Team Working and Profiling
Summary of Activities
ELEC1032
Quick Check, which description sounds like you?
NB: All information below is derived from the original Belbin analysis, see http://www.belbin.co.uk/
CW: Company Worker
*
Good at organising and applying practical common sense to situations.
*
Turns decisions and strategies into defined and manageable tasks that people can actually work with.
*
is mainly concerned with what is feasible and pursues them logically.
*
sets out the objectives and pursues them logically.
*
is noted for sincerity, integrity and they enjoys the trust of others.
CH: Chairman
*
Calm, self-confident, controlled.
*
Might not be the leader of the team.
*
A capacity for treating and welcoming all potential contributors on their merits and without prejudice. A strong sense of
objectives.
*
sees most clearly which member of the team is strong or weak in each area of the team's function, and they focus people
on what they do best.
*
is conscious of the need to use the team's combined resources as effectively as possible. This means they are the ones
who establish the roles and work boundaries of the others and also who sees gaps and takes steps to fill them.
*
clarifies the group's objectives and sets its agenda.
SH: Shaper
*
Anxious, outgoing and dynamic.
*
Has drive and a readiness to challenge inertia, ineffectiveness, complacency or self deception.
*
Very much a task leader.
*
is full of nervous energy, they are outgoing and emotional, impulsive and impatient, sometimes edgy and easily
frustrated. They are quick to challenge and quick to respond to a challenge (which they enjoy and welcome).
*
is always looking for a pattern in discussions, and trying to unite ideas, objectives and practical considerations with a
single feasible project, which they seek to push forward urgently to decision and action.
*
makes things happen.
Page 1of 4
information derived from Belbin http://www.belbin.com/
Team Roles
Su White [email protected]
October 2009
Team Working and Profiling
Summary of Activities
ELEC1032
PL: Plant
*
Individualistic, serious minded, unorthodox.
*
Dominant, very high IQ, introvert.
*
is the source of original ideas, suggestions and proposals; they are the ideas people.
*
Others have ideas too but those of the plant are original and radical. They are the most imaginative as well as the most
intelligent members of the team; the most likely to start searching for a completely new approaches to problems if the
team starts getting bogged down. They can also bring new insights to a line of action already agreed.
*
is much more concerned with major issues and fundamentals than with details, and indeed is liable to miss out on details
and make careless mistakes.
RI: Resource Investigator
*
Extroverted, enthusiastic, curious and communicative.
*
relaxed, sociable and gregarious. Their responses tend to be positive and enthusiastic, though they are prone to put
things down as quickly as they take them up.
*
the person most likely to go outside the group and brings information, ideas and developments back to it.
*
makes friends easily and has masses of outside contacts. They are rarely in the office and when they are they are
probably on the telephone.
*
the promoter, the diplomat, the liaison officer, always exploring new possibilities in the wider world outside.
ME: Monitor Evaluator
*
Sober, unemotional, prudent.
*
High IQ, stable, introvert.
*
By temperament they are likely to be serious and not very exciting. Their contribution lies in measured and dispassionate
analysis rather than creative ideas.
*
is the most likely to stop the team from committing itself to a misguided project.
*
does not usually criticise just for the sake of it, but only if they can see a flaw in the plan or arguments.
*
They are slow to make up their mind and likes to be given time to mull things over, but theirs are the most objective mind
in the team.
*
Their most valuable skill is in assimilating, interpreting and evaluating large volumes of complex material, and analysing
problems and assessing the judgements and contribution of the others.
Page 2of 4
information derived from Belbin http://www.belbin.com/
Team Roles
Su White [email protected]
October 2009
Team Working and Profiling
Summary of Activities
ELEC1032
TW: Team Worker
*
Socially oriented, rather mild, sensitive.
*
Stable, extrovert, low in dominance.
*
The most sensitive of the team - they are the most aware of individual's needs and worries. They perceive most clearly
the emotional under-currents within the group. They also know about the private lives and family affairs of the rest of the
team.
*
The most active internal communicator; likeable, popular, unassertive, the cement of the team.
*
As a promoter of unity and harmony, they counterbalance the friction and discords that can be caused by the shaper and
the plant.
*
particularly dislike personal confrontation and tend to try and avoid it themselves and cool it down in others.
CF: Complete Finisher
*
Painstaking, orderly, conscientious, anxious.
*
Worries about what might go wrong. They are never at ease until they has personally checked every detail and made sure
that everything has been done and nothing overlooked.
*
It is not that they are overtly fussy - obsession is an expression of anxiety.
*
maintain a permanent sense of urgency which they communicates to others to galvanise them into activity.
*
has self control and strength of character, and are impatient of and intolerant towards the more casual and slap happy
members of the team.
*
a compulsive meeter of deadlines and fulfiller of schedules.
Page 3of 4
information derived from Belbin http://www.belbin.com/
Team Roles
Su White [email protected]
October 2009
Team Working and Profiling
Summary of Activities
Activity 1 – How do you rate yourself?
As we are settling quickly complete the chart below. You can refer to the definitions on the other sheets.
Like
Enjoy/Prefer 
Have Skills

