Dr. Belbin considers the way in which evolution has produced distinct patterns of behaviour for men and women.

Dr. Belbin discusses the history of homo sapiens, including:
How very early human society was regulated through organic balance rather than through power, allowing women to play a vital role in the community
Why women lost their hold over men, as more populous and structured societies became dominated by aggressive warriors seeking territorial expansion
How natural selection within competing empires favoured the survival of able professionals and compliant slaves, so diversifying the behavioural roles to which humans were genetically disposed
How, in the present era, power has lost its biological utility as human evolution has slowed, and how technological evolution, with its premium on communication skills, favoured the emancipation of women
How women have recovered status and influence through social progress, which has brought about a new set of cross-gender problems
Contents:

• Introduction
• The age of respect
• In the beginning
• Echoes of the past
• The great migration
• The age of power - the fall of Eve
• Advance the conqueror
• Problems for rulers
• The inefficiencies of power
• The age of accommodation - a change of focus
• The resurrection of Eve
• The genetic legacy
• Gender relationships
• A changing culture
• A question of leadership
• Two modes of management
• Appendices - Commentary on cartoon themes
• Icons of the prime genetic archetypes
• From equality to mutuality

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Dr Belbin moves from exploring the problems of typical hierarchies to restructured, flatter organisations, which give rise to their own set of issues.

In search of alternative systems, Dr Belbin outlines ways in which continuous deployment and career development can result in more effective use of people’s talents. He describes the worlds of the higher social insects, where evolution has generated a common set of principles governing the most advanced of organisations. He then suggests that these integrated strengths could be fruitfully combined with the strategic abilities of humans, for increased effectivity.

Dr Belbin foresees a model in the form of the helix, in which individuals and teams move forward on the basis of excellence rather than function. Here, information technology can assist in the evolution of human organisations to enable them to become both more advanced and more viable in the future.

Contents:

• In search of the future
• The faltering organization
• The problem with Mr Big
• Lessons from a diminutive masterclass
• Concurrent versus sequential decision-making
• Replacing traditional hierarchy
• An alternative way of arranging work
• Teams communicate with teams
• Employing the highly talented
• The culture and the organization
• Strategic leadership comes of age
• The organization of public affairs
• Forces making for change
• The evolution of common shape

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Many problems at work arise from the way in which jobs are set up and work allocated. Commonly, individuals lack a clear understanding of their duties, and so spend time and energy disentangling their responsibilities from those of their colleagues. In other cases, people may be so hemmed in by job specifications that they aren’t afforded any room for movement or initiative, and begin to feel stifled.

Dr. Belbin points out the need for an alternative system, where jobs can grow and develop. In such a system, communication regarding work can flow upwards as easily as downwards, giving people at all levels a good idea of what is happening. Dr. Belbin’s approach (”Workset”) incorporates colour-coding and information technology derived from current, international experiments. Workset is a new means of delivering greater efficiency in a dynamic process, which involves managers and jobholders alike.

Contents:

• Order and disorder
• The true nature of a modern job
• Reclassifying work: tasks versus responsibilities
• ‘So what’s the job?’
• Overcoming initial problems
• Job casting and job briefing
• Improving communications
• Quantifying the way we work
• Managing the feedback
• Creating a new culture
• Fostering team empowerment
• From competence to excellence
• Team roles and colour codes
• Managers and leaders revisited
• A way forward
• Glossary of Terms
• Audit of Existing Practices in Job-Setting

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Jobs need to be actively interpreted, and the balance between Team Roles and functional roles, constantly revised. Dr Belbin explains how the increasingly complex demands of work allocation can be aided by a colour-coding system, as tested in international trials. Dr Belbin introduces Work Roles, a system of communication based on colour, which allows space for sensitive feedback and has especial value where members of an organisation do not share a common language.

The socially complex nature of communication in the workplace offers parallels with the intricacies of the social insect world. Information technology is extending human networking, with the potential for creating a form of organisation closer to what can be achieved in superorganisms

Beyond the Team shows how the mature team can eventually learn to distribute work between its own members, by giving a comprehensive understanding of how to manage both Team Roles and Work Roles.

Beyond The Team explores:

• The impact of Team Roles
• Rise and fall of the team
• Distinguishing teams from groups
• Understanding work roles
• What pink work reveals
• A framework for meetings
• What ever happened to empowerment?
• Rewards and renumeration
• Adding value to the job
• Feedback and networking
• Decision-making and the mature organisation
• From groups to supergroups
• Some steps in the right direction
• Snakes and ladders

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Meredith Belbin’s work on teams has become part of everyday language in organisations all over the world.

Management Teams (2nd ed.) is required reading for managers concerned with achieving the best results from those who report to them. The first edition is one of the most widely-read, imaginative and influential books on this vital area of management research and was cited by the FT as one of the top 50 business books of all time.

