge as a young man. After a few years he changed courses to Psychology and completed the course in half the allotted time. It was during this time he met his future wife, Eunice. Belbin continued his studies with a PhD, focusing on the Psychology of Ageing in the Industry. While Belbin was working at the Industrial Training Research Unit (ITRU), he was invited to preform research at the Administrative Staff College at Henley-on-Thames. The team consisted of Belbin, Eunice, Bill Harston, Jeanne Fisher and Roger Mottram. It was from this research that formed the basis for Team Role theory, although the significance was not yet revealed.

Meredith Belbin worked with colleagues in Australia to study intellectual abilities and teamworking. He aimed to build on success and understand reasons for failure, focusing on providing opportunities based on individual’s abilities and interests. In 1981, he wrote the book Management Teams: Why They Succeed or Fail, which later became one of the top fifty management books of all time.

Belbin worked for ICI Paints and Cadbury’s Schweppes to assess individual suitability for different jobs, but by the late 1980’s, the demand exceeded the supply and he had to work long hours. In 1988, Belbin and his family formed Belbin Associates to promote Belbin Team Roles worldwide. In 1993, he published Team Roles at Work, which provided practical applications for Team Role theory in the workplace. Today, Belbin Associates continues to promote the Team Role message globally.

Overview of Belbin's Team Role Theory

Belbin’s Team Role is a framework that helps managers and leaders to understand how individual persons work together in a team. The theory is based on the idea that different personality types and skills are needed in order to build a successful team(page 125 - 134). Belbin identified nine different team roles: Plant, Monitor-Evaluator, Specialist, Shaper, Implementer, Completer and Specialist (page 22)

Belbin’s theory emphasizes the importance of balancing team roles to ensure that all necessary functions are covered. By assigning roles that align with individual’s strengths and weaknesses, teams can function more effectively and efficiently (page 87-95).

Functional Roles and Team Roles

Belbin believed that it was important for managers and leaders to understand the difference between functional roles and team roles. Below are citations from his book Management Teams regarding the different roles.

Functional Role: "The role that a member of a team preforms in terms of the specifically technical demands placed upon him. Typically, team members are chosen for functional roles on the basis of their experience and without regard to any personal characteristics or aptitudes that fit them for additional tasks within the team" (page 187)

Team Role: "This describes a pattern of behavior characteristic of the way in which one team member interacts with another where his performance serves to facilitate the progress of the team as a whole. Only eight useful types of contribution were discovered. These were Chairman, Shaper, Plant, Company worker, Team Worker, Monitor-Evaluator, Resource Investigator and Completer. Each of these team roles was associated with characteristic types of personality as measured by the tests used in the experiments." (page 191)

A persons professional or technical skills are associated with functional roles, team roles are on the other hand associated with personality traits and behavioral tendencies.

Belbin’s Team Roles

The team roles has been collected from Management Teams (page 72) and has been updated with information from (page 9-10) . There are several way to determine which Belbin Team Role a person is, they can get feedback from colleagues, they can observe their own behavior in a team, but the most reliant one is the “Belbin Team Role Self-Perception Inventory” (page 1).

