Eight Reasons Why Behaviour Is Important

2. It can be observed.

What can't be measured, can't be managed. And, if what is measured is observable by one and all, it makes the feedback that much more acceptable. Such ready acceptance of what's obesrvable, stands to trigger quick and meaningful change.

Personality is what’s on the inside; behaviour is what comes out. Behaviour affects – and is affected by – those around us. Measuring behaviour allows us to focus on the words and actions which shape our interactions with others. Arguably, we aren’t experts on someone else’s personality – we don’t know what’s going on "behind the scenes" – but we can comment on what we can see before us.

By giving and receiving feedback on behaviours within a team, we move to a democratic, evidential process. We can corroborate – or disagree with – one another, and provide evidence of the behaviours in question from our own experience. This can depersonalise difficult conversations and take the heat out of conflicts which might otherwise descend into ad hominem attacks. It can also provide a significant learning opportunity – your observers might uncover strengths you didn’t know you possessed.

4. It’s practical.

Self awareness is not about stereotyping. Is not about displaying conceptual brilliance and using sophisticated lingo, that some experts understand better than we do as simple people. To do that, is to limit the infinite potential we all have to influence our future.

So, Belbin isn’t a label to apply or a box to put someone in, it’s a language designed to help people better understand each other. Once people experience the power of simplicity in the Belbin Team Roles Methodology, this language can be used as a shorthand to describe how different kinds of work might be approached or what sort of contributions are required at a particular meeting.

6. It can be predicted.

Since we can observe behaviour, we can predict it too. People may not always behave as we expect in every little way – as human beings, we always possess the capacity to surprise one another – but broadly speaking, we settle into ways of working, communicating and relating to others that can be expected to remain the same over a period of time. This means we can use behavioural styles for recruitment and teambuilding, to suggest whether someone might be a good fit for a particular job role or to join an existing team.

8. It can be extrapolated.

Personality comes down to the individual – it’s their outlook on the world. By its very nature, behaviour is more fluid and interconnected with others, so it lends itself naturally to collation. We can aggregate key Team Role information to design and build teams, or map the behavioural preferences of two individuals to examine how well a partnership might work.