The second edition includes eleven case studies, plus a new chapter describing how Team Role theory was put into practice in the intervening years between the two editions.

All kinds of teams and team behaviours are covered, including:
The Apollo Syndrome
Creativity
Team Leadership
Improving Unsuccessful Teams
Winning Teams
Team Size
Designing a Team
Teams in Public Affairs
The second edition of the book also contains a free online Belbin assessment (worth £30). This is to replace the obsolete self-scoring Self-Perception Inventory, which is out-of-date, is not fully normed and is lacking the Specialist role.

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Team Roles at Work is a follow-up to Meredith Belbin’s highly successful book Management Teams: Why They Succeed or Fail.

‘A team is not a bunch of people with job titles, but a congregation of individuals, each of whom has a role which is understood by other members. Members of a team seek out certain roles and they perform most effectively in the ones that are most natural to them.’

In this book, the nine Team Roles - now familiar to managers and management trainers all over - are explored further, adding value to the original Team Role concepts. Operational strategies provide ideas, techniques and a new range of information and advice which can be used to the organisation’s advantage.

The application of the theory includes:

• How to manage yourself in a team
• How to create working partnerships
• How to recognise potential for the ’surprise’ fit
• How to encourage interdependence between members of a team
• How the team should fit into the organisation.

Contents:

• A short history of roles at work
• The qualifications mystery
• Emergence of a Team Role language
• The eligibility versus suitability issue
• Coherent and incoherent role profiles
• Interpersonal chemistry in the workplace
• The management of strained relations
• Strategies for self-management
• The art of effective team building
• Solo leader versus team leader
• The management of succession
• The future shape of organisation

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• Align the work style strengths of your team with the requirements of your customer 
• Profile your competitor to give you an accurate idea of what they are likely to do.  After all the competitor you can predict is the one you can learn to outsmart.

If you would like a little guidance, we would like to help, so contact us and we’ll arrange a meeting.

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• Understanding yourself and work style and where your input will get you favourably noticed
• Recognising why some work relationships are easier than others and why some people and situation are just plain difficult!
• Learning how to deal with others at work and the culture of the organisation.

‘There are some real gems in the book, particularly the sections on how to handle difficult people and assessing organisational culture. This is a must read for all, providing a good foundation for understanding team dynamics and how managers can use Team Role theory to enhance the effectiveness of both individuals and teams in the workplace.’

Elwyn Thomas - Arup Associate Director

‘It also contains so much common sense on managing stress and dealing with difficult people that it should be available on prescription.’

Training and Coaching Today - July/August 2008

Succeeding at Work

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‘Mad Bad and Dangerous to Know’ is an excellently crafted, honest and emotional account of the life of what drives a compulsive high achiever. Also, for all the accolades poured upon this man, few bother to mention the fact that he is an engaging writer with the gift of capturing the reader’s attention. Whether he is white-water rafting or walking to the South Pole, he has the knack of  including his readers as part of the team and takes them along for the ride. This is why this book is so hard to put down.

Just for a bit of fun we have been looking to try to judge the Belbin Team Role Profile for Sir Ranulph Fiennes; we would suggest that he is a Shaper - Monitor Evaluator. What do you think?

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This book is full of these gems and provides the handbook that shows the practical realities of how to lead in the new world of constant change and challenge.

It cuts to the essence of the stuff of leadership, it describes the test for a leader, what a leader needs to do to create and keep followers, how to lead change, what the necessary leadership behaviours are and how to manage emotions as a leader.

Do not look here for esoteric fluffy concepts, Eddie gets right to the practical doing of leadership, that of leadership actions, thinking, principles, people, processes and performance.

The book is the swiss army knife of leadership (except the knife is very sharp, and the little magnifying glass thing is actually 20 metres in diameter). So broad perspective but laser sharp focus.

The Complete Leader provides you a complete integrated set of tools of how to think, organise and lead for the new world and summarises many of the techniques Pentacle have been perfecting over the last 10-15 years.

Excellent value and highly recommended, but do not leave it on the shelf after you read it, instead go ahead and implement the ideas.

Yes, and before I forget this is not a book for the boss, as bosses only exist in out-moded vertical hierarchies. This book is for leaders those people who want to bring improvement to the world, who are creating new futures and who need people, whom they have no authority over, to come and join with them in their Quests (or Fogs, or Movies or indeed those who want to do a bit of Painting by Numbers*)

* Types of Change, Types of Projects.

This book is a perfect companion to the Achieving Focus lesson.
This lesson will help you understand:

• The Success Factors for High Achievers
• How to Set Inspirational Goals
• How to develop Your Own Commitment to Achievement
• About techniques to build up your own Resolution to recover from set backs
• The importance of Continually developing your own competences
• How to Use the Pursuit of Happiness as your guide in selecting goals 
• How you goals may evolve over time

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