Liz Scott Coaching and Training

A Belbin overview

by Liz Scott

My husband is a plant and now that I know it makes it easier to communicate. I don’t mean that he’d look good in a herbaceous border and I don’t mean he’s some heavy duty machinery – no my husband is a plant of the ideas kind.

For those of you familiar with Belbin (a psychometric testing technique to determine team roles) then you’ve probably heard of some of the names of the nine different team roles. Names like ‘plant,’ ‘shaper,’ or ‘specialist’ are to name a few. I discovered that I was a strong ‘implementer.’ In the world of Belbin this means I’m great at organising, scheduling and getting things done.

When we both went on the course to become Belbin facilitators we had no idea that our marriage would also benefit as we began to understand how and why we interact and behave in the way we do.

For example when we have a dinner party – I’ll write lists, write timings of what goes in which oven and generally plan how to get the house ready (typical traits of an ‘implementer’). Once this is done I feel I can switch off as it’s all under control. My husband by contrast will wake up in the morning and say something like, “I think I’ll make a Pavlova tonight,” (plants typically come up with spontaneous ideas) and he’ll nip out get the ingredients and whip up a meringue completely ignoring all the other things that have to be done that day.

Since Belbin we’re much more able to laugh at our differences rather than make an issue out of them. Indeed Belbin is very much about playing team members to their strengths rather than trying to get them to improve their weaknesses. If you’ve got a great goal keeper then you don’t need to play them as a striker to improve their goal-scoring skills. Keep in them in goal and appreciate what they bring to the team.

Indeed as a result of this Belbin training we’ve not only really begun to appreciate each others’ strengths but also those of people around us. This is an excellent philosophy to adapt to life. What would it be like if instead of focussing on someone’s weakness that we instead fully appreciated their strengths? And taking it a step further, what would it be like if instead of focussing on your own ‘faults’ you became clear on your own strengths?

So I have a couple of challenges for you this week. Ask yourself what your strengths are and make a note of them. We often tend to dismiss our own strengths and without giving them the acknowledgement they deserve. So the second part of this challenge is to ask a trusted friend what they think your strengths are. Ask them supplementary questions like, “Can you tell me more about that?” or “What do you mean by that?” Take time and enjoy your strengths.

Now when we have a dinner party I fully expect my husband to have some great last minute ideas and I’m quite relaxed about it. He might not be as great at organising and planning as I am– but he does have some great ideas… and his Pavlova’s are delicious!

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