Belbin and Recruitment, how to find the long term fit?
Tue, Jan 29th, 2008
The foundations of the Belbin model were laid 40 years ago. However, there are few occupations more challenging than the delivery of solutions to dysfunctional teams in organisations, argued Jo Keeler of Belbin at the January meeting of the Society held in London at the offices of Vantis Numerica. Yet, some of the key HR drivers and the experiences of 40 years ago as reflected in the Belbin model are still as relevant today as they ever were.
It is of course well known that improved teamwork can improve productivity , raise morale and spur innovation. This is the key driver behind Belbin's work.
The origin of the Belbin model dates back to the 1960s when managers taking part in a study at Henley completed a series of psychometric tests and were put into teams of varying composition, before participating in a complex management exercise. Behaviours were observed and over a period of 9 years, different clusters of behaviour were identified as underlying the success of the teams. These became better known as "team roles". Belbin was founded in 1988 to enable the Research to be used commercially, and the "Belbin SPI" was developed to allow individuals to establish their "Team Roles" and behaviour "fingerprint".
A "Team Role" is defined as the "Tendency to behave, contribute and interrelate with others in a particular way". They are used for self awareness, job placement, teambuilding, improving leadership skills, assessment and recruitment, career progression, training needs analysis, and coaching and mentoring. It is estimated that over 1 million reports have been generated worldwide, helping both teams and individuals.
Team roles provide "common terms of reference" to all members of the team, allowing them to share strengths and weaknesses without conflict.
The roles as identified are as follows:
* Plants - ideas people * Monitor evaluators. Evaluate ideas but are often slow moving, Frequently clash with Plants * Coordinator. Normally calm, confident and influential. They draw people's ideas and frequently are "Chairmen" * Implementers. These are planners and are practical people. However, they are often inflexible and change averse * Completer finishers. Ensures perfection. Often poor at delegating, preferring to complete a job themselves * Resource investigators. Are gossipers and often make good networkers. However they need managing closely as they get bored easily and quickly * Shapers. They are the team conscience. They give energy to the team but can verge on being over dominant * Team workers. They are the gel for the team, fill in the cracks and can empathise with almost all others. It is often prudent to monitor their work as when they take a break or go away the entire team can fall apart without an adequate appreciation of what they actually do rather than what is on their job specification. They often make poor decision makers * Specialists. These are experts in particular fields but do not like to cross their boundaries on to others' areas of activity or expertise
Despite it being almost 40 years since the research at Henley was undertaken, the work is still highly relevant and there has been little change in the dynamics, content and methods of implementation over this time.
