Honoring Dr Meredith Belbin

Photo credit: Belbin LinkedIn. Alt text: Picture of Dr Meredith Belbin in an English country setting

Dr Meredith Belbin left quite a legacy behind him. Although I didn't meet him personally, his life's work has given me one of my favorite tools: the Belbin Team Role

Ever since I was at Stanford and first encountered personality assessments as part of my classes and research projects, I was fascinated. We explored the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, the Enneagram, and quite a few others that haven't survived. MBTI was fascinating, so much so that I certified to be able to use it in coaching, consulting, and training.

During the time I was at CEVT and we built the Connected Car and UX organization, I learned about Belbin Team Roles. Although I found MBTI very helpful in resolving complex conflicts in teams, there was also a reluctance (primarily from software engineers) in being typed. I took the chance to certify myself, and have used Belbin Team Roles quite a bit since.

There are three really powerful things about Belbin Team Roles that make them my favorite tool:

1) They are a point in time. They aren't you forever, but you, in this team, in this company, in this role. What role gives you energy and do you want to contribute with? And which roles are best for another, as doing them all day every day would lead to burnout.

2) They give insight to how others perceive us, what they appreciate about our contributions, and could give insight into areas of improvement. Many of us seldom have a chance to know what others think of us, and doing a Belbin Team Role gives that chance.

3) All team roles are needed and equally important for a team to do well. Certain roles perform certain tasks better, and at certain stages, but all of them are needed for teams to function well.

Combined with Wheelan's Integrated Model of Team Development, Belbin Team Roles can be an important part of navigating the forming and norming phases and moving to norming and performing, as it both helps people find and talk about their best roles (hard and soft, technical and emotional) and structure work in more effective and efficient ways.

Thank you, Dr Belbin, for your legacy.