Contribute is a game designed to demonstrate the strengths and contributions of each of the nine Belbin Team Roles, developing the team’s understanding of the roles within a learning environment.
Contribute is made up of nine different tasks, involving everything from caption writing to guiding other members of the team onto a sheep pen. Each exercise corresponds with a Team Role and the team must decide who should perform each task. The team’s objective is to collect all nine Team Role awards within a certain time limit.
Contribute helps the team explore its strengths and weaknesses. What did they do when they realised they had no Completer Finishers and five Shapers? How will they overcome the gaps and overlaps in their team when back at work?
How can it be used?
Contribute has been used to help thousands of teams in a variety of ways including:
- Understanding their strengths and potential weaknesses;
- Developing a non-confrontational Team Role language;
- Transforming from an OK team into a high performing team;
- Highlighting differences in Team Role behaviour and resolving conflict;
- Enabling newly formed teams to 'hit the ground running'.
What does Belbin Contribute contain?
A facilitators manual: All instructions, answers and feedback suggestions
A players manual: Containing all exercises with the exception of the Shaper and Implementer exercises.
· Shaper exercise: Blindfolds, whistle and sheep-pen mat
· Implementer exercise: Magnetic board and shapes
1 jigsaw
All packed in to a hard wearing black briefcase.
How to run
The facilitator’s manual contains pointers for observation and feedback to the team, so it can be used by Team Role novices and Belbin accredited practitioners alike. Questions to be raised after completing the Contribute exercise can include:
- How were the tasks allocated? Did everyone share their Team Role strengths?
- Were there any gaps? How did the team overcome this?
- How did the team resolve any problems arising from more than one person having a particular Team Role strength?
- How can this be related to a recent situation faced by the team?
- Now that everyone has shared their Belbin strengths and weaknesses, would this have changed the recent project outcomes?
How long does it take? What else do I need to know?
Contribute can be run with 4-9 participants, and takes approximately one hour. The feedback and debrief can take as long as required. It is strongly recommended that each participant has completed their Self-Perception Inventory, and obtained a minimum of four Observer Assessments prior to commencing the exercise.
The Belbin Individual reports play an important part in allocating the nine tasks, and so time should be set aside to ensure that each participant has had the opportunity to read through their Belbin Individual report beforehand.
