How to Use the ToolThe Belbin Team

How to Use the Tool

The Belbin Team Roles Model can be used in several ways: you can use it to think about team balance before a project starts, you can use it to highlight and so manage interpersonal differences within an existing team, and you can use it to develop yourself as a team player.

The tool below helps you analyze team membership, using the Belbin team roles as checks for potential strengths and weakness within your team.

Use Belbin's model to analyze your team, and as a guide as you develop your team's strengths, and manage its weaknesses:

Over a period of time, observe the individual members of your team, and see how they behave, contribute and behave within the team.
Now list the members of the team, and for each person write down the key strengths and characteristics you have observed. (You may also want to note down any observed weaknesses).
Compare each person's listed strengths and weakness with the Belbin's descriptions of team roles, and note the role that most accurately describes that person.
Once you have done this for each team member, consider the following questions:
Which team roles are missing from your team? And from this, ask yourself which strengths are likely to be missing from the team overall?
Is there a prevalent team role that many of the team members share?
Once you have identified potential weakness, areas of conflict and missing strengths, consider the options you have to improve and change this. Consider:
Whether an existing team member could compensate by purposefully adopting a different team role. With awareness and intention, this is sometimes possible.
Whether one or more team members could improve how they work together and with others to avoid potential conflict of their natural styles.
Whether new skills need to brought into the team to cover weaknesses.