Comprehending Team Roles

During the 1970’s, Dr Meredith Belbin and a team of researchers conducted research on a number of teams in an attempt to discover what aspects of a team’s dynamics can contribute towards the teams overall success or failure. They discovered that the success or failure of a team was not dependent upon the individual team members intellect but upon their behaviour. Following Belbin’s publication in 1981 of Team Role Analysis he concluded that there are nine key roles that are aligned to an individual’s behaviour that can contribute to the make up of a team. It is essential that as a leader I am able to understand the possible behavioural role that an individual may exhibit when

Moreover the correct distribution of roles can improve a groups dynamic by reducing phenomenon’s such as risky shift (Ridley, 2010), which frequently occurs with too many creative and risky decisions being made, this could be as a direct result of a team simply having too many of the plant

Leadership development in the military is critical to its mission and objectives. Understanding and embracing leadership will foster an agile culture and facilitate attainment of strategic goals. People desire quality leadership to assist with achieving their goals, albeit personal or professional development. Having a clear vision and the motivation to perform at high-levels influences others to work synergistically together to achieve organizational goals. Insomuch, employees value being treated respectfully, fairly, and ethically. Leaders serve people best when they help them develop their own initiative and good judgment, enable them to grow, and help them become better contributors.

Clear responsibilities and roles, the structure of the team, job descriptions, competencies, accountabilities, resources, tools and equipment should all be provided. Problem solving, communicating, managing conflicts, tasks, planning meetings, performance evaluation, managing change and decision making should follow clear procedures ensuring effective team working. Positive relationships, mutual respect and trust, continuing support and inclusion, valuing diversity and listening to feedback can overcome challenges to effective team performance. A strong credible leader with clear expectations can also overcome challenges to an effective team.

One of the toughest group settings I have ever found myself in was Air Force ROTC Field Training. Field Training is a 5 week course for young college students in the ROTC program to learn how to become officers in the US Air Force and particularly how to lead people in a field setting. Our textbook defines leadership as the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of goals (Robbins & Judge, 2009, Ch. 12). Now, imagine yourself dropped into the environment I was put in. I am one of 400 or so cadets in this encampment, over one thousand miles away from my home. My only communication with my family or the outside world is via hand written letters. It is the middle of the Summer in Southern Alabama, and the heat is so intense it was melting the shoe polish off of my shoes. I am constantly being yelled at by military drill instructors about all of the things I am doing wrong. And now, I am suddenly tasked with being the flight commander for the 20 other cadets in my flights that all come from different backgrounds, and all of whom I am meeting for the first time. In this research paper, I will talk about a few of the core concepts that I feel I applied very well to help me be the best leader I could be in this situation.

I'm currently the lead unit deployment manager at Mountain Home AFB, and our team primary goal is to ensure that anyone deploying from our base have nothing to worry about besides leaving the completing their mission around the country or overseas. Our team usually consists of five members with five different personalities, five different temperaments and five different motivators. The most difficult part I face as a team lead is ensuring everyone complete their tasks in a timely manner and that each member understands their role on the team. After performing the Belbin Team Roles I got a better understanding of some of the strengths and weakness of team dynamics. Of the Belbin team roles survey I scored the highest in the Shaper, team worker

The selection of a team leader is of key decision that can have a great impact on the overall success of a team. A good team leader should be able to build and maintain team morale, instilling confidence and trusting in other team members allowing them to work together to achieve the teams goals (Llopis, 2014). The ability to understand the stages of a team and provide the guidance to all members is essential. The stages of forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning (Abudi, 2010) are a helpful framework for recognizing patterns during team conversations and the understanding that team development may not always be linear. The aptitude to walk the team through these stages and ensuring they understand the development of the team and why things are happening in certain ways is an important part of the self evaluation process. Having ways to identify when certain behavioral patterns are occurring and a way to then cause changes to the team behavior can help the team maximize its productivity.

The primary challenge for leaders in the Army is taking a group of individuals and molding them into a team. The framework that is employed to the

In our current deployment model and even in garrison many military commanders and senior enlisted leaders work repeatedly with their teams based in different buildings, bases, and countries with team members in different shifts or different time zones. Using the Joint Special Operations Forces Senior Enlisted Academy’s (JSOFSEA) Profession of Arms “Key Concept” one must understand the operating environment. Once an understanding has been met using one or more of the JSOFSEA’s three thinking tools it is invaluable to the senior enlisted leader in a multitude of varying circumstances. As a leader in the profession of arms getting all members to buy into the team's objectives and stay on track being a geographically dispersed team, it's essential for members to unite around a common goal, the commander’s intent. Unifiing the team around common goals and the commander’s intent will help the team meet the demands of the mission in this ever increasingly intricate and many uncertain operating environments.

The roles of a team are based on the research into behavioural strengths and weaknesses conducted by Belbin. This theory suggests the roles needed in order to create the perfect high achieving team. Within each role there are some overlap of

Based on personal experience working in team is the hallmark of surviving in the US Army and I am a dynamic and very resourceful team member. As the charismatic person that I am, I can perform multiple roles; as a team player or as a team leader when occasion so demands. Meeting team deadlines matters a lot to me when I work in a team and I believe that team failure starts when a team or the team mates are not meeting team deadlines.

“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.

I was just so happy that I could get him everything he needed to reach his goal. As I team leader I feel it is very important to provided selfless service to team members and help them reach their goals.

Each team member possesses both strengths and weaknesses. While the fewer the weaknesses the better it bodes for the team, it is not realistic to assume that all (or even any) team members would have nothing but strengths. Because the team members have come together to be part of a management consulting firm, though, they need to be able to meet client needs in a way that shows them to be capable. Many of the individuals are still in training for certain aspects of their jobs. However, they can currently be effective in those areas with extra guidance, and they can also be highly effective in the areas where they are already strong. It would be best for Joshua to take the reins, because he is good at leadership, time-management, oral communication, multi-tasking, problem solving, and delegating. In short, he offers nearly everything that is needed in a good leader or manager. As a second-in-command, though, he needs Michael. In any area where Joshua is weak or in training, Michael excels, and in any area where Michael is weak, Joshua excels. Between the two of them, they will make a formidable team with much to offer.

The personal style and personalities of each member in a group may be influence their team effectiveness. Individuals will tend to play an important role in a group and depend on their personality and working group style. To improve a team and effectiveness in project or working, each team member need to understand the role of every member in a group. With 3 contemporary theories of team roles to use in our group is: