Belbin Scotland - Build Better Teams

Unlock the full potential of your team with Belbin Team Role Reports and support.

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Why Belbin?

9 Belbin Team Roles

Belbin Team Role theory and reports have been used for over 50 years to help individuals, teams, and organisations perform more effectively. 

Over 3 million Reports have been generated worldwide.

Through extensive research undertaken by Dr Meredith Belbin at Henley Management College, ‘Belbin Theory’ was developed to understand why certain teams performed better than others. Research has identified that teams are more successful when comprising a diverse and balanced mix of behaviours.

Dr Belbin identified nine distinct clusters of behaviours displayed in teams, known as the Belbin Team Roles. Teams typically performed more effectively when they had all nine Team Role behaviours represented across team members.

Each Belbin Team Role has a combination of strengths and weaknesses, and no team role is more important than any other. They all have their part to play in a successful team.

A high-performing team may benefit from having all nine team roles represented, but not necessarily all are required simultaneously. Depending on the tasks or objectives to be delivered, specific team roles or combinations of roles can enhance performance and delivery when utilised effectively.

Understanding and applying the Belbin Team Role theory can improve the long-term performance of individuals, effective teams, and organisations.

Some of the many benefits Belbin Reports can help deliver include:

Belbin self awareness

Self-Awareness

Helping us to understand our and others’ behavioural strengths and weaknesses, supporting our emotional intelligence.

Task Allocation Scrum Belbin

Effective task allocation/delegation

Allocating tasks or responsibilities that are better aligned to suit each person’s natural behavioural strengths.

Belbin for Recruitment - team

Recruitment and Selection

To accurately and objectively assess the behavioural profile of a candidate against the requirements of the role for better hiring decisions.

Productivity with Belbin

Increased Productivity

By playing to strengths and managing weaknesses within the team.

Belbin Connecting Teams

Team Selection

To form more effective, balanced, high-performing teams and improve job satisfaction.

Mentoring with Belbin Scotland

Coaching and Mentoring

To develop skills and knowledge in the workplace.

Team Belbin Scotland

Team Building

To understand team culture, build trust, improve morale and motivation.

Communication skills with Belbin

Effective Communication

Understanding what communication style for the most effective individual or team communication.

Virtual Teams Belbin Scotland

Virtual teams

To improve the quality and outputs delivered through remote teams working towards a common goal.

mixed teams Belbin Scotland

Multi-functional teams

To enhance collaboration across business functions.

conflict co workers Belbin

Conflict Management

To develop skills and knowledge in the workplace.

Project Teams Belbin Scotland

Project teams

Enabling project-focused teams to deliver effectively against deadlines and budgets – ensuring team members feel motivated and included.

Decision making Belbin

Decision Making

Improving decisions by considering different behavioural styles and the impact these may have.

Creative Team Belbin

Enhanced Innovation and Creativity

Tapping into specific Belbin Roles that can add value to different stages of the creative process.

Speak to us today about Belbin for your needs

Belbin builds better teams.

At Belbin Scotland, we embrace the power of Belbin Team Roles, the ‘Gold Standard’ approach to developing highly effective, cohesive teamwork. 

Belbin Team Roles reports and theory have developed over the last 50 years and are backed by rigorous research. 

Belbin Team Roles identify individuals’ specific contributions and behaviours to a team, enabling a deeper understanding of the behavioural dynamics of a team to build a more harmonious and productive workplace.

Empower Teams Belbin

Empower Teams

By identifying individuals’ unique roles within a team, Belbin facilitates the creation of more balanced teams where every team member can play to their strengths. 

Belbin Users can address individual behavioural weaknesses by tapping into the natural strengths of others in the team. 

Taking a more strategic and tactical approach to teamwork can deliver improved alignment of roles to strengths, enhanced productivity through better task allocation, reduced conflict and building high-performing, collaborative teams.

