The idea of team roles was developed by Meredith Belbin. Just as we saw in the previous exercise that we inherit and take up different roles in our lives, we also do this in work teams. And just as we often feel better about roles that play to our strengths and interests away from work, the same is true in teams.
Belbin carried out a number of studies to determine the success or failure of teams in the late 60s. In these tests, teams were put together to observe the process and results of their performance. Psychometric tests were conducted with the individual team members, and the teams assembled according to those test results. The general expectation was that the teams with the intellectually highest test results would do best in these team tests. However, this proved not to be the case. On the contrary, in most instances, these teams regularly received the lowest test results. Intrigued by this repetitive result, he observed that apparently, those “(...)team members had spent a large part of their time engaged in abortive debate, trying to persuade the other members of the team to adopt their own particular, well-stated point of view. No one seemed to convert another or be converted.” (Belbin, p. 15). According to Belbin, this result can be explained by the educational system and a culture that exerts pressure on intelligent people, as they would be constantly judged by their scholastic pre-eminence, not to come in second. “In other words, overconcentration on coming top of the class provides an unconscious training in anti-teamwork”.
If intelligence and creativity are not the decisive factors that determine a team's success, then what is it? Before we answer this question, let us go through our next exercise.
Task: Team diversity – a risk or an asset?
Imagine we take 10 random teams and rate them according to the level of their cultural diversity (according to our open culture concept from session 2). On the left of the scale, we have very homogeneous teams with little diversity, meaning for example that the team members are a similar age, come from the same region, speak the same language and have experienced similar socialisation paths. On the right, we have teams with a higher level of cultural diversity.
Please answer the following questions in your learning journal:
- If we assume ceteris paribus (all things being equal) for this theoretical thought experiment, which teams will be more successful in reaching their goal? Or put in another way, would you assume that a high level of diversity is an asset for a team, or more a risk factor?
Please elaborate on your answer. - Depending on your answer to question 1:
If you answered that highly diverse in teams is more of a risk, then ask yourself: What would have to happen to turn it into an asset?
If you answered that a high level of diversity is rather an asset, then consider: Under which circumstances could this asset turn into a risk?
Now let us return to the research conducted by Meredith Belbin. According to Belbin, the diversity within a team is not only limited to differences in gender, age or national backgrounds. Rather, he focuses on a variety of traits and capabilities within every team member. According to his study, we all have different traits when working within a team. Depending on the situation, each of these traits can become either a strength or a liability. He initially suggested eight, and later nine roles which should be present in every team in order to perform well. Not all of these roles have to be taken up by different individuals. Just as we often take on different roles in our lives, it is also quite possible to assume a variety of roles in a team.
Task: Team roles test
- For an initial introduction to team roles, please click on the link below to go to the 'Team roles test' website. In this test you will be presented with a series of word pairs referring to different activities or qualities (e.g. 'Practical' / 'Critical', 'Orderly' / Communicative' etc.). You will be asked to choose the one closest to you. Based on your answers, you will then be presented with an example of a possible team role that might be close to you.
https://www.123test.com/team-roles-test/ - Your results will be shown in the form of a pie-chart, with your scores in the nine different team roles. Read through the description of the two roles in which you scored the highest, and answer the following questions: Which of the statements describing these roles would you confirm? Which ones would you refute?
Also, read through the two roles in which you achieved the lowest score. Would you agree that these roles indeed do not describe you very well?
Please note down the answers to these questions in your learning journal.
The idea of these exercises was to give you a first impression of what these team roles might look like, and how they might relate to you. The nine roles that Belbin suggested are slightly different, but nevertheless quite close to the ones you saw in your test.
Last modified: Thursday, 16 May 2024, 4:20 PM