Lecture: Teamwork 1
ELC1A09 Language for the Workplace of the Future
Agenda
Introduction
Team Building
Your Team Role(s)
Introduction
• At university and in your career you will
need to work in teams.
• However, often teams have teamwork,
communication, and personality problems
that lead to jobs not being done well.
• One cause of this is the team membership.
• Teams can be chosen in a number of
ways:
• Friendships
• Availability
• Who is sitting with who when the teams
are chosen
• Skills-based teams, with people who are
good at Statistics, PowerPoint, English…
• But there is a better way.
Source
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Experience of Teamwork Problems
How many of these problems have you had when working in
a team?
1. No-one wants to be the boss and coordinate the others
2. No-one encourages cooperation – everyone does
different independent things
3. No-one cooperates with other groups
4. No-one has any creative new ideas
5. No-one can solve the problem
6. No-one is an expert in a vital area
7. No-one pushes the team to do
better
8. Lots of ideas, but not enough
action
9. No-one keeps the team on
schedule, so work is late.
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Team Building
• A business researcher at
Source
a top British business
school analysed teams,
and found that it was
not the most intelligent
teams that were best,
but ones that contained
the right mix of people.
• Dr Meredith Belbin found
that there were 9 team roles in 3 groups: people, thought
and action-oriented groups. Most people can take on 2 or 3
roles.
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Mixed-ability Teams
Belbin’s solution was mixed-ability teams:
People Oriented
Roles
Thought Oriented
Roles
Action Oriented
Roles
Coordinator
Team Worker
Resource Investigator
Plant
Acts as a chairperson.
Encourages cooperation.
Explores outside opportunities.
Presents new ideas and approaches.
Monitor-Evaluator
Specialist
Shaper
Implementer
Completer Finisher
Analyses the options.
Provides specialised skills.
Challenges the team to improve.
Puts ideas into action.
Ensures thorough, on-time completion.
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Activity: Match the Role to the Problem it solves
Coordinator
Acts as a chairperson.
Lots of ideas, but not enough action
Team Worker
Encourages cooperation.
No one can solve the problem
Resource
Investigator
Explores outside
opportunities.
Presents new ideas and
approaches.
No-one cooperates with other groups
Plant
Monitor-Evaluator
Analyses the options.
No-one encourages cooperation –
everyone does different independent
things
No-one has any creative new ideas
Specialist
Provides specialised skills.
No-one is an expert in a vital area
Shaper
Challenges the team to
improve.
Puts ideas into action.
No-one keeps the team on schedule, so
work is late.
No-one pushes the team to do better
Ensures thorough, ontime completion.
No-one wants to be the boss and
coordinate the others
Implementer
Completer Finisher
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Activity: Famous Role Fillers
Think of some famous film characters who fulfil these roles.
People Oriented
Roles
Thought Oriented
Roles
Action Oriented
Roles
Coordinator
Team Worker
Resource Investigator
Plant
Acts as a chairperson.
Encourages cooperation.
Explores outside opportunities.
Presents new ideas and approaches.
Monitor-Evaluator
Specialist
Shaper
Implementer
Completer Finisher
Analyses the options.
Provides specialised skills.
Challenges the team to improve.
Puts ideas into action.
Ensures thorough, on-time completion.
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People Oriented Roles: Coordinator
Acts as a chairperson and
team-leader.
Strengths
• Guides the team to objectives
• Excellent listeners
• Recognizes the value of
each team member
• Calm and good-natured
• Delegates tasks very effectively
Weaknesses
• May delegate too much personal responsibility
• May delegate all work, so be seen as lazy
• May tend to be manipulative
People Oriented Roles: Team Worker
Encourages cooperation
Strengths
Weaknesses
• Provide support
• Indecisive
• Make sure that people
• Uncommitted in
within the team are working
discussions and
together effectively
decision-making
• Act as negotiators
within the team
• Flexible, diplomatic and perceptive
• Popular
• Very capable
• Prioritise team cohesion and helping
people get along
People Oriented Roles: Resource Investigator
Explores outside opportunities
Strengths:
• Innovative and curious
• Explore available options, develop contacts, and negotiate
for resources on behalf of the team
• Enthusiastic team members
• Identify and work with external stakeholders to help the
team accomplish its objective
• Outgoing and are often extroverted, meaning that others
are often receptive to them and their ideas.
Weaknesses
• May lose enthusiasm quickly
• Often overly optimistic
Thought Oriented Roles: Plant
Presents new ideas and approaches.
Strengths:
• Creative innovator
• Comes up with new ideas and approaches
• Likes praise, hates criticism
• Introverted
• Prefers to work apart from the team
Weaknesses
• Can be impractical
• May be poor at communication
• Tend to ignore given parameters and constraints
Thought Oriented Roles: Monitor-Evaluator
Analyses the options.
