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Using Belbin for Balanced Teams

Why high-performing individuals can create underperforming teams.

A team where everyone holds the same shape

What is team imbalance?

Many organisations assume that assembling a group of high-performing individuals will automatically create a high-performing team.

In reality, the opposite often happens.

Teams frequently struggle not because of capability gaps, but because of imbalances in the behavioural contributions required.

Belbin Team Roles can help understand the behavioural dynamics in a team to help improve overall team performance.

Plant

Resource Investigator

Co-ordinator

Shaper

Monitor Evaluator

Teamworker

Implementer

Completer Finisher

Specialist

Examples of Imbalanced Teams

Consider some simple, imbalanced team examples:

A team full of Shapers may push relentlessly for results but burn out colleagues along the way.
A team dominated by Plants may generate lots of brilliant ideas but may struggle to implement any of them.
Too many Completer Finishers might slow progress through striving for perfectionism.

The main performance issue in teams is rarely capability.

More often, it’s due to having the wrong behavioural mix or a lack of behavioural diversity for what the team actually requires.

The 9 Belbin Team Roles and Team Balance

Belbin identified 9 Team Roles that represent the different ways people contribute to group success.

These roles fall into three broad clusters as below.

High-performing teams rarely contain exact same level of representation of each role.

However, they do ensure that the critical role contributions are present based on the actual purpose of the team.

Action-Oriented Roles

Shaper

Implementer

Completer Finisher

People-Oriented Roles

Co-ordinator

Teamworker

Resource Investigator

Thinking Roles

Plant

Monitor Evaluator

Specialist

Common Team Imbalance Patterns

In practice, several style patterns can often be found in organisations.

Recognise any of these?

Team “Idea Factory”

Too many Plants and Resource Investigators, too few Implementers or Completer Finishers.

Result: Lots of ideas and enthusiasm, much focus less delivery.

Team “Execution Machine”

Dominated by Implementers and Shapers.

Result: Work may get done quickly and deadlines met, but innovation or team spirit may disappear.

Team “Harmony”

Strong Teamworker presence with few Shapers.

Result: Supportive working atmosphere, but may lack drive and results focus.

Why Do We Create Imbalanced Teams?

Several structural factors can encourage the development of team imbalance.

Without a framework such as Belbin to help counteract this, these factors can often remain “invisible”.

Instead of focusing on skills or personality, Belbin helps you to understand how people actually behave in a team environment.

Imbalanced Teams - Causes

Only recruiting people who “fit the culture”

Promoting individuals with similar leadership styles

Functional silos which shape behaviour

Lack of awareness around behavioural contributions

How Belbin Helps Restore Team Balance

Identify missing behavioural contributions

Understanding overplayed team roles

Improving recruitment decisions

Designing more balanced teams / project teams

Reducing conflict / behavioural misunderstandings

Practical Questions to Ask

When reviewing a team, consider:

Who challenges assumptions?
Who ensures ideas turn into action?
Who maintains team cohesion?
Who pushes for results?
Who spots risks?

If several questions like these point to the same individual(s), there may be a behavioural gap in the team.

Find out more about Team Building with Belbin.

Find out more by reading our Belbin FAQs

Final thoughts...

The most successful teams are not built from identical high performers.

They are built from complementary contributors.

Belbin provides a simple but powerful way to ensure teams are not only talented, but have the right balance to succeed.

Want to learn more?

Whether you’re a Chief Executive, Managing Director, Line Manager, Supervisor or Team Member, Belbin Reports and our expert support can help you become an even more effective.

Understanding behavioural strengths and weaknesses can enable you to improve the performance of your team.

For a no-obligation consultation, contact Belbin Scotland to find out how we can help through the delivery of the Belbin Test and Reports, Management Courses, Team-Building Workshops, Facilitated Team Sessions, Coaching, and much, much more…

Completing a Belbin Self-Perception Inventory to generate your own Belbin Self-Perception Report enables you to accurately assess your preferred Belbin Team Roles.

Learn more or purchase a Belbin Individual Report here.Contact us to discuss how we can help you.