On Michelle Styles blog the other day she discusses (very well btw) the Myer-Briggs personality tests. I remember doing these "tests" when I was doing a Management Course. In all honesty I don't remember much about the course but I do recall these tests and the Belbin Team Role Inventory - which I did find interesting at the time.
Belbin assess how an individual behaves in a team environment. It is a behavioural tool, and not a psychometric test. Whereas Myers-Briggs sorts people into 16 types dependant on types of behaviours the Belbin Inventory scores people on how strongly they express traits from 9 different Team Roles. Phew - confused - I'll explain. These roles are as follows:
1. Plant - plants are creative, unorthodox and a generator of ideas. Bright and free thinking they refrain from getting bogged down. But...the downfall is someone like the absentminded professor-inventor - who often has a hard time communicating ideas to others.
2. Resource Investigator (RI) - the RI gives a team a rush of enthusiasm at the start of a project by vigorously pursing contacts and opportunities. RI's are makers of possibilities and an excellent networker. But...they have a tendency to lose momentum towards the end of a project and can forget small details.
3.Coordinator - Often the chairperson who steps back to see the big picture. They are confident, stable and mature. But...they can be accused of being manipulative and will tend to delegate all work rather than do it themselves!
4.Shaper - is a task-focused leader who abounds with nervous energy. Winning is the name of the game; and the Shaper will "shape" others into achieving their aims. They can challenge, argue or disagree with others in pursuit of goal achievement. But...two or three Shapers in a group can lead to conflict, aggravation and in-fighting!
5. Monitor Evaluator (ME) - are fair and logical observers and judges of what is going on. ME's are methodical, analytical, taking every thing into account to come to the right decision. But....ME's can be excessively cynical, damping enthusiasm for anything without logical grounds and they have a hard time inspiring themselves or others to be passionate about their work.
6. Teamworker - the greasy oil between the cogs that keeps the team running. They are good listeners and diplomats, talented at soothing over conflicts. But...as they don't take sides, this can, sometimes, mean that they are not able to take decisive action when needed.
7. Implimenter - Turns ideas into positives. They are efficient and self-disciplined and can always be relied on to deliver on time. Motivated by loyalty which means that they often take on jobs everyone else avoids or dislikes. But....they can be perceived as closed-minded and inflexible since they will often have difficulty deviating from their own well thought out plans.
8. Completer Finisher (CF) - is often a perfectionist who will go the extra mile to make sure everything is just right. Will double check and check again. Strong inward need for accuracy, rarely needing any encouragement from others because of their own high standards. But...they may frustrate other team members by worrying excessively about minor detail and refusing to delegate tasks that they do not trust anyone else to perform.
9. Specialists - are passionate about learning in their own particular field. Great depth of knowledge and they enjoy imparting it to others. Constantly wanting to improve their wisdom. If they don't know it - they will go out and find it. But... because they are specialists then sometimes they will be uninterested in anything which lies outside their "narrow" confines.
When I did the test I came out as a Completer Finisher with Plant tendencies! So is that a good combination for a writer? Hopefully yes. I would imagine if you were a strong Coordinator / Shaper you probably wouldn't finish writing anything! I'm sure an Editor working with a new author who is a Shaper would find it a recipe for disaster! Can you imagine the arguments when the poor editor asked for changes to a MS?
I'm sure these groups are not cast in stone, and many of us could probably see traits in ourselves that fall into most of these groups.
So what Group(s) do you think you fall in? Come on 'fess up if you dare!
Take care. Caroline x
Interesting list! I'd say I'm most...specialist. But I do try to be well balanced. :)
ReplyDeleteHi Alice. Thanks for stopping by! The groups are interesting and thought provoking are'nt they? I definately recognise some of my work colleagues traits in these groups! Take care. Caroline x
ReplyDeleteThat's really interesting, Caroline; I haven't come across this one before and I find this sort of thing fascinating. I'm not sure what I'd class myself as - definitely have plant and specialist tendencies, but I like learning OUTSIDE my areas, too, so I don't know!
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