Belbin® – The Team Role Company Drive Performance
Interplace, the research-based, scaleable Team Role platform provides practical insights, transforms the way Teams work together, and drives measurable results in both individual and Team performance.
Why are Teams important?
Teams offer diversity, promote learning opportunities, address more complex problems, offer flexibility, deliver faster results and can mirror organisational values. Research carried out by Gallup, Ernst and Young and others has shown that there is a need for Teams within organisations.
“Almost 9 out of 10 companies surveyed agree that the problems confronting them are now so complex that Teams are essential to provide effective solutions.”
The success of an organisation is linked to the success of it’s Teams. As Sir Antony Jay wrote in the forward of 'Management Teams, Why they Succeed or Fail', Dr Meredith Belbin's seminal book which introduced the world to the concept of Team Roles:
“It is not the individual but the Team that is the instrument of sustained and enduring success.”
Why do some Teams succeed whilst others fail?
This question was posed by Henley Management College and it took over nine years of research led by Dr Belbin and the Industrial Training Research Unit (ITRU) to come up with the answer.
It wasn't intelligence. It wasn't personality. The success of a Team was down to 9 distinct clusters of behaviour. We call them Belbin Team Roles.
"The types of behaviour in which people engage are infinite. But the range of useful behaviours, which make an effective contribution to Team performance, is finite. These behaviours are grouped into a set number of related clusters, to which the term Team Role is applied." - Dr Meredith Belbin
To build high-performing Teams, we need to represent each of the nine Belbin Team Role behaviours at the appropriate times.
How can I use Belbin with my Teams?
We are all leading very busy working lives. The pressures to deliver solutions that are practical, measurable, and which can be applied virtually mean that you need tried and tested solutions. You need something that works. Dare we say that you need gold-standard solutions?
Using Belbin for your Teams is the answer. Afterall, TiKTok, The UN and the NHS can't all be wrong. The have all used Belbin to provide practical insights to transform the way their Teams work together.
And this solution is straightforward and easy to apply, regardless of the size of an organisation.
It all starts with Interplace, the scalable, research-based Team Role platform.
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Interplace, the research-based, scaleable Team Role platform
Interplace, the on-line Team Role platform, allows you to generate Belbin reports, including:
- Individual reports to inform personal development plans, and
- Team reports to help identify any Team Role gaps, and see how teams might work together.
Administer, manage and access Belbin reports as and when you need them, to give you the information you need to drive individual and Team performance.
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There's more...
- With Interplace, we are able to distil Dr Meredith Belbin's original wisdom and research, add current thinking, research and analysis and produce Belbin reports which provide valuable, useful and highly practical advice for individuals and Teams.
- It's where 'big' data comes into its own. We regularly review the algorithms behind the reports, and use anonymised data to help us better understand Team Role behaviour.
- With all your data in one place, you can create Teams, check working relationships, and match potential candidates for jobs, all based on their Individual report data.
- The platform is intuitive to use and contains on demand video help screens in case required. You can also contact the UK office for help - speak to an actual human being.
- It's mobile friendly and can be accessed by your whole learning Team. Interplace has been developed according to latest security protocols and GDPR requirements.
- The Belbin reports are generated using a fully normed database (using an international dataset based on over 190,000 SPIs and 630,000 Observer Assessments)
- It's interactive - before generating a Team report you can see how adding and removing team members impacts on the Team Role distribution of the team.
- It's scalable. Interplace is currently used by SMEs and Multinationals. It is a truly scalable and cost-effective online Team Role platform (contact us to find out more).
- There are no hidden costs, which helps with your budget requirements.
How can I best use Belbin with my Teams?
Simple. Become a Belbin Team Role Accredited Practitioner.
Belbin Accreditation is recommended for anyone who uses – or wants to use – Belbin Team Roles, and Interplace the research-based and scalable Team Role platform.
Whether you're an HR, L&D or training professional, or an independent facilitator, coach or management consultant, becoming Belbin accredited will give you a solid grounding in Belbin Team Role theory, and confidence in delivering Belbin report feedback and Team workshops.
Becoming Belbin Team Role Accredited will give you the confidence you need to drive measurable results in both individual and Team performance.
More about Accreditation
Get the actionable insights your Teams need
Interplace, the online Team Role Platform, gives you access to a range of Belbin reports.
These are generated by completing online questionnaires.
- The Self-Perception Inventory, or SPI, asks questions relating to how an individual see's their behavioural strengths in terms of the Belbin Team Roles.
- Observer Assessments, or OA, a tick list of words which relates to behavioural contributions. These are completed by work colleagues and help to validate the self.
- Job Questionnaire, helps to profile a job in terms of the Team Role requirements.
Reports for your Teams
Use Belbin Team Role reports with individuals to:
- Understand the behavioural contributions they can make to a Team and how others see and value their behaviour
- Inform personal development needs and career planning
- Help to form productive working relationships
- Help managers and leaders understand how to communicate effectively with their Team.
