Dr meredith belbin biography books

Dr Meredith Belbin originally identified the Team Roles as part of a unique study of teams that took place at Henley Business School which included a business simulation game. In 1969, Dr Belbin was invited to use this business game as a starting point for a study of team behaviour.

Education

Meredith Belbin was thirteen years of age when the Second World War broke out. Living in an area that became known as “Bomb” Alley in Sevenoaks, Meredith refused to be evacuated with his mother and sisters, preferring to continue with his education at the Royal Grammar School in High Wycombe, where he was already receiving glowing reports from the headmaster. Meredith suggests that the theme of playing to one’s strengths and managing weaknesses came to the fore even at this early age, with his poor performance in Mathematics being mitigated by excellence in Latin.

At Cambridge

By 1945, it was difficult to attain a place at Oxford or Cambridge, as many were being reserved for ex-servicemen. Nevertheless, with an essay Dr Belbin modestly describes as “high-grade waffle”, he went up to study Classics at Clare College, Cambridge.

After a couple of years, Meredith began to tire of his subject, viewing an impending career as a classics teacher as a rather unpalatable option. Never one for keeping to convention, Meredith began to branch out and read about anthropology and economics, tucking himself away for hours at a time at the world-renowned University Library at Cambridge.

After some consideration, he switched courses to Psychology, completing a two-year course in half the allotted time. It was here that he met Eunice, who would later become his wife. Eunice was reading psychology at Girton College. Meredith remembers contriving to partner her in a tennis match in order to catch her eye and, a year later, the two were married. Shortly afterwards, Meredith began studying for his PhD, focusing on the Psychology of Ageing in Industry.

From Theory to Practice

Following his

Dr. Meredith Belbin (1926) is a British researcher best known for his ground breaking research in the field of team effectiveness. He is a Professor and researcher at Henley Business School in Oxfordshire, England. Meredith Belbin became world wide famous with Team Roles theory.

Meredith Belbin biography

Belbin’s early years

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Meredith Belbin was thirteen years old. With his family, he lived in an area that later became known as Bomb Alley, in Sevenoaks. He, along with his mother and sisters, refused to leave the area during an evacuation.

He was keen to complete his schooling at the Royal Grammar School in High Wycombe. He received excellent marks from the headmaster there.

Meredith later suggested that it is best for team members to use and develop their strengths as much as possible, something that he already experienced during this school period: his poor understanding of mathematics was softened by his excellence in Latin.

Study time

Meredith Belbin graduated in major classical languages and psychology from Clare College, part of Cambridge University.

However, this was not as it always went. In the time of the war, 1945, it was difficult to get a place in universities like Cambridge University or Oxford University. Nevertheless, Meredith managed to gain admission with an essay to study classical languages at Clare College, Cambridge.

After some time, Meredith had had enough of the study. He started reading up on other subjects and hid in the university library for hours at a time. He read about economics, anthropology and a variety of other disciplines, but eventually chose psychology.

He completed the two-year course in one year and also met Eunice during this time. Eunice would later become Meredith’s wife. To attract her attention, Meredith played a tennis match with her, he later recounted. A year lat

• Meredith Belbin is born in Sevenoaks, Kent.

• Meredith begins studying Classics at Clare College, Cambridge and later changes to Psychology.

  Image: Helen Knowles © Clare College, Cambridge

• Meredith marries Eunice and begins studying for his PhD, focusing on the Psychology of Ageing in Industry.

• Following his doctorate, Meredith is invited to take a research fellowship at Cranfield College (now Cranfield School of Management) to continue his study of older workers in industry. As part of his work, he goes into over a hundred companies, studying how work patterns change with age.

• Eunice Belbin is working as a director at the Industrial Training Research Unit (ITRU). Meredith combines his work at Cranfield with consultancy for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which takes him all over the world. In the USA, he works with the US Department of Labor, pioneering the concept of "work experience" to integrate underprivileged members of the community into the workplace.

• Meredith works alongside Eunice at the ITRU, and is invited to carry out research at the Administrative Staff College at Henley-on-Thames (now known as Henley Business School). He begins planning a research project to study management teams in action. This research forms the basis from which Team Role theory will spring.

• Belbin’s research begins to appear in management magazines and journals - here, on the cover of 'International Management' in 1973.

• In Australia, Meredith works with colleagues studying intellectual abilities and teamworking. With a guiding principle of building on success and understanding the reasons for failure, Meredith continues to put his research into practice. In 1980, Anthony Jay writes a

English researcher and management consultant

Raymond Meredith Belbin (born 4 June 1926) is a British researcher and management consultant best known for his work on management teams. He is a visiting professor and Honorary Fellow of Henley Management College in Oxfordshire, England.

Early life and work

Belbin took both his first and second degrees, Classics and then Psychology, at Clare College, Cambridge. His first appointment after his doctorate was as a research fellow at Cranfield College (now Cranfield School of Management at Cranfield University). His early research focused mainly on older workers in industry. He returned to Cambridge and joined the Industrial Training Research Unit (ITRU) where his wife Eunice was director and he subsequently became chairman. Belbin combined this job with acting as OECD consultant running successful demonstration projects in Sweden, Austria, UK and the United States.

It was while at ITRU, in the late 1960s, that Belbin was invited to carry out research at what was then called the Administrative Staff College at Henley-on-Thames. The work which formed the basis of his 1981 classic took several years and, after publication, it was some time before its real importance was recognised. For instance, the Apollo Syndrome was later derived from his classic book.

Belbin and his son Nigel established BELBIN Associates in 1988 to publish and promote the research.

Belbin believes the European Union is "a minuscule bureaucracy, with no forces to exercise control at all."

Belbin's research

Main article: Belbin Team Inventory

Belbin's 1981 book Management Teams presented conclusions from his work studying how members of teams interacted during business games run at Henley Management College. Amongst his key conclusions was the proposition that an effective team has members that cover eight (later nine) key roles in managing the team and