Teamwork is based on trust, commitment to a common purpose and self-shared leadership.
It is a task that usually requires time and resources on the part of organisations, with the particularity that the desired effects are not always achieved in spite of professional and intelligent employees.
- Why do these situations occur?
- Do we not select our staff well?
- Is teamwork an unattainable ideal?
The problem does not lie in the technical skills of our employees, which of course must be the right ones to achieve the objectives, but in the interaction between the team members. The theory of team roles explains how to improve our teams quickly and efficiently.
A team role consists of a pattern of behaviours developed by people when they are part of a team. These are behaviours that favour teamwork and are absolutely necessary to generate the right synergies.
It is a different role to the functional role assigned by the company, such as the positions of finance director, marketing director, as the team role is produced by the interaction between team members.
Types of Team Roles
There are three types of team roles:
- Natural roles those that are more in line with the individual's own personality and therefore are those that the person performs effortlessly and in which he/she feels more at ease.
- Secondary rolesThe person may be able to carry out tasks that are not natural to him or her if they are necessary for the good dynamics of the team.
- Avoided rolesThe behaviours that are furthest removed from the individual's personality and which they will try to avoid if possible. However, with proper learning and extra effort, they may be successfully performed, although they will never be to the person's liking.
Most theorists - Bales, Myers-Brigg, M Belbin, JA Ros, Margerison and McCann, Bernie Crawford, Alex Hiliam & Associates - have argued that the ideal team can be achieved through an appropriate mix of functional roles and team roles.
They hypothesise that if organisations are able to shape teams and select people according to these natural or secondary roles, the team will be more efficient and employees will be more motivated to work.
Joan Anton Ros Guasch, Founder ETBO and Doctor in Psychology.
Article published in the journal Patrimonia-Universidad Pompeu Fabra 21/9/2021