Belbin and Listening Styles

Listening is key to effective communication.

In teams, failing to listen to one another is a common cause of conflict and other difficulties. 

Team and group settings place different demands on the listener, because we are not responding directly to the speaker, as we would do in interpersonal situations.

In order to listen effectively, people must select and process the information they receive. This involves filtering out other stimuli and distractions.

Teams cannot achieve high performance unless all members actively listen to one another.

It helps to understand different listening styles – our preferred ways of making sense of the messages we hear.

Researchers have identified four distinct listening styles – people-oriented, action-oriented, content-oriented and time-oriented.

Once we are aware of these different styles, we can begin to identify which messages might draw our attention, as well as devising strategies for listening in ways which do not come as naturally to us.

Here are four different types of listener and how they tend to receive and interpret information.

Aligning listening styles and Belbin Team Roles isn’t an exact science, but we’ve provided some ideas and pointers below.

The Belbin Team Role connection…

Those with strong social roles (Co-ordinator, Resource Investigator and Teamworker) may well be people-focused listeners, listening with a view to building relationships.

Teamworkers in particular are empathetic and supportive, whilst Resource Investigators look to build rapport. Co-ordinators are keen to draw out diverse perspectives and promote consensus. 

The Belbin Team Role connection…

Those with high Monitor Evaluator, Completer Finisher and Specialist strengths may be inclined towards this listening style, for different reasons.

Those with Specialist strengths love learning and seek to deepen their understanding of their subject of expertise. They are likely to enjoy communicating with others who specialise in their area, and to impart their knowledge to help the team.

Monitor Evaluators attend to the macro and Completer Finisher to the micro. Both seek accuracy: Monitor Evaluators look to understand all variables in order to make an informed and balanced decision, whilst Completer Finishers believe that ‘the devil is in the detail’. Each is likely to hold a presenter to high standards of detail and accuracy when it comes to delivering content!

It's not 'one-size-fits-all'

It’s important to note that no one listening style is better than another – each has advantages and disadvantages.

Effective listeners are those who are able to adapt their listening style to meet the needs of the speaker and the context of the communication. Awareness of different listening styles can make people more versatile and attentive listeners.

Also, people don’t stick to one particular style – they might exhibit a combination, depending on the situation, personal preference, and the goals of the communication in question.

Likewise, you’ll notice that we placed a couple of the Team Roles in more than one category, and of course, people have several preferred Team Roles.

We couldn’t see a particular fit for Plant behaviours in this model – as is often the case, different frameworks don’t align exactly, but they offer useful lenses for understanding one another.