Groups and Teams: The Impact of Belbin Team Roles - Essay Example

?Groups and Teams Task: Contents Executive Summary 2. Groups and Teams 3. Mary Brown Scenario 4. Theories On The Leadership Skills, Problem Solving And Decision Making Linked With Mary Brown Scenario 5. Summary of Belbin’s Team Roles and their impact on leadership skills, problem solving and decision making. A. Implementers B. Coordinators C. Shapers D. Plants E. Resource Investigator F. The Monitor Evaluator G. The Team Worker H. The Completers Finishers 6. Conclusion 7. Bibliography Executive Summary In this explicit study, I shall explicate, in detail, various areas with regard to groups and teams. In the first section of this document, I shall critically discuss the impact of Belbin team roles in the three areas that I shall major: leadership skills, problem solving and decision making. Moreover, I shall inculcate the Mary Brown scenario and relate it to the specific three theories discussed. Additionally, I shall deliver an eventual concise summary on the Belbin team roles. Moreover, I have critically explored the above-mentioned areas, with regard to thorough studies I have conducted and which I have cited within the text. Groups and Teams Apparently, all teams are groups but not all groups are teams. Definitely, a group is any given number of entities that are considered as a complete unit. Moreover, a collection of various people who share various aspects, interact freely with each other, give in to obligations and rights as members of the specific group and share an identity form an entity. Moreover, groups are established to segregate the incident into practical areas of operation. Additionally, a collection of individuals who operate together to deliver products or services are mutually accountable. The members of the team share common goals and are mutually accountable for accomplishing them while affecting interactions between them. Each member of the team is held responsible for the work of integrating with each other since the entire team is held accountable. Groups embody various traits that are retrospective relative to those of teams. For instance, group members have paltry communication, they lack vision, members always seek to conceive their identity, leaders are manipulative, the whole group entity is ideally less than the summation of its independent parts, their members have exclusive cliques and there is minimal support. As disputed to groups, teams have advantageous traits that include plentiful support, members always seek to find identity, there is honesty and openness, there are numerous opportunities for motivation and new members are always welcome and communication is effective. Mary Brown Scenario This scenario regards a situation where a family in a given town faces problems emanating from drug abuse. For instance, George Smith and Mary Brown, the father and mother respectively; to three children: Joe, Lucy and Tom have numerous problems within their marriage, issues that come from intake of drugs and short temperedness. This scenario also encompasses the outside parties concerned with the family, with an aim to help them elude the problems they face. This inculcates Ann, the family’s social service worker, Teachers, welfare personnel and youth workers among others who seem to have issues with effective communication across their specific agencies. Theories on the Leadership Skills, Problem Solving and Decision Making Linked With Mary Brown Scenario With regard to leadership skills, the Mary Brown scenario applies in the sense that virtually all involved parties have weaknesses in one aspect or the other in process of trying to work as a team. For example, Ann, the family’s social worker seems to be overly concerned with helping the family by addressing the need to hold a meeting with the concerned parties such as the police, youth workers, welfare officers, teachers and drug advisors among others. This shows that she is a leader of good sort. With regard to George’s family, he is anticipated to take leadership over his family though he is apparently incapacitated. Moreover, the response to the call of helping the family depicts those members selective and self centred. Leadership does not depict itself well in this case. The members do not seem to have proper initiatives to solve the communication problem that is evident across the various agencies involved and required to play a consummate part in solving the family’s problem. Each member does not seem decisive and able to construct viable decision with regard to attending the general meeting that would induce a solution to the family’s quandary that may eventually result into defragmenting the unity of the family and health concerns. In this case, Belbin’s team roles are therefore exhibited in this case with regard to members’ explication of preferences and working patterns. Moreover, these team roles are discussed in the next section. Impact of Belbin’s Team Roles In the course of the 1970s, psychologist Belbin worked with the Henley College to aim at discovering a mode of predicting affluence of teams. As section of his research and explication, he conducted a series of experiments utilizing business imitations and dividing up partakers with accordance to several psychological dispensations, the introverted against extroverted among others. Moreover, he hoped that he would eventually find the perfect