Belbin Australia Rep - Spotlight on the Role of MONITOR EVALUATOR
Monitor Evaluators are a thinking oriented role like Plants, but they differ in the way that they contribute.
A Plant thinks in a rather creative, lateral and asymmetric way whereas the Monitor Evaluator applies their thinking power with high” critical thinking” ability as objective analysis.
A good Monitor Evaluator can provide valuable analytical and strategic decision-making capability to a team.
They can divorce emotion from their analysis to make well thought out decisions by weighing up the benefits and risks of different courses of action.
A good example of a Monitor Evaluator is rarely wrong if they have the right data and information, and the time, to make their decisions.Their Allowable weaknesses arise from their ability to remain relatively unemotional and objective in their analysis.
This can be seen as a bit uninspiring and overly critical by a team that’s enthusiastic to get on with things.
The ME’s ability to take proper stock of things and analyse the situation can however save a team from running off “half cocked” and making costly strategic errors. A lot of Monitor Evaluator in a team can also bias the team towards paralysis by analysis if they are not careful.
The Non Allowable weakness is being overly critical or blunt when there is no immediate requirement to do so, for example a Plant or Resource Investigator’s ideas being shot down in flames too early in a brainstorm where the natural flow of ideas that may lead to the ultimate solution being broken by ill-timed critique.
Of course if an ill thought out plan or idea is about to be launched, and could cause damage to the team then the probing insight of the ME may of course be warranted.