Using 'Preferred Roles' to Assure Best Team Performance

Factors Contributing to Ineffective Teams   1. Without Monitor/Evaluators, a team is unlikely to carefully weigh options when making decisions.   2. With too many Monitor/Evaluators, "paralysis from analysis" outweighs creative ability.   3. Without Completer/Finishers and Implementers, a team might create good strategies but will not follow through. Factors Contributing to Effective Teams   1. A Plant will provide more ideas and better strategies, but also will require Monitor/Evaluators and Coordinators.   2. Resource Investigators provide an external orientation.   3. Shapers will recognize the need for urgency, which will have a significant impact on results, essential to high performance teams.   4. Too many Shapers leads to excessive conflict. Make certain there is a Team Worker to facilitate relationships.   5. A Specialist is important in situations where specialized knowledge is required.   6. Recognizing and compensating for the "allowable weaknesses" for each role is critical.

Dr. Belbin's research offers a couple important points: Seldom is anyone strong in all nine roles. And, every person's preferred role is a good role, if they are aware of it and play it on the team.

The obvious conclusions are that teams will do best with a combination of roles and that imbalances need to be recognized and dealt with. Dr. Belbin's research identified specific team dynamics that were predictive of team effectiveness (or lack thereof):

The process of evaluating team strengths and weaknesses has been made practical and inexpensive by software that automates the process. Using that software, an organization can:

• Determine an individual's preferred role, as perceived by both his fellow team  members and himself.
• Evaluate team dynamics, suggesting who should fill which role.

The Preferred Roles Chart shows a sample report from one team. On the charter, each role is described by two bar. The green bar on the left represents the individual with the highest score for that role; the blue bar on the right represents the average score of the whole team for that role.

Figure 1: Preferred Roles Chart

A preferred roles chart helps a team understand where it is strong or weak and where specific individuals can contribute. For example, where an individual's score is much greater than the team on a particular role, the team will have a better opportunity for success by leaving that activity to the individual with strength. For the team depicted in this chart, it can be predicted that they will need to empower their stronger Shaper to force the group to a decision, balancing the preponderance of Monitor/Evaluators.

This type of evaluation helps a team decide what type of corrective actions, if any, would improve its chances for success. For example, a team dominated by Shapers will need to take appropriate steps to rebalance the team, such as adding Coordinators, Team Workers and Resource Investigators as team member or mentors.

Another strategy would be for certain team members to "flex" into roles that may not be their preferred roles. Dr. Belbin identifies three levels of aptitude for a role: preferred, manageable and least preferred. It is possible for an individual to assume a role that falls into the manageable category, even though this will result in a certain amount of stress on that team member. It is not advisable to have an individual fill a role that falls into the least preferred category because of the high likelihood that the team member will under-perform in this role.

Understanding preferred roles is an eye-opener for most people. At last they are able to understand why their past teams succeeded or failed. They also are fascinated by learning their own preferred roles and the strengths and weaknesses that are implied. There is a sense of liberation in realizing that they have weaknesses because they have strengths…and that these weaknesses are okay as long as they are managed. In fact, the strategies described suggest there are no bad traits, just roles which need to be comprehended to make Lean Six Sigma teams effective.

Most importantly, a project team needs to be aware of each individual's preferred role(s) and use that knowledge to make the team more effective.

Max Isaac is an expert in the field of leadership and organizational behavior with more than 30 years of general management and consulting experience in North America and Europe. He is co-author of the book, The Third Circle: Interactions That Drive Results. His knowledge of how to weave change initiatives into the fabric of an organization provides an important complement to the standard discussion of how to launch Six Sigma. He can be reached at misaac@3circlepartners.com.