Belbin Model, Essay Example

One of my major contributions to the team was that I kept the team on track and closely monitored the team’s work progress to ensure we do not fall behind our schedule. My effective communication skills also helped me keep everyone on the same page. In times of conflicts, I would be able to identify the major opinion differences between the team members and help them reach mutually acceptable resolution. Decision making is sometimes a slow process especially when it involves discussions and consensus building. Even though my team did engage in discussions in preparing the project, I made sure that we made decisions in a timely fashion. I do think that my leadership style is transactional (MINDTOOLS) since I tried to ensure that everyone knew what others expected from him/her and how he/she were supposed to contribute towards the project.

This project has been a valuable learning experience that has not only helped me better understand myself in a team environment but has also given me few insights into the workings of effective teams. One thing I have learned is that the success of the team depends upon how individual team members perform and even if a single team member fails to live up to his responsibilities, it may have a significant impact on the team progress. I have also learnt that it pays to be aware of one’s own personality as well as the personalities of other team members and compromise whenever possible in order to maintain a productive environment. I have also observed that I enjoy leading people and am opinionated. I am also a self-starter and could easily get frustrated if I think someone is not doing his/her job well. This may be why I also like to work on my own because if I am working alone, I have absolute control over the work progress but I do not have the same control over work progress in a team environment. Sometimes, I do try to dominate the group which may create resentment in team members so I do need to work on being more patient and respect others’ views.

My primary Bell-Type Team Role is ‘coordinator’ and secondary role is ‘resource investigator’. Dr. Meredith Belbin described a ‘coordinator’ as someone who helps others focus on their tasks and could be seen as excessive controlling at times. Similarly, a ‘resource investigator’ is someone who likes to explore new ideas though he/she may be too optimistic (CHANGING MINDS). I think these two roles do describe me well and my being too driven at times may be the reason why I get easily frustrated with slow progress. My team mates did mention that I need to become more group-oriented as opposed to be individualistic when working in a team and become a better listener. My team mates did praise the fact that I do get what people are trying to say but they also thought I do not always let others finish and interrupt them. They also thought that while I am motivated and contribute valuable ideas, I could achieve even more if I can get people behind me by making them feel more valued. Surprisingly, my lab profile confirmed many of my traits expressed my team mates such as having ‘internal’ source of motivation, being less concerned with maintaining relationships, and being expressive.

This experience has taught me that the progress in the early days of the team is always slow as team members take time to learn about each other including personality and working style. I have also learnt that open communication is very important because confusions not only slow down the progress but also result in lower quality work. In addition, team members should be willing to compromise because politics negatively affects the entire team. In addition, teams with compatible personalities are not always desirable because that may result in groupthink (BORCHERS, Tim, 1999) so it is actually good to have team mates with different personalities since that will improve the quantity and quality of ideas.

References

BORCHERS, Tim. 1999. Groupthink. [online]. [Accessed 16 July 2012]. Available from World Wide Web: <http://www.abacon.com/commstudies/groups/groupthink.html/>

CHANGING MINDS. Belbin’s Team Roles. [online]. [Accessed 17 July 2012]. Available from World Wide Web: <http://changingminds.org/explanations/preferences/belbin.htm>

MINDTOOLS. Leadership Styles. [online]. [Accessed 16 July 2012]. Available from World Wide Web: <http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_84.htm>