Developed by Meredith Belbin in 1981, following nine years of study and has become one of the most accessible and widely used tools to support team building.

The team roles were designed to define and predict potential success of management teams, recognising that the strongest teams have a diversity of characters and personality types.

It has been criticised due to it's potential oversimplification and pigeon-holing of individuals.

However, when used wisely to gain insight about the working of the team and identify the team strengths and weaknesses it can be extremely useful.

Belbin describes a team role as "a tendency to behave, contribute and interrelate with others in a particular way."

There are:

  • 3 action oriented roles:
    • Shaper
    • Implementer
    • Completer Finisher
  • 3 people oriented roles:
    • Coordinator
    • Teamworker
    • Resource Investigator
  • 3 cerebral roles:
    • Plant
    • Monitor Evaluator
    • Specialist

The team roles describe a pattern of behaviour that characterises one person's behaviour in relationship to another in facilitating the progress of a team.

This approach enables an individual or team to benefit from self-knowledge and adjust behaviour according to the demands being made by the external situation.

An individual's team role is established through a Self Perception Inventory, a questionnaire designed to establish your preferred way of working in a team environment.

This can be supported through the inclusion of observer assessments which provide independent evidence about an individual's team roles.

The assessments are available either online or via Belbin's book.