The Limitations of Belbin

We know that Belbin can help to improve team performance. But can one use Belbin Team Role Theory in all situations?
Well, for starters, a Belbin Team Role Report can’t make a cup of coffee.
But seriously, there are limitations to using the Belbin Team Role Report:

1. Specifically designed for teams

The information that you can learn from completing a Belbin Report can be useful at three levels: personal development, team development, and culture change. However, the report is used to measure your behaviors when working with a team. This can be on a one-to-one or a one-to-many basis, but always reflects how you work with other people.

2. Designed to be used in a work setting

Belbin Team Role Theory can be used to predict team performance when used in a work setting. The extensive research behind the Belbin Report applies to using Belbin within a work setting, not at home or in a social setting. (We tend to see people behaving in similar ways at home as they do at work, but that’s a discussion for another day.)

3. Measures behaviors, not personality

A person cannot only be measured by their team-related behaviors. There are several other factors that are a part of a person’s makeup, including personality. The Belbin Report is not a psychometric instrument, and therefore does not measure personality attributes. However, Belbin can be used to find clusters of behaviors (which form the Belbin Team Roles), which if effectively deployed in a team will result in improvements in team performance.
If you need to make an important decision in your organization, it is crucial to use other decision-making factors along with Belbin.

4. Has a Cultural Bias:

The research that established Belbin Team Role Theory has mainly focused on upper-management level executives in Britain. In Britain in the ’70s, when Dr. Meredith Belbin was doing his foundational research, these executives would be middle-class white men. This is not to say that Belbin cannot be applied to other cultures, but the original research focused on a specific demographic.
Therefore, how can you use Belbin best?
  • Discover patterns of behavior in a work setting
  • Receive non-defensive feedback from observers (the Belbin Report uses adjectives and retains observer confidentiality)
  • Increase coherence between how you see yourself and how others see you
  • Uncover hidden talents and strengths
  • Quickly see the dynamics and composition of a team (especially useful for new managers, project teams, and virtual teams) 
  • Increase team performance through an understanding of how the team roles are distributed among team members
  • Become more effective by playing to your strengths
If you’re interested in finding out more: Contact Us .

Any questions? We’d love to chat.

Toll-Free: (877) 333-3606
info@belbinnorthamerica.com

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Lindsay Lalla

Lindsay Lalla is the VP of Marketing and Client Support for Belbin North America. Most recently, she has been spearheading the introduction of the Belbin Team Role methodology into North America. Lindsay is a skilled facilitator, and also runs the Belbin Accreditation classes where she certifies others in the Belbin method.
Lindsay’s formal education is in instruction and performance. Combined with her 17 years of adult education experience, she brings a depth of understanding in how to deliver the highly experiential workshops that are a hallmark of the Belbin North America approach to education and organizational development.

Patrick Ballin

Patrick offers more than 25 years of experience with some of the most successful businesses in Europe as a consultant, change manager and executive coach.

He has helped many well-known organisations to get their ideas and projects off the ground by working with business leaders and their teams to optimise interaction, strategy and execution.
Patrick was Global Head of Supply Chain and Logistics Development for The Body Shop, an international retailer of ethical health and beauty products, and managed its change programme across 52 countries. In 2009, he set up the national redundancy coaching service, Rework, for the UK industry charity, Retail Trust. Patrick spent his earlier career with ACWL Group, one of the pioneering UK Apple Centres, where he was a divisional Director.
He holds an MA in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge, is a Visiting Lecturer for Brighton Business School, a Fellow of the RSA and coach for social enterprise incubator On Purpose.

Max Isaac

Max is the CEO of 3Circle Partners. He brings a depth of knowledge and experience from his career in general management and consulting in North America, England, Europe and Asia.
Max has assisted CEOs and senior leaders within client organizations with the design and implementation of Interaction Planning processes, team based organizational development programs and Lean Six Sigma initiatives.
Prior to moving into the field of organizational development, Max was the CFO for the Retail Division within The Molson’s Organization, where he took a lead role in growing the business to over $1 billion in revenues, doubling its size in four years through acquisitions and internal growth.
Max is co-author of Close The Interaction Gap, The Third Circle – Interactions That Drive Results, Setting Teams Up for Success and A Guide to Team Roles. He is also the contributing author of the Organizational Change sections of Mike George’s books Lean Six Sigma published in May 2002 and Lean Six Sigma for Service published in June 2003. Max is a registered CPA, CA in Canada. His undergraduate degree was earned at Witwatersrand University, South Africa.