Margerison-McCann Team Management Profile
As any experienced leader will tell you, a good team is about more than just compiling the right people with the right experience and skills for the job. When done correctly, a team is more than the sum of its parts - a result of great teamwork and leadership that creates an environment of productivity and creativity. It is not the easiest task in the world to foster a healthy team setting, but it can be a powerful thing when it comes together correctly.
The Margerison-McCann Team Management Profile is a tool that organizations can use to help classify their employees in regard to what type of team member they are or will be. Using a set of 60 questions, this profile establishes some baseline information about each member of the team so that they can be placed into a specific spot on the Team Management Wheel. The more sections of the wheel that can be filled up by the members of a single team, the more complete that team will be.
There are eight 'role preferences' found on the wheel, and each is listed below with a short description.
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Reporter/Adviser
This is the person within the group who is adept at consolidating information and passing it out to the rest of the team. They want to make sure everyone is informed as much as possible so that they can make smart decisions with accurate information. Having a person like this on the team is important because it helps to keep the team working as a group instead of as a collection of individual employees.
Creator/Innovator
One of the biggest parts of the team is the Creator/Innovator. This is often the person that gets things going by presenting new ideas to the group that can be discussed and pursued further. One of the important elements to the group dynamic is that these kinds of people feel like they have the freedom to present their ideas in a welcoming and open environment. When the group dynamic is such that it restricts ideas and innovation, creativity often suffers as a result.
Explorer/Promoter
This role goes along somewhat with the previous category of Creator/Innovator. This is a team member that isn't just going to settle for the simple or basic plan - they are going to work toward new ideas and possibilities that might have been missed by the rest of the team. All good teams will have at least one person that fits into this category so they have the potential to rise above and beyond what is expected.
Assessor/Developer
Moving to this section of the wheel finds people who are a little more interested in the practical side of the equation than the previous two roles. The Assessor/Developer likes to be on the cutting edge, but they are more motivated by putting things into motion and making them a reality than just the development of the idea itself.
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Thruster/Organizer
As you would probably assume from the name, this role within the team is someone who is helping keep progress moving and trying to reach completion as soon as possible. They will take the ideas and initiatives from other people within the group and work on making them come to life in an efficient and effective way. This is a person that usually gets satisfaction from seeing results of the work they have put in.
Concluder/Producer
Near the end of the project life cycle is a person who fits into the Concluder/Producer role and enjoy getting everything finished up nicely and out the door. While there isn't room on the team for everyone to fill this kind of a role, it is essential that someone does. Without a good Concluder at the end of the line to 'polish' everything up, all the good work that the team has done might be wasted because the product may never make it to market properly.
Controller/Inspector
There are always plenty of small details involved in any kind of project, and it takes a special kind of person to be able to handle those details and be motivated by that kind of work. The person that fits into the Controller/Inspector spot on the wheel is necessary because they will pick up on small points that others have missed along the way and make sure those things get taken care of.
Upholder/Maintainer
The last role on the Team Management Wheel is that of the Upholder/Maintainer. This is the type of person who wants to not only make sure that everything is getting done, but that it is getting done correctly as well. They value their spot on the team and want to see the team as a whole be as successful as possible no matter what project is currently taking place.
The eight roles above make up the collection of spots on the 'wheel' within this team management theory. There is a spot at the center of the wheel, as well, which is considered a 'linker'. That means simply that there need to be some connection between the various roles around the wheel that brings them all together and allows the team to work as a unit. While an ideal team would see a variety of team members successfully bring the unit together, often the leader will need to step in and serve as this person. If you are the manager of a team within your organization, one of the most important things you are going to need to do is serve as that link for the team members filling all of the various roles in your group.
It is certainly possible to get a group of people to work together successfully on a project, but it can be a challenge. It takes more than just experience working in a specific field - it takes a good blend of personality types, and the willingness of the team members to buy-in to the overall project and come together as a unit. When this happens, great things are possible for both the group and the organization as a whole.
You may also be interested in:
Mintzberg's Management Roles | Lencioni's Five Dysfunctions of a Team | Birkinshaw's Four Dimensions of Management | Waldroop and Butler's Six Problem Behaviors | Cog's Ladder | Leader-Member Exchange Theory | Belbin's Team Roles | Benne and Sheats' Group Roles | Margerison-McCann Team Management Profile | The JD-R Model.
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