Exploring Team Members' Roles
Exploring Team Member’s Roles
(Student Name)
University of Phoenix
“All for one, and one for all!” These four different words, written by Alexander Dumas, père, author of The Three Musketeers, have been made popular throughout history, and symbolize the very important concept of teamwork (The Three Musketeers.(Work overview), 2002). Ideally, all individuals on a team work together and strive to achieve some common goal. Whether it be a personal, academic, or business goal, that goal will benefit each member of the team, thus leading back to the “all for one, and one for all,” motto. In order for a team to be successful, all members must assume different roles that are suitable for both teamwork and goal succession. According to Belbin’s team roles, Meredith Belbin, a management consultant, “developed the idea that for a team to function effectively it needs key roles to be performed by team members—each role contributing a specific skill or behavioural dimension to the team dynamics.” (Heery, Edmund., & Noon, Mike, 2001). “Over a period of years, Belbin and his trained observers identified eight team roles, and developed an instrument for quantifying individuals’ team role preferences. The instrument [is] known as the Belbin Team Role Self-Perception Inventory (SPI), and these eight team roles are as follows: implementer, co-ordinator, shaper, plant, resource investigator, monitor evaluator, team worker, and complete/finisher (Partington & Harris, 1999).
Belbin (1993) lists the labels and the principal concerns and characteristics of the eight roles as follows:
(1) Implementer (IM) – concerned with the practical translation and application of concepts and plans developed by the team. This entails a down-to-earth outlook, coupled with perseverance in the face of difficulties.
(2) Co-ordinator (CO) – organises, co-ordinates and controls the activities of the team. This involves the clarification of team objectives and
(Student Name)
University of Phoenix
“All for one, and one for all!” These four different words, written by Alexander Dumas, père, author of The Three Musketeers, have been made popular throughout history, and symbolize the very important concept of teamwork (The Three Musketeers.(Work overview), 2002). Ideally, all individuals on a team work together and strive to achieve some common goal. Whether it be a personal, academic, or business goal, that goal will benefit each member of the team, thus leading back to the “all for one, and one for all,” motto. In order for a team to be successful, all members must assume different roles that are suitable for both teamwork and goal succession. According to Belbin’s team roles, Meredith Belbin, a management consultant, “developed the idea that for a team to function effectively it needs key roles to be performed by team members—each role contributing a specific skill or behavioural dimension to the team dynamics.” (Heery, Edmund., & Noon, Mike, 2001). “Over a period of years, Belbin and his trained observers identified eight team roles, and developed an instrument for quantifying individuals’ team role preferences. The instrument [is] known as the Belbin Team Role Self-Perception Inventory (SPI), and these eight team roles are as follows: implementer, co-ordinator, shaper, plant, resource investigator, monitor evaluator, team worker, and complete/finisher (Partington & Harris, 1999).
Belbin (1993) lists the labels and the principal concerns and characteristics of the eight roles as follows:
(1) Implementer (IM) – concerned with the practical translation and application of concepts and plans developed by the team. This entails a down-to-earth outlook, coupled with perseverance in the face of difficulties.
(2) Co-ordinator (CO) – organises, co-ordinates and controls the activities of the team. This involves the clarification of team objectives and
References: Heery, Edmund., & Noon, Mike. (2001). Belbin 's team roles. A Dictionary of Human Resource Management. Retrieved September 8, 2008, from Oxford Reference Online database: http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t162.e78 Partington, David., & Harris, Hilary. (1999). Team role balance and team performance: an empirical study. Journal of Management Development, 18 (8), 694-705. Retrieved September 3, 2008, from Emerald database: www.emeraldinsight.com/10.1108/02621719910293783 Straub, J. (1996, November). Coping with role ambiguity in team-based plants. Getting Results...For the Hands-on Manager: Plant Edition, 41(11), 1. Retrieved September 9, 2008, from Business Source Complete database: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=9612083659&site=ehost-live The Three Musketeers.(Work overview).(2002) The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, 3rd ed.. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2002. NA Retrieved September 8, 2008 from General OneFile, Gale database: http://find.galegroup.com/itx/start.do?prodId=ITOF