Using Belbin for Personal Development

A Belbin report can be a goldmine of information to help you become more effective in any work situation and particularly when you need to work with others. Here are four ways you can use them to help boost your personal development efforts.

1. Understand your own collaborative talents and weaknesses more fully

One unique aspect of the Belbin methodology is that you get to see how other people perceive your strengths and weaknesses when it comes to collaborative work. Almost always, their ideas will be different from your own!

You can use these differences to get a more accurate understand of what kinds of work you do well and where you will have challenges.

2. Identify hidden strengths you could emphasize more

One of the most common insights from a Belbin report is discovering that there is a set of skills that a you undervalue in yourself but that other people notice and appreciate. Deciding to develop and build on these hidden strengths can often be an important contribution to your team.

3. Learn what kinds of work to delegate rather than try to master

People waste a lot time and effort trying to become good at collaborative tasks that don’t come naturally to them and that they will never be great at. The Belbin method helps you identify your natural collaborative strengths, learn which skills you can develop and improve, and understand which kinds of collaborative tasks you should avoid, manage, or delegate.

4. Becoming more versatile in how you interact with others

An important aspect of the Belbin method you get to evaluate yourself across a wide range of collaborative skills and abilities. Everybody has a mix of strengths and weaknesses, and knowing what your mix is will help you adapt better to different working situations.