Belbin's Theory - Free Essay on Team Effectiveness

Team Effectiveness Research

Meredith Belbin is a British researcher, best known for his fundamental research in the field of team effectiveness. His studies are very useful for application in everyday teamwork. The idea that for the team's greatest operational efficiency, we need not a personal balance of each member, but a well-balanced team in general, very accurately indicates that everyone should have his or her own duties.

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Belbin team roles theory explains a difference between, for example, creative, imaginative, unorthodox people and their so-operative, mild, perceptive and diplomatic colleagues. There are nine types of behaviors: some people are able to combine several roles while some can only meet certain group requirements. It means that the team should be up to nine people, but not less than three or four.( BELBIN Associates, 2015)

Belbin made the comparisons between behavioral roles and personality types. The roles are tasks serve the aim of managing the actions of the team. There is a number of tests determining the appropriate role type for each person. Nevertheless, there are some deviations from the results, for example, when the introvert can perform the extravert's duties and vice versa.

Good Team Building Has a Positive Impact On the Effectiveness of Common Efforts

For applying Belbin’s theory in life, we use various strategies to organize the teamwork. This takes into account the member’s personal qualities. We can also apply for the organization of student groups the rules of organization of groups of people, established by Belbin. In each group, there areas head - an organizer of the collection of money, events, etc.

It is very important to structure the working process. This way, it is possible to identify the main criteria for a well-balanced work. There are purposes, structure, relationship, rewards, leadership and helpful mechanism. Science shows that good team building has a positive impact on the effectiveness of common efforts. Goal setting and role clarification were shown to have an impact on cognitive, affective, process and performance outcomes. The most powerful influence they had on the process and affective results, which indicates that the reorganization of the team could help those groups that have problems with the negative effect, such as distrust and the lack of cohesion. It could also improve teams suffering from process issues, such as the lack of clarification in roles. One of the main problems is the lack of deep understanding. Even if the team members agree on plans, their further actions do not always correspond to the decisions made (Mackechnie, 2003).

We can also apply Belbin's theory to our workplace. My team consists of 10 people who solve various group tasks. My task is to give them an opportunity to work and create a cohesive team. The theory is based on the idea that every member of the group has his or her own role. In accordance with this theory, we have employees who produce the main activities. They are a Producer and a Resource Investigator. They generate ideas, look for new opportunities and conduct negotiations. We also need to focus attention on three more main roles in the group. They are a Team Worker, a Shaper and a Specialist. Their main task is creating a working atmosphere to avoid conflicts.

Each of the nine roles has its own pros and cons. Generally, this is a theory in which all employees are well - balanced. Belbin created a model of factors that determine human behavior within the command role. It includes the following factors: psychophysiological factors, high intellect, personal values and principles, external factors, personal experience and cultural factors, mastering the necessary role.

References

BELBIN Associates, (November 2015). Belbin Team Roles.

Mackechnie, Peter (2003). Belbin Team Role Theories.

https://www.businesscoaching.co.uk/files/belbin_team_role_theories.pdf