The nine Belbin Team Roles describe different ways people contribute to a team. They are grouped into Social, Thinking and Action roles. Use the summary below to understand the contributions, then explore how your team can apply them.
What are the nine Belbin Team Roles?
| Role | Group | Contribution |
|---|---|---|
| Resource Investigator | Social | Finds opportunities and builds contacts. |
| Teamworker | Social | Supports cooperation and reduces friction. |
| Co-ordinator | Social | Clarifies goals and delegates work. |
| Plant | Thinking | Suggests original solutions. |
| Monitor Evaluator | Thinking | Assesses choices with balanced judgement. |
| Specialist | Thinking | Contributes detailed subject knowledge. |
| Shaper | Action | Maintains momentum through challenges. |
| Implementer | Action | Turns plans into organised action. |
| Completer Finisher | Action | Checks detail and improves quality. |
Each role also has associated allowable weaknesses. These are the possible drawbacks of its strengths, rather than excuses for behaviour that harms the team. See Belbin’s official Team Role descriptions.
How do you identify your Belbin Team Roles?
Taking the official Belbin® Self-Perception Inventory online and receiving a Belbin® Individual Report is the only method to find out your Belbin® Team Role strengths and limitations. Then, utilizing the Observer Assessment, we propose that you seek input from persons you work with. This provides you with an updated Belbin Individual Report that reveals which Team Role activities others notice and value.
Belbin® Reports for people, managers, teams, and organizations have been generated in excess of 3 million times around the world. To begin your Belbin® adventure, contact us here.
Using Belbin in team development
Belbin is most useful when the Team Roles become a practical language for discussing how people contribute, communicate and work together rather than a label for personality.
Event Square’s Belbin Experience combines Team Role learning with experiential challenges so participants can see different contributions in action. The same approach can be adapted for leadership teams, established departments and graduate groups.
Belbin Team Roles: common questions
Do you need nine people in a team?
No. People can contribute through more than one role, so the nine roles do not mean a team needs nine members. The relevant mix depends on the work the team needs to do.
Is Belbin a personality test?
Belbin describes team behaviour rather than fixed personality types. Behaviour can change with the task, colleagues and working environment.
For assessment details, see Belbin’s official FAQs.
Turn the discussion into a practical team session
Choose a recent project and discuss three questions: which contributions helped, which tasks were difficult, and what would you organise differently next time? Use specific examples from the work, and agree one action to try on the next project.
For a facilitated session, explore The Belbin Experience or our team development programmes. Contact Event Square with your group size, preferred date and the team challenge you want to address.
