Harnessing behaviour and tracking it with KBIs (Key Behavioural Indicators) akin to KPIs, can enhance team dynamics and performance. Belbin is the tool that best measures these KBI’s in our experience.
We have introduced many of our clients to the concept of using Key Behavioural Indicators as a useful tool for enhancing team dynamics and performance.
In a nutshell, it’s about using the Belbin Model and its evidence-based reports to measure individual and collective behaviours within a team. It helps identify things teams need to sustain, improve and fix, then tracking those commitments with ongoing accountability on a longitudinal basis.
Tracking behaviours and team dynamics allows teams to enhance long-term performance, and like most things that Belbin assists teams with, it’s not rocket science to actually deploy it. It just takes the discipline to use the tools and data that you have from the model.
In business, performance metrics have long been synonymous with KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). These tangible measurements provide an important snapshot of an individual, team or organisation's impacts. However, while KPIs measure outcomes, they often overlook the processes that lead to these results—particularly human behaviour. This is where KBIs (Key Behavioural Indicators) come in, offering a complementary perspective by focusing on the behaviours and interactions that drive performance.
Tracking behaviour in teams over time using KBIs with Belbin as the tool, offers enormous benefits. By focusing on how people act and interact within a team, organisations can foster environments that leverage strengths, contain the impacts of weakness and consistently lead to high performance.
Behavioural patterns, especially those observed longitudinally, reveal insights that static KPIs cannot. For example, a team that demonstrates collaborative behaviours, effective communication, and mutual support is more likely to achieve sustained success than one driven solely by individual performance metrics.
We find a powerful way to track these behaviours is by using the Belbin Team Role Model and its reports on an ongoing basis. Developed by Dr. Meredith Belbin, this model measures nine distinct clusters of behavioural team roles, each with specific strengths and weaknesses. The roles include categories like "Shaper," who drives action; "Teamworker," who supports cohesion; and "Plant," who brings creativity and innovation.
By understanding these roles and how they play out in real-time, managers can identify behavioural patterns that contribute to team success or reveal gaps that may need addressing, and devise actionable plans for dealing with them.
Integrating Belbin’s insights into a KBI framework allows managers to track key behavioural dynamics within teams. For example, they can monitor how effectively the "Coordinator" role is demonstrated in meetings or how effectively the "Completer-Finisher" role is used to ensure that details are not overlooked on projects. Over time, this allows teams to begin naturally adjusting and timing their contributions in real-world scenarios, ensuring a balance of roles that optimise productivity and collaboration.
Unlike KPIs, which are often reactive and focus on outcomes after the fact, KBIs are proactive during a team’s life cycle. They give organisations the ability to shape their teams' success by focusing on the underlying behaviours that lead to those results.
When used together, KPIs and KBIs provide a holistic picture: KPIs tell you what your team is achieving, while KBIs explain how they’re getting there. This approach can ultimately lead to a more resilient, adaptable, and high-performing organisation.
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