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Belbin and Star Trek
The Role
PLANT
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Belbin and Star Trek
Of course, good team behaviour requires development and monitoring and it may be useful to firstly ascertain what your most appropriate role is within a team. Meredith Belbin from the Industrial Training Research Unit at Cambridge developed an understanding of how teams work and identified a number of roles which appear below. One way of using these is to recognise the one that most describes you currently and use this awareness to help your team. You might also like to identify the role that seems least applicable to you and consider how you might rectify any apparent weakness in relation to working in a team. Don't forget though, that as you develop, other roles may become more pertinent to your individual profile. Once you have examined the grid and considered your own role, see how competent you are at identifying the roles of others by applying the criteria to another famous team...The Next Generation
Description
A source of good ideas for the group. Intellectually dominant & imaginative but introverted. Popular, sociable, extrovert & relaxed. A source of new contacts but not an originator. Extrovert & passionate about the task. Highly strung & dominant Analytically intelligent. Dissects ideas/spots flaws. Possibly aloof Balanced, disciplined& good at working through others.
Behaviour
Contributing ideas
RESOURCE INVESTIGATOR SHAPER
Introduces ideas from outside. Negotiator. Shaping roles/ objectives. Pushing group towards agreement. Analyses situations & contributions of others States objectives, establishes roles, sums up achievements Transforms discussion into practical steps
MONITOR EVALUATOR COORDINATOR
IMPLEMENTER
TEAM WORKER
COMPLETER FINISHER
Practical organiser, schedules/ plans ideas into tasks. Strong administrator. Presides/ coordinates Supportive, diplomatic & Support others. Seconding understanding. Popular but non ideas of others. Including competitive. Concerned with team quieter people in maintenance discussions Encourages team to meet Gets others to take deadlines, attends to detail. Not necessary actions always popular. Look for errors & oversights. Adapted from Belbin's team roles, West Burnham, 1992
Star Trek the Next Generation HF2000/AG2004
Below you will find bibliographical information of the main characters in the popular series. Use this information to help you identify which of Belbins team roles is most applicable. • Captain Jean-Luc Picard The commander of the Starship Enterprise, he is experienced & widely respected. Whatever the problem faced, he will call together his senior staff and arrive at a solution. The respect he has as a person means his decisions are followed not just because he is captain. • Lieutenant Commander Data Data possesses super strength and an incredible memory. He's virtually an encyclopaedia but only in terms of information and not behaviour. Data is totally innocent but he does possess a sense of question and wonder that allows him to evolve. • Counsellor Deanna Troi She is half human/ half Betazoid with the ability to read emotions and sense what is happening around her. She is also a very wise person with extensive knowledge of philosophy, psychology and different religions. She's often called up to advise Picard. • Commander William T. Riker Executive officer & second in command, his job is to provide Picard with the most efficiently run ship & best prepared crew that he can. As a result, he maintains a more military bearing that the other characters despite the fact that salutes & other military protocol no longer exist in the 24th century. • Chief Miles O'Brien He is Chief Operations Officer on the Enterprise and also on Deep Space Nine. Despite having to constantly solve problems, he is excited and challenged. Although his work may be overwhelming at times, he is happy to be there. Implementing Roles Once you have established your role and the best way of contributing to the team you will need to pay particular attention to the team formation and functions by: • • • • •
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Getting to know each other, including individual strengths/ weaknesses and preferences for working. Identifying roles and responsibilities Establishing ground rules for behaviour Clarifying the team's goals and tasks Scheduling tasks, meetings and deadlines Learning to use different group methods at meetings
HF2000/AG2004