RESEARCH 1: Accidental Belbin Team Roles

The fact that we came into this project knowing each other so strongly already (and having done professional projects with each other before) was one of the main factors we worked naturally so well as a team. We unconsciously used a Belbin team roles (Belbin 2012) style approach to tackling our first D1 assignment, picking and choosing tasks and roles based on what we knew about each other on a personal, behavioural level.

“A team is not a bunch of people with job titles, but a congregation of individuals, each of whom has a role which is understood by other members. Members of a team seek out certain roles and they perform most effectively in the ones that are most natural to them.” (Belbin 2012). We could not have accidentally done this if we had not known each other and our working styles already, so this allowed us to skip the step where you learn about each other and get comfortable in a group, and charge ahead to doing work and starting our assessment. 

The one person that we didn’t know already was Lisa (Interior design). However, Lisa’s role was so definite and apparent that even without knowing her from the beginning we still Belbin-ed her into a co-ordinator role, because of her 6 year project manager experience which she so clearly showed. This was interesting to see as architects are often found to be leaders in design projects, however, Caitlin and Alec seemed to take a bit of a back seat in leadership as they felt a little out of their comfort zone being in a heavily industrial design project. Steve and I tended to take leadership roles at times, but only for small aspects within the group. Steve, being a decisive and strong person took on this role well at the times he needed to, making decisive and final design choices when the rest of us were unable to choose. Overall, it was Lisa who co-ordinated and orchestrated us into the well put together team that we were and this was not surprising even when you looked at her discipline, not just the project manager experience. The National Institute of Building Sciences (2012) states that an interior designers “Excellent communication with the key members of the team helps define the challenges and each team member's expectations to ensure a successful project.”. The role she took on, while being a behavioural characteristic and a trained characteristic, was also true for her discipline. It was also her tacit knowledge of understanding how design people work and think that helped her truly run the group. This was one of the most valuable and vital things that helped us succeed.

“During his research, Meredith found that each of the behaviours were essential in getting the team successfully from start to finish. The key was balance.” (Belbin 2012). We found that when we reflected back on our group later on and applied what we had leant about the Belbin team roles, we identified a clear mix of team roles in our group. We had sections from all areas and covered most bases with ease as seen in the image taken of the Belbin team roles (Belbin, 2012). This is definitely a good explanation as to why our team worked so well together.