Team Role:	Typical Features:	Positive Qualities:	Typical Weaknesses:
Plant (PL)	Plants are innovators and inventors and can be highly creative. They provide the source of original ideas to support innovation. Usually they prefer to operates by themselves at some distance from other team members, using their imagination and often working in an unorthodox way. They tend to be introverted and react strongly to criticism and praise. their ideas may often be radical and may lack practical constraints. They are independent, and usually regarded as being clever as a results of their original and radical perspective.	They don't always manage to communicate in a compelling way and offer their ideas in a practical and relevant framework or they can be able to ignore incidentals because they can be too preoccupied.	The main use of a Plant is to challenge conventional and established ways of doing things and provide suggested solutions for solving complex problems. Plants are often needed in the initial stages of a project or when a project is failing to progress. Plants have usually made their mark as founders of companies or as originators of new products. However, too many Plants in one team or group may be counter-productive as they tend to spend their time reinforcing their own ideas and engaging each other in combat.
Resource Investigator (RI)	Resource Investigators are usually enthusiastic extroverts. They are natural communicators with people, inside and outside the company. This means that the Resource Investigator is the networker of the group. They are natural negotiators and are adept at exploring new opportunities and developing contacts. Although not a great source of original ideas, the Resource Investigator is effective when it comes to picking up other people's ideas and promoting them. As the name suggests, they are adept to find what is available and from whom. They usually receive a warm reception from others because of their warm outgoing nature. Resource Investigators are generally relaxed people with a strong inquisitive sense and a readiness to see the possibilities in anything new. The Resource Investigator may appear to be flighty and inconstant, but their ability to call on their connections is useful to the team.	The team member can be over optimistic and can lose interest once initial enthusiasm has passed.	Resource Investigators are good at exploring and reporting back on ideas, developments or resources outside their immediate group. They are the natural people to set up external contacts and to carry out any subsequent negotiations. They have an ability to be fast thinkers and to probe others for information.
Co-ordinator (CO)	The distinguishing feature of Co-ordinators is their propensity for helping others to work towards a shared goal. They are mature, trusting and confident, they delegate readily. In interpersonal relations they are quick to spot individual talents and to use them in pursuit of group objectives. While Co-ordinators are not necessarily the cleverest, they are likely to have a broad outlook and perspective. The natural goal focus of Co-operator’s can sometimes lead to them manipulating others to achieve their personal objectives. In some situations Co-ordinators are inclined to clash with Shapers due to their contrasting management styles. The Co-ordinator seeks fairness and equity among team members. Those who want to make decisions quickly, may feel frustrated by their insistence on consulting with all members, but this can often improve the quality of decisions made by the team.	This team member can be seen as manipulative person and as a person who offloads personal work.	Co-operators are well placed when they are put in charge of a team of people with diverse skills and personal characteristics. They perform better in dealing with colleagues of near or equal rank than in directing junior subordinates. Their motto might well be "consultation with control" and they usually believe in tackling problems calmly.
Sharper (SH)	Shapers is a dynamic team member. Shapers are highly goal and oriented people with great drive and energy. They push themselves and others and tend to overcome obstacles by sheer determination. They tend to be highly assertive and have very directive management styles. Shapers loves a challenge and thrives on pressure. They frequently progress upward in organizations because they get results and because many people are impressed by their courageous and decisive leadership style. they drive and courage team members to overcome obstacles.	This person can be prone to provocation and offend people’s feelings. Shapers are not noted for their interpersonal sensitivities and can be argumentative and even aggressive.	Shapers are generally perceived as ideal managers because they generate action and thrive under pressure. They come into their own when quick and decisive action is called for to overcome threats and difficulties or when progress towards goals and objectives is unacceptably slow.
Monitor Evaluator (ME)	Monitor Evaluators is a strategic and discerning member, who tries to see all options and judge accurately. They are serious-minded, prudent individuals with a built-in immunity for being over-enthusiastic. They are likely to be slow in making decisions preferring to carefully think things over. Usually they have a high critical thinking ability. They have a good capacity for shrewd judgements that take all factors into account. A good Monitor Evaluator is unlikely to make intuitive and reckless mistakes. They deal in facts and logic rather than emotion when considering options.	They are often regarded as over-critical and can be seen to be slow and boring. They can lack drive and ability to inspire others.	Monitor Evaluators are best suited to analyze problems and evaluate ideas and suggestions. They are very good at weighing up the pro's and con's of options. In a managerial position their ability to make high quality decisions.
Team Worker (TW)	Team Workers possess a mild and sociable disposition and are generally supportive and concerned about others. They seek to endure that interpersonal relationships in the team are maintained. They have a great capacity for flexibility and adapting to different situations and people. Team Workers are perceptive, diplomatic and carrying and tend to be good listeners. Because of these qualities they are popular with their colleagues.	Their concern about creating harmony and avoiding conflict can make them indecisive when faced with having to make difficult solo decisions. This means that they can be indecisive in crunch situations.	The Team Workers may be legitimately compared to the lubricating oil in a car engine. We don’t always appreciate how important it is until it isn’t there. Because of their ability to be able to resolve interpersonal problems Team Workers come into their own when situations are tense, and people feel uncared for and underappreciated. They can rise to senior positions because they have few enemies and the fact that they are ready to listen to the views and suggestions of others.
Implementor (IMP)	Implementers are characterized by their practical approach and possess higher than normal levels of self-control and discipline. They are prepared to work hard to ensure things are done as prescribed in a systematic way. They are typically loyal to the organization and prescribed and established ways of doing things. They are likely to be regarded as someone who will not seek personal agendas and self-interest.	On the downside Implementers may be inflexible in accepting new ways of doing things, particularly if they are radical or impracticable. They may frustrate other team members by their perceived lack of enthusiasm for inspiring visions and radical ideas into workable solutions is important.	Implementers are valuable in an organization because of their reliability and capacity for application. They succeed because they are efficient and because they have a sense of what is feasible and relevant. While many people might stray favoring the tasks they like to do and neglect things they find not to be to their liking an Implementer is more likely to do what needs to be done in a systematic way.
Completer Finisher (CF)	Completer Finishers have a great capacity for the attention to detail. They constantly strive for perfection and correct errors. Completer Finishers are quite introvert and require less external stimulus than most people. The Completer Finisher can be trusted to do work to the highest standard and to complete it on time.	The combination of striving for perfection and meeting deadlines often creates anxiety though and Completer Finishers are likely to be reluctant to trust others to do work to their own high standards. They are inclined to worry unduly and reluctant to delegate.	The Completer Finisher is invaluable where tasks demand close concentration and a high degree of accuracy. The standards they set make them well suited to situations where precision and high standards are essential. Completer finishers will also demand the same high standards from people around them and therefore create their own micro culture where the only standard acceptable is perfection.
Specialist (SP)	The last team role, the ninth role, was added in 1988. This team role is the Specialist. The specialist brings expert knowledge to the team. The Specialist Team Role and the functional title of Specialist is often a cause for confusion. While it is true that both uses of the term may relate to people who are a source of technical knowledge and expertise the Specialist in Team Role terms has some very specific attributes. Their main distinguishing feature is their love of learning. They see learning and the accumulation of knowledge as the main reason for their existence and their single minded and resolute pursuit of this end is their main motivation. The Specialist is likely to be recognized by colleagues as an expert to turn to for help and guidance.	The Specialist will usually try to avoid being involved in unstructured meetings and discussions or those of a social nature. They may also be somewhat unyielding when challenged about the validity of their knowledge or field of expertise. This person contributes on only a narrow front and dwells on technicalities.	While Specialists may not be regarded as natural team players teams will be wise to engage the Specialist as a means of providing in depth research. As managers, they command respect because of their in-depth knowledge and they can be used to mentor others to raise their technical expertise.