Effective team working has become a basic concern for most organizations. While many factors influence a team’s performance, considerable attention has been given to the influence of team member diversity in terms of roles played in a team. The team role model made popular by Prof. Meredith Belbin in relation to management teams (Belbin, 1981, 1993a) and available commercially through http://www.belbin.com and their associates is widely used in practice and has featured extensively in research on teams at work. The model is used by many organizations including FTSE-100 companies, multinational agencies, government bodies and consultants and has been translated into 16 languages.
As a Team Coach and an Experiential Learning Expert, I was invited by a director at the World Health Organisation; EMR Office in Cairo, Egypt, to facilitate communication and team building using Belbin Team Roles Assessment Model.
The assessment for using Belbin Team Roles was done in an efficient way through the Belbin online portal, for which the 17 team members were provided access to the following:
Self assessment (by individual members only)
Team assessment (by the individual’s mentor, co-worker, supervisor)
The assessment culminates with a detailed report that was provided to the team. A comprehensive report that is centred on their behavioural preferences at work, detailing their strengths, allowable weakness, and their preferred working style.
A Team Retreat Day is designed to use a set of experiential activities to detail the salient points that are described in the report.
I designed a Team Learning Charter’s Activity that is used successfully with team members in an organisation and education context across Europe.
The Belbin Team Roles Model and report findings confirm that all individuals and teams have their own specific mix of Belbin Team Roles and consequently each team has a unique team innovation culture and climate. What the teams do have in common, is that the team members all benefit from knowing each other’s Belbin Team Roles and the effect of their own roles on the teamwork.
Diversity of behavioural contributions is essential for a healthy workplace culture.
Team Academy Lab, Cairo 