Overview and application of Meredith Belbin framework!

2. In the Hotel and Tourism Industry, many activities are carried
out in project teams. Hence, the Shandrani Resorts and Spa
Hotel actively encourages its employees’ group training and
team development.
This report examines a group of 15 permanent workers including
their manager, who, currently work full time for the same large
Hotel. They were commencing their first year of training, on 6 days’
working approach. In the first two months of the training, they
attended two five-day residentials, at the local hotel.

3. Teams are the primary unit of improving organisational performance
by bringing together individuals with a variety skills, experience and
knowledge to perform work and solve problems. The urgency to
understand team functioning is at the forefront of business today as
it is not practical for individual managers to make decisions in
isolation (Proehl, 1997).
By defining and understanding the roles of managers within the team, an
organisation can structure, compose or realign teams to improve
individual, team and business performance. Furthermore, by improving the
alignment of an individual’s personal characteristics, such as psychological
type and natural team role, to their formal team role, the effectiveness and
efficiency of the team can be enhanced (Belbin, 1996).

5. Management is the process of “control, coordination and
development of economic activities, encompassing
operational (internal) and external (strategic) domains” or
simply “management is generally defined as the art of
getting things done through and with people in formally
organised groups

6. Organisations develop management structures to support the
organization’s direction. The lines of managers range from Front Line to
Senior Managers and are defined as follow:
Front Line Managers
Middle Managers
Senior Managers

7. Many people find managerial positions challenging due to the broad and
extensive range of skills required to be an effective manager. The personal
characteristics and traits of the manager will contribute to the approach adopted
in working towards the completion of tasks. These skills are defined below.
Technical Skills
Computer Skills
Analytical skills
Human Relation Skills
Decision-Making Skills
Communication Skills
Conceptual Skills

8. DEFINING BELBIN’S TEAM ROLE MODEL
During the 1980’s Belbin studied management teams and developed a
theory which endeavored to draw logical conclusions about what
constitutes a successful and effective team.
Belbin’s work in this area has made a significant contribution as most prior
research focused on individual managers rather than teams. Belbin’s
research was one of the most rigorous and extensive studies completed on
team building and the model has become one of the most widely used
approaches in forming teams today. The study looked at the personality
characteristics and critical thinking abilities of members in order to
compare successful and unsuccessful teams.

9. The Belbin Model is a robust and highly effective concept on
teamwork that is the product of many years of research. British
psychologist Dr Meredith Belbin has worked to achieve a coherent and
accurate system that explains individual behaviour and its influence
on team success. Belbin’s nine defined team roles for developing a
successful and effective team are described in detail below:
Plant (PL)
Monitor Evaluator (ME)
Resource Investigator (RI)
Team Worker (TW)
Co-ordinator (CO)
Implementer (IMP)
Shaper (SH)
Completer Finisher (CF)
Specialist (SP)

10. PLANT
Advancing new ideas and strategies with special attention to major issues and
looking for possible breaks in approach to the problem that the group is
confronting.
The title Plant was conceived when it was found that one of the best ways to
improve the performance of an ineffective and uninspired team was to 'plant' a
person of this type in it. The Plant can also be thought of as the team role that
scatters the seeds which the others nourish until they bear fruit.
The danger with the Plant is that he or she will devote too much of their creative
energy to ideas which may catch their fancy but do not fall in with the team's
needs or contribute to its objectives. They may be bad at accepting criticism of
their own ideas and quick to take offence and sulk if their ideas are dissected or
rejected

11. Strengths of the Plant
Creativity, ideas, good at problem-solving. This can help the
management to create new methods of re-arranging the working
method, in terms of: inventing new recipes, doing work in a
wonderful manner and taking certain decisions on the spot.
Allowable weaknesses
Communicating ideas and sticking to the objectives – can have a
butterfly mind that flits from one idea to another.
Think/discussion point
 Consider those you work with.
 Is there a Plant among them?
 How does this person(s) manifest the role's strengths
and allowable weaknesses?

12. RESOURCE INVESTIGATOR
Exploring and reporting on ideas, developments and resources outside the
group, creating external contacts that may be useful to the team and
conducting negotiations.
Probably the first team member to fill up their Filofax and the one who is
uncomfortable if parted from their mobile telephone or Internet connection.
The Resource Investigator is probably the most immediately likeable member
of the team. Resource investigators are relaxed, sociable and gregarious, with
an interest that is easily aroused. Their responses tend to be positive and
enthusiastic, though they are prone to put things down as quickly as they pick
them up.