Revolutionise Recruitment

Integrating Belbin Job, Candidate, and Job Comparison reports into your recruitment process will deliver a more robust and objective candidate assessment than CVs or interviews alone. 

Belbin reports allow any hiring manager to accurately assess the behavioural attributes required for any role and compare any candidate’s behavioural strengths and potential weaknesses against what is needed.

Using Belbin can deliver a more objective and accurate selection process and help ensure that any new hire has the necessary technical skills/knowledge/qualifications and the right behaviours required for the role. Getting recruitment “right first time” through technical AND behavioural fit helps ensure that new start employees are aligned to the team / organisational culture from day one.

Belbin For Recruitment
Leadership with Belbin

Cultivate Leadership

We believe effective leadership isn’t about a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach. When a Leader understands their own Belbin Team Role preferences, it can help them understand their strengths and areas to work on to adapt their style according to the needs of their team or task in hand. 

Applying Belbin’s theory enables a more flexible and responsive approach to leadership style. 

Through understanding the diverse mix of roles within the team, leaders can utilise Belbin’s theory at the strategic or operational level to maximise employee engagement, increase motivation and enhance performance.

Belbin Scotland is committed to unlocking the potential within teams through the insightful application of Belbin Theory. Whether you need to enhance team collaboration, improve recruitment strategy or develop an adaptable leadership style, Belbin helps build better teams’

Belbin was selected from a range of psychometrics due to its focus on the individual in the team environment. It has been a fantastic tool throughout our journey. We began our culture initiative with Belbin and built upon the focus of team work to integrate the process within our recruitment procedure.
Deeanne WinkHR Business Partner
Deeanne Wink
We have used the Belbin assessment tool to support the development of Job Profiles and as a tool to consolidate agreement on the skills and attributes the recruiting panel are looking for. It can help surface different perspectives and support agreement of what is really important in the role all before you have even spoken with candidates.
Leona McDermid CEO
Leona McDermid
Whilst individuals across our company had some awareness of Belbin and the benefits it can bring to individuals or teams, as an organisation we wanted to work alongside the team at Belbin Scotland to improve our understanding and embed a shared language. We have utilised the individual tests and reports for consecutive years across the organisation and are seeing the rewards at an operational and strategic level.
Kirsty Summers HR Co-ordinator
Kirsty Summers
Our management team felt they left the session with practical tools and techniques they could apply back in the workplace, such as preparing for and holding supervision meetings with staff and giving and receiving feedback. I would recommend Belbin for any management teams keen to improve self-awareness and how this can be used to improve their ability to develop their staff and work more cohesively as a team.
Sarah HartlessHR Manager
Sarah Hartless
Belbin has been hugely impactful for our staff that have undertaken the diagnostic tool and participated in live sessions. Our talent programme for aspiring senior managers used Belbin for the first time last year, and it has now become an integral part of the programme.
Katie MenziesInterim Head of Talent, Leadership and Supporting Change
Katie Menzies
Aberdeen Foyer used Belbin individual assessment and group feedback as a way of opening up conversations between the team, building trust and confidence in each other and as a way of revealing people’s strengths and preferred styles of management.
Sarah HartlessHR Manager
Sarah Hartless
Our client’s Team really enjoyed the Belbin feedback sessions and I’d go as far as to say it actually bonded them. The better understanding of the individual strengths and allowable weaknesses led to improved team cohesion, improved communication and importantly built trust.
Mervyn StanleyManaging Director
Mervyn Stanley
The Belbin Scotland team have been incredibly supportive, responsive and knowledgeable in helping us establish this resource, bettering our training opportunities for employees going forward.
Kirsty Summers HR Co-ordinator
Kirsty Summers
Can’t thank Belbin Scotland enough for the great support and the benefits we got from using Belbin. From team working & productivity to recruitment success.
Neill RentonCountry Manager
Neill Renton
There are no right or wrong answers with Belbin and that is key, it has been most useful for shining a light on individual strengths.
Deeanne WinkHR Business Partner
Deeanne Wink
Participants in the programme have commented how much they enjoyed undertaking the Belbin assessment and putting it into practice in a face to face session. For anyone looking to develop their teams and give their people a greater understanding of what they have to offer, I would definitely recommend Belbin.
Katie MenziesInterim Head of Talent
Katie Menzies
Feedback from our management team was overwhelmingly positive, they felt the reports helped them to understand their own behavioural strengths, weaknesses and how to manage these, as well as building an understanding of other managers preferred working styles.
Sarah HartlessHR Manager
Sarah Hartless
The Belbin framework provides valuable insights into individuals' preferred roles within a team, highlighting their strengths, weaknesses, and potential contributions. By understanding team members' preferred behaviours and in ASV terms, where they prefer to play on the pitch, ASV aimed to improve communication, collaboration, and overall team effectiveness.
Duncan SinclairCEO
Duncan Sinclair
Belbin helped us be more specific in our advertising of the roles and go into the recruitment process with more confidence around the type of person and skills we were looking for. Would highly recommend as a process.
Leona McDermid CEO
Leona McDermid
We use Belbin to discuss inclusivity and leading diverse teams. It has provided delegates with greater insight into how they can create more effective teams and empower others based on their strengths. It has also given our staff the opportunity to reflect on their own role in their teams and what they can bring to create success.
Katie MenziesInterim Head of Talent
Katie Menzies
We quickly began to see improvements in behaviours between client team members resulting in an improvement in overall business performance. We also identified that with a lack of strength in a particular role, and our client had to look externally to bring someone in to complement the existing team. I was absolutely delighted with the results and would have no hesitation in engaging Belbin in a similar situation in the future.
Mervyn StanleyManaging Director
Mervyn Stanley