and actual team mix. Additionally, over a period of approximately seven years, he established that there existed various clusters of behavioural types, which could be useful in predicting team affluence in various project categories. Moreover, he established that no single team that was perfect in every mission (Watson, 2005). Eventually, Belbin identified nine clusters that would be utilized in the future, the present. He referred to these particular clusters as specific team roles, which he defined as tendencies by different individuals to correlate with each other and external parties in various dimensions and ways. Moreover, Belbin named these particular clusters such as Monitor Evaluator and Plant among others. Additionally, these names are typically meant to offer a clue to the modes of behavioural patterns that these individual portend. Moreover, Belbin was apt to predict the specific teams that would most likely succeed in their endeavours and the specific projects in which they would perform exceptionally well (Knowledge 2012). In addition, Belbin evaluated those particular teams on bases of various parameters as the strengths they would elicit in their prospects as they undertook a specific task. This purports that success of a team depends on the mix of its associates, since each has their own unique character that implicates on team performance in its own special way. Dr. Belbin studied the diverse and consummately pertinent topic of team working for quite a long period and he apparently observed and noted that people who are team members tend to disregard the importance of defining team roles and responsibilities in a more concise manner. Instead of considering role assignment in a professional way, they eventually end up assuming the various team roles to the anonymous team members, which is detrimental to resultant team performance (Robbins 2009). Moreover, Belbin perceived team roles to be behavioural tendencies that determine how an individual in a group contributes and relates with other members. Furthermore, he formulated nine of the roles that arguably would elicit affluence to a team. Notably, team drivers and team enhancement practitioners often utilize the Belbin model of team roles to aid the craft more stable teams. Moreover, it is clear that teams may end up unstable is all team members possess congruent modes and patterns of behavioural perspectives or roles in the teams. Furthermore, if team members bear similar weak points, the entire team may elicit damages from that particular limitation borne by a single member. Additionally, if members of a team possess congruent teamwork strong points, they may induce a competition amongst them for those particular responsibilities that appear to fit with their innate styles. Having known this, a potential and responsible team leader and driver may utilize the Belbin’s design to aid ensure that proper team roles are effectually observed, and that distinct behavioural drawbacks and weaknesses existent among the team associates are completely addressed. Moreover, by completely conferring a member’s role within a given team, a potential team head can widen the potencies and manage the flaws associated with selected team members. This prospect serves to augment each member’s performance in the team (Passmore 2012). Importantly, Belbin’s team roles are given based on past noted behavioural patterns and traits among other qualities as interpersonal abilities of the team associates. While Belbin purports that individuals lean to adopting specific team roles; every team associates should consider that their behavioural traits and interpersonal relational styles within a given team to be dependent, to some degree, on the situation. Apparently, it depends on a member’s innate operational style, interrelationships with other team associates and the strain of work under practice. In addition, there exist other approaches, most of which complement with Belbin’s and some of which conflict it. Moreover, this document encompasses the implications of Belbin’s team roles on various aspects as Leadership styles verdict making difficulty solving (Jones 2012). Summary of Belbin’s Team Roles and Their Impact on Leadership Skills, Problem Solving and Decision Making In this section, I shall explicate on the various Belbin’s typology of roles in groups. Apparently, he utilizes a unique language and communication style when he expounds on the roles of different personalities in a given team. This mode of communication offers an easy way to discuss the various behaviours without the associates perceiving it as a stereotype (Hass 2003). Therefore, utilizing Belbin’s typology, an individual can determine which category they belong in, either implementers or shapers among others. In the following discussion, I shall discuss the team roles accompanied with the associated strengths and weak points. This depicts the Belbin typology and its overall impact on the various prospects as leadership, problem and decision-making. Implementers Notably, implementers are considered conventional, methodical, realistic and patriotic. They are characteristically gifted with immense extents of common sense and they are also extremely disciplined and down to earth. The major input of the implementer to the entire team operations is the aptitude to convert hypothetical notions into completely defined general plans into a