No
Skills/Dislike/Avoid

Doing/acting
People/feelings
Thinking
Problem Solving
Later on in the session (Activity 2) you will be asked to compare the various skills found in your “team”.
Activity2 what mix of team skills do you have in your “team”?
Refer to the team roles summary sheet descriptions when you evaluate your team.
How would you deal with any overlapping or missing skills and roles?
Record your decisions on the team sheet
•
Doing/Acting
–
•
People/Feeling
–
•
Shaper, Implementer, and Completer
Finisher
Co-ordinator, Teamworker and
Resource Investigator
Best Balance
•
One Co-ordinator or Shaper (not both) for
leader
•
A Plant to stimulate ideas
•
A Monitor/evaluator to maintain honesty and
clarity
•
One or more
Thinking/Problem Solving
–
Plant, Monitor Evaluator and
Specialist
–
Implementer
–
Team worker
–
Resource investigator
–
Completer/finisher
Activity3 (after the lecture) complete the inventory
Complete the Belbin Self-perception Inventory to help you think your skills and role preferences
It may help your team performance if you discuss
your relative strengths and weaknesses
Take account of your understandings when the
team plan the way you will work on the assignment.
This could help your performance (and marks )
http://www.belbin.co.uk/
Activity 4 (after the lecture)
Watch the video on group working http://www.learnhighergroupwork.com/episodes.php
Page 4of 4
information derived from Belbin http://www.belbin.com/
Team Roles
Su White [email protected]
Team Working and Profiling
Summary of Activities
Activity 2 Team Sheet handout– complete one of these for your whole ‘team’
What roles do you have in your team?
Role
Who
Notes/decisions
Doing/Acting

Shaper

Implementer

Completer Finisher
People/Feeling

Co-ordinator

Teamworker

Resource Investigator
Thinking/Problem Solving

Plant

Monitor Evaluator

Specialist
Reminder….
•
Doing/Acting
–
•
People/Feeling
–
•
Shaper, Implementer, and Completer
Finisher
Co-ordinator, Teamworker and
Resource Investigator
Thinking/Problem Solving
–
Plant, Monitor Evaluator and
Specialist
Handout
information derived from Belbin http://www.belbin.com/
Best Balance
•
One Co-ordinator or Shaper (not both) for
leader
•
A Plant to stimulate ideas
•
A Monitor/evaluator to maintain honesty and
clarity
•
One or more
–
Implementer
–
Team worker
–
Resource investigator
–
Completer/finisher
Team Roles
Su White [email protected]
Team Working and Profiling
Summary of Activities
Activity 1 handout – How do you rate yourself?
As we are settling quickly complete the chart below. You can refer to the definitions on the other sheets.
Like
Enjoy/Prefer 
Have Skills

No
Skills/Dislike/Avoid

Doing/acting
People/feelings
Thinking
Problem Solving
Later on in the session (Activity 2) you will be asked to compare the various skills found in your “team”.
Handout
information derived from Belbin http://www.belbin.com/
Team Roles
Su White [email protected]