Strengths:
• Good at analysing and evaluating ideas that other
people (often Plants) come up with
• Practical, perceptive & objective
• Critical thinkers
• Analyses the pros and cons of all options before
deciding
Weaknesses
• Often perceived as detached or unemotional
• Poor at motivating people
• Reacts to events rather than causing them
Thought Oriented Roles: Specialist
Provides specialised skills.
Strengths:
• Has vital specialized knowledge
• Pride themselves on their skills and abilities
• Work hard to maintain their professional status
• Expert in the area, and they commit themselves fully to
their field of expertise.
Weaknesses
• Specialism may limit their contribution
• May concentrate on technicalities and miss the bigger
picture.
Action-oriented roles: Shaper
Challenges the team to improve.
Strengths
• Dynamic and usually extroverted people
• Enjoys stimulating others, questioning norms, and finding
the best approaches for solving problems.
• Makes sure that all possibilities are considered and that
the team does not become complacent
• Sees obstacles as exciting challenges and they don’t quit
Weaknesses
• May be argumentative
• May offend people's feelings.
Action-oriented roles: Implementer
• Puts ideas into action.
Strengths
• People who get things done
• Turn ideas and concepts into practical actions and
plans
• Conservative, disciplined people
• Systematic and efficient: very well organized
• Reliable
Weaknesses
• May be inflexible
• May resist change
Action-oriented roles: Completer-Finisher
Ensures thorough, on-time completion.
Strengths
• People who make sure that tasks are completed
thoroughly.
• Ensure that there have been no errors or omissions and
they pay attention to the smallest of details.
• Very concerned with deadlines and will push the team to
make sure the job is completed on time.
• Perfectionists, orderly, conscientious and anxious.
Weaknesses
• May worry unnecessarily
• May find it hard to delegate
Team Roles Summary
1. When you are asked to form a team, try to have at
least one member from people, thought, and action
oriented roles.
2. To prevent or reduce conflict, avoid two people
having the same role; e.g. two Coordinators.
3. If someone has the same role as you, change roles
to a different one that you know how to do.
Therefore, learn how to play more than one role.
Your Team Roles
What role(s) are you good at?
People Oriented
Roles
Thought Oriented
Roles
Action Oriented
Roles
Coordinator
Team Worker
Resource Investigator
Plant
Acts as a chairperson.
Encourages cooperation.
Explores outside opportunities.
Presents new ideas and approaches.
Monitor-Evaluator
Specialist
Shaper
Implementer
Completer Finisher
Analyses the options.
Provides specialised skills.
Challenges the team to improve.
Puts ideas into action.
Ensures thorough, on-time completion.
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Classmate’s Team Roles
Talk to your classmates and find people who can do roles that you
aren’t good at.
People Oriented
Roles
Thought Oriented
Roles
Action Oriented
Roles
Coordinator
Team Worker
Resource Investigator
Plant
Acts as a chairperson.
Encourages cooperation.
Explores outside opportunities.
Presents new ideas and approaches.
Monitor-Evaluator
Specialist
Shaper
Implementer
Completer Finisher
Analyses the options.
Provides specialised skills.
Challenges the team to improve.
Puts ideas into action.
Ensures thorough, on-time completion.
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Homework
Find out about the
teamwork necessary
for your profession,
and how you can fit
in.
What are the roles,
duties and
responsibilities?
Sample Homework
I am studying a B.S. (Hons) in Food Safety and Technology. When I
graduate I want to work as a Quality Assurance Assistant Officer.
The duties, responsibilities and related roles will be to:
• Ensure food safety, environmental hygiene, and workplace safety
in shops are up to company standards – a monitor/evaluator role
• Conduct routine Quality Assurance inspection in shops – a
monitor/evaluator role
• Coordinate work safety, quality assurance and hygiene
procedures training to related staff – a specialist role as a trainer,
and a shaper role to challenge the team to improve
• Prepare documents, reports of data and analysis – a completer /
finisher role
• Liaise with all internal parties to deal with quality issues – a
coordinator role
• Assist in other ad-hoc projects as assigned – a team worker role
Therefore I will need to perform roles in all three of Belbin’s areas:
people, thought and action-oriented roles.
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Homework Tips
Find out what kind of jobs students who do your
degree get:
• Go to
https://www51.polyu.edu.hk/eprospectus/ug/
non-jupas-adhd-grad
• Scroll down
• Click on your area; e.g. Applied Sciences or
Business
•
•
•
•
•
•
Click on the word Entry next to your degree
Scroll down to Recognition and Prospects
Find out what jobs graduates get
Search the internet for a job you would like
Copy the job responsibilities
Decide what team roles are needed for each
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The End