13. Strengths of the resource investigator
Gregarious, has many contacts, enthusiastic, good communication skills. The RI
will successfully liaise with any problems arising from the part of their clients
and assuring them of the good image of the hotel thanks to their influential
contacts.
Allowable weaknesses
Easily bored
Think/discussion point
Consider those you work with.
 Is there a Resource investigator among them?
 How does this person(s) manifest the role's strengths and allowable
weaknesses?

14. COORDINATOR
Controlling the way in which the team moves forward towards the group
objectives by making the best use of team resources; recognizing where the
team's strengths and weaknesses lie and ensuring the best use is made of
each members potential.
Strengths of the Co-ordinator
Mature, confident, clarifies goals, and uses available talents. The coordinator
shall make a good trainer say, for the fresh staff, and hence better communicate
goals to them.
A tendency to be manipulative
Consider those you work with.
Is there a Co-ordinator among them?
How does this person(s) manifest the role's strengths and allowable
weaknesses?

15. SHAPER
Shaping the way in which the team effort is applied, directing attention generally to
the setting of objectives and priorities and seeking to impose some shape or pattern
on group discussion and on the outcome of group activities.
Strengths of the Shaper
Dynamic, outgoing, challenging, tenacious. They even make friends easily
and can know clients’ views and proposals upon the hotel’s service being
offered including development prospects.
Prone to bursts of temper, insensitive
Consider those you work with.
Is there a Shaper among them?
How does this person(s) manifest the role's strengths and allowable
weaknesses?

16. MONITOR EVALUATOR
Analysing problems, evaluating ideas and suggestions so that the team is better
placed to take balanced decisions.
Strengths of the Monitor-Evaluator
Shrewd and objective. They make sure that they do whatever
jobs they are told to do.
May be seen as boring and lacking drive.
Consider those you work with.
Is there a Monitor-Evaluator among them?
How does this person(s) manifest the role's strengths and allowable
weaknesses?

17. TEAM WORKER
Supporting members in their strengths; e.g. Building on suggestions, underpinning
members in their shortcomings, improving communications between members
and fostering team spirit generally
Strengths of the Team Worker
Makes excellent relationships, accommodating, and
non-threatening. They learn the work easily.
Can be indecisive.
Consider those you work with.
Is there a Team Worker among them?
How does this person(s) manifest the role's strengths and allowable
weaknesses?

18. IMPLEMENTER
Turning concepts and ideas into practical working procedures; carrying out agreed
plans systematically and efficiently.
Strengths of the implementer
Disciplined, reliable and efficient. They can be trustworthy and can keep
confidential information.
Inflexible
Consider those you work with.
Is there an Implementer among them?
How does this person(s) manifest the role's strengths and allowable
weaknesses?

19. COMPLETE FINISHER
Ensuring the team is protected as far as possible from mistakes of both
commission and omission; actively searching for aspects of work that need a
more than usual degree of attention; and maintaining a sense of urgency within
the team.
Strengths of the Completer-Finisher
Attention to detail, meets deadlines and make sure that they
meet targets.
Worries and can become over anxious and bogged down
in detail.
Consider those you work with.
Is there a Completer-Finisher among them?
How does this person(s) manifest the role's strengths and allowable
weaknesses?

20. SPECIALIST
Feeding technical information into the group. Translating from general into
technical terms. Contributing a professional viewpoint on the subject under
discussion.
Strengths of the Specialist
Single-minded, knowledgeable in his or her own field.
Can contribute on only it narrow front.
Consider those you work with.
Is there a Specialist among them?
How does this person(s) manifest the role's strengths and allowable
weaknesses?

21. The team role concept has been validated in both academic and
organisational trials across the globe. When used in
organisations, team role profiling has confirmed the special
advantages of a full and balanced team.

22. Based on what you have read above, what do you think y our natural
primary and secondary team roles are?
• Are there any roles that you are not equipped for
Belbin also suggests that people ask questions of themselves when they
join a group:
1.
Who am I in this group? What is my occupational role here? What are
the role expectations of me? Am I here to listen or to lead? Am I a
representative or present in my own right? Who is judging me on my role
performance?
2. What is the influence pattern? Who has the power? What kind of power
is it? Do I want to change the influence pattern? If so, how do I do it?
3. What are my needs and objectives? Are they in line with the group?
Should they be? What do I do about them if they are not? If one of these
needs is to be liked and accepted, how important is that for me?

23. Forming, storming, norming, performing
Groups mature and develop. Like individuals they have a fairly clearly defined
growth cycle. This has been categorised as having four successive stages:
Forming
The group is not yet a group but a set of individuals. This stage is
characterized by talk about the purpose of the group.
Storming
Most groups go through a conflict stage when the preliminary, and
often false, consensus on purposes, on leadership and other roles, on
norms of work and behavior, is challenged and re-established.
Norming
The group needs to establish norms and practices. When and how it should
work, how it should take decisions, what type of behaviour, what level of
work, what degree of openness, trust and confidence is appropriate.
Performing
Only when the three previous stages have been success fully completed will
the group be at full maturity and be able to be fully and sensibly productive.

24. Insight to Belbin’s Theory
Belbin’s team role theory has become one of the most commonly used team
building theories in business. The nine years of research supporting the theory
provides organisations with confidence that is a valid and reliable instrument.
From the extensive research conducted, Belbin has determined five key factors that are
necessary to create an effective team and produce consistently good results. These are:
• Each member works towards the achievement of goals and objectives by carrying out a
functional
• A favorable equilibrium in a functional role and team role is needed although this is somewhat
dependent on the goals and tasks;
• Team effectiveness is reliant on each member’s ability to accurately recognise and modify their
contribution to the team;
• Personality and mental abilities of members may limit their chances of fulfilling various team
roles; and
• A team can use its technical resources to full advantage only when it has the right balance and
mix of team roles (Dulewicz, 1995).

25. It is important for organisations to recognise that:
-
The composition of a team may need to differ as the organizations’ objectives
will vary;
-
Reorganizing long established management teams doesn’t happen overnight;
and
-
The introduction of team role evaluation in an organisation can take time with
already established teams, although it may add instant value in creating project
teams (Jay, 1980). Belbin’s research gave consideration to the development,
training, qualifications and experience needed by teams to ensure that the
strengths of individuals are optimised. His research provides organisations
with an ability to review and assess the psychological, motivational,
composition and behaviours needed by members to foster effective team work
and hence improve operational performance (Jay, 1980).

26. Hospitality Managers categorised by Belbin’s Team Roles
In all, Hospitality staff surveyed responded to the study thus showing a response rate
of 91.7%. Of these 23.4% were categorised as Company Worker’s (CW), followed by
Shaper’s (SH) 18.0%, Completer Finisher’s (CF) 13.5% and Chairman (CH) 12.6%. The
Plant (PL) demonstrated low representation amongst the senior management teams
with only 2.7% of respondents fulfilling this important role. The Belbin Team Roles
portrayed by the cohort are reflective of a typical hospitality management team
which are generally composed of operational managers who are primarily focused on
the front line functioning of the hotel.

27. The need to recruit employees who acquire the skills to efficiently and effectively
service the needs and wants of their guests demonstrates why the majority of the
training were classified as Company Workers (CW) (23.4%), Complete Finishers (CF)
(13.5%) and Team Workers (TW) (11.7%) within Belbin’s team role model:

28. Belbin’s Team Roles and dimensions influencing them

30. Criticisms of the Belbin Team Role
Model
Initially, Furnham and his colleagues understood Belbin’s theory as one in which
the various team roles that individuals fulfil in a team and the team’s ability to
function effectively is dependent on the team’s composition (Furnham et al, 1993).
Furnham et al (1993) subsequently carried out three studies to verify the
psychometric properties of Belbin’s questionnaire as they harboured uncertainty
about its reliability and validity. From their study, Furnham et al (1993) arrived at
three conclusions with regard to the Belbin. These are:

31. The test was impassive (forced choice answer questionnaire which
skews the respondent’s choices in answering the questions);
The sequence in which the questions were asked was too broad
therefore losing specific focus on groups, and
The measure was neither theoretically nor empirically
derived.

32. limitations to using the Belbin Team Role Assessment:
1. Specifically designed for teams
2. Designed to be used in a work setting
3. Measures behaviors, not personality
4. Has a Cultural Bias

33. The last and most significant criticism is that in research were the
authors do link the BTRSPI with observation of a team’s behaviour, the
research participants are not real decision makers from an organisation.
It seems that the use of university undergraduate students is the
primary source of research participants in the field of group processes
and decision making in teams. This drawback is sometimes mentioned
by the authors themselves, e.g. Fisher & Macrosson (1995: 14) and
Leonard, Scholl & Kowalski (1999: 419).
The honorable exception to this criticism is Senior & Swailes
(1998).However, in this research the observation was done by peer
review and not by an objective third part. Personal emotions or other
organisational elements such as the positions the members hold could
therefore get in the way of an objective observation.