A Sense of Style

There are many different ways of analysing people’s working styles. One of the best known is the approach developed by Dr Meredith Belbin. This categorises people according to one of nine natural roles that occur within a team.  These in turn can be grouped into three main classes:

• Shaper – A dynamic, task-orientated person who is highly motivated, challenges assumptions and works well under pressure. However, they can be aggressive or provocative and upset people.
• Implementer – A reliable and disciplined team player who is systematic and efficient, and is also good at turning ideas into reality. However, they can be inflexible and resistant to change.
• Completer/Finisher – Someone who pays attention to detail and completes tasks properly and on time. They work steadily, but are inclined to worry and prefer to do things themselves rather than delegate.

• Co-ordinator – This person is confident and competent and assumes the role of team leader. They encourage participation from all the team but can be manipulative and delegate tasks that should be their responsibility.
• Team Worker – A team worker co-operates with other members and helps to ‘oil the cogs’ so that projects run more smoothly. However, when decisions need to be made, they can be indecisive.
• Resource Investigator – Someone with an innovative, enquiring mind who sees opportunities and can get the resources needed through their many contacts. They can be over-optimistic and may lose interest after a while.

• Plant – The creative hub, who has plenty of great ideas and is good at finding solutions to difficult problems. They often prefer to work alone, don’t like criticism and can be poor communicators.
• Monitor/Evaluator – This person tends to be serious but is also discerning and good at evaluating other people’s ideas. They think clearly but can seem detached and are not skilled at motivating other team members.
• Specialist – The specialist has expertise in a particular area and can therefore contribute valuable and rare skills. However, this could limit their contribution. They tend to focus on technicalities.