characteristic concise, and then methodically work into the briefing. This means that they are intelligent personalities. However, they bear permissible flexibilities and may turn into change resistant individuals whose may constantly blame other team members on needless bases. Thus, they ought to be overtly keen to evade from change obstructive nature. Moreover, team leader ought to work to balance adaptability and persistence. Coordinators Coordinators are often purported to be peaceful, confident and controllable, additionally displaying a tendency to appear mature in their advances and outlook. Moreover, the coordinator concentrates on the entire team and examines how the team associates are operating together and whether they can be able to perform their shared team goals and objectives. Moreover, the foremost contribution of team coordinators is a peaceful aptitude to control and effectually organize other team associates to eventually elicit the most presentable and collective performance with effective utilization of the available resources. However, they are lowly creative and may find it challenging to completely focus. Furthermore, members with such a role should avoid constant blaming and stop using calmness and sheer determination to mask obstinacy. Coordinator managers should, therefore, utilize their typical capabilities to elicit the best out the team in terms of overall performance. Shapers Shapers are purported to be confident, self-motivated and sociable. Furthermore, shapers are particularly immensely motivated individuals who possess massive intrinsic energy and a profound desire to achieve. Moreover, they probably are the most capable people in a given team to bring prospects into fulfilment. More specifically, they are agents of action. Whenever obstacles appear in their way, they always generally devise an easy way outside. Moreover, shapers are apt to handle and characteristically take pleasure in challenges and altercations. The principal contribution of shapers in a team is to give teams activities a push to realization and working towards the accomplishment of the project repercussion. Additionally, their allowable weaknesses include easy irritation and impatience with other team associates. In addition, shapers ought to avoid implying maximum pressures on other associates among taking charge rather than status warrants. They are advisably anticipated to be competent managers by sharpening the prospects of the team and bringing plans into execution and eventual realization (Belbin 2010). Plants Apparently, plants are often explicated as idiosyncratic, artistic and unconventional. They can be apt to display an immense extent of creativity and innovativeness. In better terms, plants serve as the seeds from which plants emanate, depicting their innovative nature. Additionally, plants may elicit credible or unorthodox resolutions to an arising quandary within the team. They are independent in their reasoning, are clever and always original in their undertakings. Additionally, their principal contribution to a team is acting as the original source of innovative notions and innovations that aids the team to develop new proposals and also to resolve intricate quandaries emanating within the team operations. Moreover, their allowable characteristic weaknesses include their perceptions to be better in reasoning than other associates and they may unnecessarily concentrate on notions to the disadvantage of practicality. Additionally, plants as effectual managers ought to ensure that they avoid being prickly, give a listening ear to other associates notions, exercise team discipline by paying regard to other associates’ ideas. Moreover, they should not let the pressures of team management stifle their creativity (Belbin 2010). Resource Investigator Resource investigators are explicated as unrestrained, wholehearted and inquisitive. They are adept and prefer exploring newer prospects and generating contacts. Moreover, resource investigators are often relaxed individuals who possess a profound inquisitive trait and a characteristic readiness to meet the probabilities of any new prospect. Additionally, resource investigators bear a profound contribution to the team affluence in terms of prospecting into the relevant resources that are in place and they can also make excellent contact seekers that may be a resultantly beneficial trait to the team affluence. Moreover, their characteristic allowable weak points include a restricted attention span and may be typically undisciplined. In addition, they should avoid letting other associates down in the event of their pursuant of interests and evading from being reluctant in the event of work pressures (Leimon 2012). Moreover, they can utilize their character to ensure that they manipulate their diplomacy skills and give junior associates an opportunity to bounce notions off. Monitor Evaluators This class of role encompasses individuals who are apparently stern and sensible. They comprise the class of associates in teams that are apparently always anxious and concentrate to ensure that any decision their construct eventually go into practice. Moreover, they are fond of scrutinizing the quandaries and evaluating the notions that come forward to their disposal. Additionally, they are fans of shining whenever they are given the assignment of outlining the merits and demerits of diverse opinions. Moreover, their principal contribution to entire team affluence is to evaluate the practicability and achievability of values and notions that emanate without the project team (Belbin 2010). They also portend allowable faults in that they tend to cling to analysis paralysis among being devoid of notions and inspiration. Moreover, they ought to avoid being extremely critical of other team associates’ notions and truncating their apparent negativity which may be detrimental to the affluence of the team. In addition, as managers, they should ensure that they do not over-dominate their counterparts. The Team Worker Characteristically, team workers are explicated as being rather gregarious, kind and receptive. Team workers are viewed to be the most accommodating members of a team. This is due to the truth that they are considerate and care for other team associates. Additionally, they possess a trait of being concerned about other associates’ feelings affairs with a characteristic capacity to adapt to various diverse situations and various individuals. Moreover, their principal contribution to the team affluence is aiding individual associates to achieve and uphold team effectuality. Similarly, team workers have typical allowable weaknesses that may be detrimental to performance of the team (Knowledge 2012). For instance, they may struggle under conditions of overt pressure and perceive intricate to arrive to rational decisions. Moreover, they are prone to siding with specific associated rather than others and also portend robustness in the event of a conflicting situation. Moreover, they ought to evade from specific allowable weaknesses such as avoidance of the tendency to arrive at intricate decision. In addition, they ought to manipulate their skills and enhancements to develop team associates. Moreover they should competently delegate issues at their disposal. The Completers Finishers Completer finishers are purportedly meticulous, methodical, thorough and comprehensive individuals. Completer finishers possess an immense capability to follow through and would not typically initiate some prospect the may not probably tackle and complete competitively. Moreover, their principal contribution to team prosperity is to ensure that every effort made by the team associates is nearly perfected. They also ensure that everything is not unobserved (Leimon 2012). Moreover, these individuals portend notable weaknesses. For instance, they tend to be reluctant in the course of delegation. Moreover, they are prone to concentrating in great detail, almost disregarding and forgetting the expense of the general project results. Thus, these associates ought to evade such things as giving in to anxiety to execute prospects rightfully and also ought to stop refuting notions from other associates, even they have worked immensely. Additionally, they should act as better managers by trying to strike a balance between their need for perfection and the practicality of issues to avoid intricacy. Moreover, they may delegate effectually as a principal prospect. Conclusion Therefore, with regard to the various roles that I have highlighted above, it is paramount to ensure that the team associate assume their rightful roles regarding their individual behaviours and patterns of conduct without forgetting their characteristic interpersonal relations with their counterparts and external parties. Moreover, Belbin is clear when it comes to all the above explicated roles and has a characteristic preference for the primary and back-up roles (Cheverton 2009). Belbin is also clear that there is no ideal team and therefore generates various factors that are pertinent when designing a given team. First, the concerned parties ought to consider aiming for the fundamental team responsibilities, seek accommodative matching between the team and functional roles, giving a suggestion to reinforce shapers and coordinators in leadership roles. Moreover, it is pertinent to create alertness by team associates in the various team roles and how they may possibly implicate on general team presentation. Moreover, it is extremely clear, from the explication that Belbin’s theories implicate on various leadership styles, decision making procedures and quandary solving initiatives in the context of teams that are synchronized together to perform a given undertaking. Bibliography Belbin, R 2010, Management Teams: Why They Succeed or Fail, Burlington, Routledge. Meredith, R 2010, Team Roles at Work, Burlington, Routledge. Knowledge, S 2012, Managing Teams, Watchmead, Select Knowledge Limited. Watson, G 2005, Managing for Results, London, CIPD Publishing. Robbins, S 2009, Organisational Behaviour: Global and Southern African Perspectives, South Africa, Pearson South Africa. Passmore, J 2012, Top Business Psychology Models: 5 Transforming Ideas for Leaders, Consultants and Coaches, Philadelhia, Kogan Page Publishers. Jones, S 2010, Psychological Testing: A Complete Guide to Using and Surviving the Most Popular Recruitment and Career Development Tests, Hampshire, Harriman House Limited. Hass, A 2003, Configuration Management Principles and Practice, Boston, Addison-Wesley Professional. Cheverton, P 2009, Building the Value Machine: Transforming Your Business Through Collaborative Customer Partnerships, Philadelhia, Kogan Page Publishers. Leimon, A 2012, Performance Coaching For Dummies, West Sussex, John Wiley & Sons. Read More