How many times have you heard that?
All too often, managers mistake raising problems for being negative, whining, or complaining.
But a 'solutions-only' culture comes with its own risks. It can hide the most difficult problems in an organisation. It can also lead to individuals pushing their own fixes rather than collaborating on the best overall result.
Worse still, the pressure to offer a solution – especially to a complex or nuanced issue – can be intimidating. Instead of speaking up, team members may stay silent, leaving problems hidden and unresolved.
Belbin Team Role theory suggests that people contribute in different ways when it comes to diagnosing, analysing, and solving problems.
Monitor Evaluators and Completer Finishers are especially good at spotting issues big and small.
Monitor Evaluators take an analytical view, seeing problems that might make a project or idea unviable.
Completer Finishers focus on the fine details, identifying the small but crucial flaws that could undermine success.
These contributions are often misread as negativity or fastidiousness.
But if people aren't able to raise concerns freely – or they're expected to come up with the answer as well – the value of these roles is lost.
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High-performing teams recognise the importance of identifying problems and then work out who is best placed to find the answers.
Certain Team Roles excel at solving problems – and they do this in different ways:
Plants are creative thinkers, full of original ideas. They’re great at coming up with unexpected solutions.
Resource Investigators bring energy and connections. They go beyond the team to find new resources and contacts who might hold the key.
Specialists offer deep, technical expertise – even if they’re only involved temporarily.
A strong Co-ordinator can pull all this together – identifying who should take the lead on solving specific issues or whether the team needs outside input.
This means listening to everyone, matching people to tasks, and making the most of each person’s strengths.
Understanding who naturally identifies problems – and who thrives on solving them – can transform how your team tackles challenges.
Belbin Individual reports help uncover each person’s Team Role strengths, giving clarity on how different people might approach the problem-solving process.
The Belbin Team report brings the team's data together, so that you can assign tasks more effectively and ensure that every contribution is valued, from early diagnosis to final delivery.
If your team is struggling, or just wants to work together more effectively, Belbin workshops offer a practical solution, enabling teams to map out their individual and collective strengths, and develop a shared language for handling problems constructively.
Whether you're navigating a tricky project or looking to build a more open, solutions-aware culture, a facilitated session can help shift mindsets and build mutual understanding around how problems and solutions emerge.
If you're keen to explore how Belbin can support your team in problem-solving more effectively, we'd love to help.
Please fill out the form and we'll be in touch.
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