What are the Belbin Team Roles?

9 Belbin Team Roles

Belbin Team Roles are a set of 9 roles that Dr Meredith Belbin and his research team identified through their study of team dynamics in the workplace. Belbin provides an understanding of an individual’s behavioural strengths and potential weaknesses when contributing to or working in a team. 

Each role offers a unique contribution to a successful team, and by applying this, teams can work more effectively through a more balanced or suitable behavioural composition for what they need to deliver.

The 9 Belbin Team Roles are:

Plant (PL) Belbin

1. Plant (PL):

Creative, imaginative, and unorthodox. Generates ideas and solves complex problems. They may have difficulty communicating their ideas effectively with others.
Resource Investigator Belbin

2. Resource Investigator (RI):

Extrovert, outgoing, enthusiastic, and communicative, the RI explores opportunities and develops contacts. Once the initial enthusiasm has passed, the RI may lose interest and move on to new things.

Co-ordinator Belbin

3. Co-ordinator (CO):

This person is mature and confident and can make a natural “chairperson”. They clarify goals and delegate effectively by tapping into team members’ strengths. Their coordination input might be perceived as manipulative rather than persuasive.

Shaper Belbin

4. Shaper (SH):

This person is dynamic and thrives on pressure. They have the drive and courage to overcome obstacles. They may be prone to provocation and might upset others with their direct approach.

Monitor Evaluator Belbin

5. Monitor Evaluator (ME):

Strategic-minded, logical, and discerning, the ME sees all options and judges accurately. Others may perceive their ability to spot rather than solve problems as pessimistic or sceptical. 

Teamworker icon Belbin

6. Teamworker (TW):

Cooperative, mild-mannered, perceptive, and diplomatic. Good, empathetic, and active listener. Their desire to “keep the peace” and avoid conflict may be perceived by others as indecisive, especially in challenging situations.

Implementer Belbin Icon

7. Implementer (IMP):

Disciplined, reliable, practical and efficient. Adept at turning ideas into actions. Organises the work that needs to be done efficiently. Others may see their desire to stick to the process as needing to be more flexible.
Completer Finisher Belbin Icon

8. Completer-finisher (CF):

Painstaking and conscientious, they seek out errors or omissions and aim to complete on time to high-quality standards. Striving for perfection may be seen as being inclined to worry unduly over the details. They do tend to “sweat the small stuff”.