Use Belbin Team Role reports with Teams to:
- Explore the strengths and weaknesses in an existing Team
- Assess if each member is being used to their full potential
- Foster productive Team relationships
- Aid Team communication
- Manage any conflict between Team members
- Build trust and Team psychological safety
Don't take our word for it
Here's a case study from Legal & General. Retail Learning and Development Business Partner, Gary Shewan, is Belbin Team Role Accredited and has been using Interplace, the Team Role platform, for over ten years.
Here's a story he shared at the Belbin International Team Conference 2024.
Case Study: Legal & General
Legal & General is a multinational financial services and asset management company, with 11,000 employees worldwide.
As L&D business partner in the retail division, Gary Shewan is responsible for 4,500 colleagues and 780 leaders.
“It’s hard, in L&D, to demonstrate an impact on somebody. This is explicit. It’s clear. It’s really measurable.”
At our recent Belbin International Team Conference, much of our focus was on data - forming an evidence base, collecting and disseminating the data teams need for sustainable business improvement, and proving ROI.
In the midst of this was one very personal story, brought to us by Gary Shewan, a Learning and Development Business Partner at Legal & General.
Gary shared how Belbin made a direct, practical and measurable difference to Vicki, a junior- grade colleague.
As part of a 12-month programme designed to recognise and develop talent, the Belbin methodology helped Vicki to identify and better understand her strengths, grow in confidence and ultimately transition to a more meaningful and engaging career path.
As a result of the programme, Legal & General were awarded the Princess Royal Training Award - twice!
StepForward – ‘a relentless focus on behaviours’ for measurable impact
The StepForward programme is a 12-month development programme designed to help top talent at entry-level grades.
Its objective is to focus on developing self-awareness so that individuals can build on their strengths and channel their efforts towards their chosen career path.
Successful applicants work in pairs on a non-business-critical project. Each is assigned a project partner and a learning buddy, and is supported by their manager. Each also interviews a selection of senior leaders before choosing one as a mentor.
The programme is described as having ‘a relentless focus on behaviours’. According to Gary, this makes Belbin a natural choice for an assessment tool.
Delegates complete the Belbin process and receive a Belbin Individual report at the beginning and end of the course to measure impact.
In the first instance, delegates attend a full-day workshop to help them understand their Belbin Individual report. This session, designed to raise self-awareness and confidence, focuses on exploring strengths and identifying allowable weaknesses, with a view to creating a personal development plan.
Delegates continue with a number of face-to-face workshops covering a range of issues (such as project management, coaching and difficult conversations) from a behavioural, rather than a technical, perspective.
Vicki’s challenge
Vicki joined the StepForward programme in 2022.
At the outset, she lacked confidence and was afraid to put her ideas forward. Feedback from colleagues in her Belbin report (called Observer Assessments) offered valuable insights and provided the evidence base from which Vicki could devise her personal development plan.
Using the List of Observer Feedback Words, Vicki was able to identify specific characteristics that she wanted to work on.
In particular, Vicki wanted to be seen as more confident and relaxed. Her colleagues saw her strengths in the role of Resource Investigator (the outgoing enthusiastic individual who brings in key information from outside the team) and this working style energised her, but she didn’t have many opportunities to play this role in her position.
Vicki wanted to continue to be seen as creative, positive and encouraging, but she challenged herself to set aside her self-doubt and put forward more original ideas and solutions, especially in the presence of senior leaders.
Bringing it to the team
As part of the StepForward programme, Vicki attended a three-day experiential learning at Bowles Rocks.
Delegates were asked to divide into teams, using Belbin Team reports to inform and justify their decisions on the basis of team dynamics.
During this time, they came to understand the importance of complementary roles (working with others who demonstrate different strengths) and gained an understanding of how to handle challenge relationships using the language of Belbin Team Roles.
In addition, Vicki received Belbin Working Relationship reports exploring how her behavioural styles differed from those with whom she worked closely, giving her an appreciation of these complementary working styles in action.
As she had a low score for the forthright and driving Shaper role, Vicki identified that she needed direction and focus from her Shaper project partner.
She observed that her learning buddy, an objective and discerning Monitor Evaluator, had a calming effect and acted as a sounding board.
In each case, the Belbin methodology was used to foster a learning mindset and open up dialogue between delegates.
Visible results – and a lasting impact
When Vicki received feedback from other delegates at the end of the programme, the results spoke for themselves. Vicki noted a marked change in her List of Observer Words.
As a result of the programme, Vicki moved to a sales role that allowed her to play to her Resource Investigator strengths more frequently and voice her ideas. She reports that she is ‘energised every day’:
“I never would have had the journey I’ve had, had it not been for Belbin. It really did give me the opportunity to do some self-reflection and really start building my confidence, so thank you so much. [...] Two promotions later, my new job excites, motivates and challenges me daily. I never would have been able to build relationships, present or network in the way that I can today.”
Individual impact… and results you can replicate
Vicki’s journey is unique, but her success is one Legal & General have repeated time and again, with 85% of their programme graduates progressing into leadership.
These delegates take with them increased self-confidence and self-awareness, an understanding of how to work to, and develop their strengths, and key insights into overall team dynamics.
As a practical and accessible tool, Belbin provides the language to open up key conversations, make measurable improvements for individuals and teams, and foster greater levels of engagement in-role.
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