In an R&D setting, creativity and innovation are crucial.
When it comes to innovation, companies face a new kind of competition.
Rather than just competing with other companies, organisations now have to contend with changes in the market too, driven by advances in technology.
This kind of swift innovation requires effective collaboration.
This is where Belbin comes in.
A paper written by Belbin Accredited Nel Mostert, and published in the Journal of Creativity and Business Innovation in 2015, is an excellent resource for understanding how Belbin Team Roles can help to further creativity and innovation in an organisation – in this case, in R&D teams.
Through a number of case studies, the paper explores how to maximise Team Role contributions and ensure that certain behavioural cultures don’t threaten team success.
- In one case of ‘project divorce’, two driven, high-energy project leaders (‘Shapers’, in Belbin terminology) split a project in half in order to share responsibility without clashing over their contribution.
- In another example, a place is carved out for a creative, original individual (a ‘Plant’, in Belbin terms) within a well-established – and change-resistant – team.
- Another study describes the exclusion of an enthusiastic and innovative ‘Resource Investigator’ – criticised for being absent from the office whilst finding new leads and information – from a more inward-looking team, who comes to discover his value once he has left.
The paper explores various applications of Belbin Team Roles, giving ‘insights into the power of the Belbin tool’.