Specialist Icon Belbin

9. Specialist (SP):

Single-minded, self-starting and dedicated. Provide knowledge and skills in rare supply. As they focus their energy on their subject matter, they may not appreciate it or want to get involved in work outside their scope or area of interest.

Understanding and applying the 9 Belbin Team Roles within a team context can lead to more effective teamwork by achieving a behaviourally balanced team, where all the required team roles are represented, and potential weaknesses are mitigated by playing to the strengths of others in the team.

Belbin Reports and Assessments

9 Belbin Team Roles

Belbin offers six reports with various practical applications to support recruitment, selection, talent management, and development.

Belbin Individual/Self-Perception Report

This report provides insight into your Belbin TeamRoles” strengths and possible weaknesses. It can help you understand how to contribute to a team to maximise your behavioural attributes. An Observer Report version offers a more rounded perspective by providing the opportunity to gather and analyse feedback from a minimum of four colleagues at no extra cost.
Belbin Individual/Self-Perception Report

Belbin Team Report

This report provides an overview of how individuals work together in a team. It gives insight into each person’s roles to be most effective and highlights potential gaps or overlaps across the different Team Role behaviours.

Belbin Team Report

Belbin Working Relationship Report

It compares vital behavioural elements of two Individual reports side by side to help identify how the pairing might work together and can highlight areas such as shared strengths, behavioural gaps, and potential areas of conflict.

Belbin Working Relationship

Belbin Job Report

Provides an accurate assessment of behaviours required for any role to improve and enhance the objectivity of the selection process. For a more rounded perspective, a Job Observation questionnaire can also be completed by other personnel who understand the role, such as the incumbent job holder, who may know the role better than anyone else.
Belbin Job Report

Belbin Job Comparison Report

This report accurately compares the behavioural requirements of a role with the attributes that an internal or external candidate possesses to assess their suitability for the role objectively. While a candidate may look like a good fit for the role based on their qualifications, skills and experience, behavioural fit should also be crucial in the selection process.

Belbin Job Comparison

Belbin ‘Get Set’ Report

The junior version of Belbin is aimed at people who have yet to enter the workplace or are at an early stage in their career. It is typically used by schools, colleges, and universities or for apprenticeships and work placements. Get Set is in a workbook format and helps students, apprentices, or people on work placements understand their behavioural strengths to help build confidence as they enter the workplace. Additional supporting material is available, such as slides, handouts, and lesson plans.
Get Set

Belbin Workshops

Belbin Scotland offers a variety of workshops, both in person and across Scotland, designed to help implement Belbin methodologies and reports at individual, team, and organisational levels. Workshops range from short, introductory sessions from around 2 hours to 2-day events, all customisable to meet any specific client requirements or requests. Belbin Scotland also provides a range of leadership, management, supervisory, and personal skills development workshops, team building, and recruitment and selection workshops.
Belbin Workshops
Belbin Workshops
Belbin Team Role Accredited Logo Plant 2022

Belbin Accreditation and Certification

We recommend the Belbin Accreditation for anyone who wants to use Belbin Team Roles regularly or in-depth to help teams achieve their full potential. Accreditation is suitable for a wide range of professionals, including;
  • Leaders, Team Leaders, Line Managers and Supervisors
  • HR/Human Resources
  • Learning and Development and Training
  • Recruitment and Talent Management
  • Facilitators and Coaches
  • Business and Management Consultants
  • Lecturers and Teachers
The three-day Belbin accreditation process can be completed in person or online. It covers Belbin theory in depth, explores the content and practical application of each Belbin Report, and explains how to deliver Belbin feedback and your own Belbin Workshops.
Contact us about Accreditation

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