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Working out your team role

There are various methods to help you to work out your team role:

• Complete the MTR-i questionnaire (MTR-i materials are available to people qualified to purchase them)
• Get feedback from your team colleagues on your contribution to the team (there is a feedback mechanism included in the MTR-i materials)
• Read the MTR-i team role descriptions (at the bottom of this web page) and determine which one seems to fit best
• Undertake a team building workshop with an MTR-ipractitioner
• Read the article (immediately below) to help you identify the main 'soft products' that you contribute to team interactions.

Inner or outer world products

Of the eight MTR-i team roles, four contribute 'inner world' products and four contribute 'outer world' products.

Inner world products are transformations in the inner world of ideas, thoughts, information and explanations. Curators clarify information; Scientists produce explanations; Innovators come up with new ideas or perspectives; and Crusaders give important to ideas, information and beliefs.

Outer world products are transformations in the outer world of people, things and situations. Coaches build harmony and agreement between people; Sculptors take action to bring things to fruition; Explorers change situations to uncover new potential; and Conductors introduce organisation and structure into the way things are done.

You can narrow down your possible team roles from eight to four by deciding whether the contribution you make to the team is primarily in terms of inner-world products or outer-world products. The following table shows some examples of products in each world, and which team roles are associated with inner or outer world products:

Products based on experience vs products based on potential

The dichotomy of products based on 'experience vs potential' applies to just four of the eight team roles: Sculptor and Curator products are based on applying proven and known experience; Explorer and Innovator products are based on the untapped and unquantified potential or possibilities of something that is new and unproven.

Experience-based team roles (Sculptor and Curator) utilise what is already known, based on proven experience or what can be deduced from that experience, to create their products. Sculptors utilise their experience and knowledge to make changes to the outer world of people, things and situations. When presented with a new situation, they will take action, using tools and techniques that experience tells them will work - if a technique has worked in the past, then they will use it again. Curators utilise their experience and knowledge to clarify information and ideas. When presented with something new, they will relate it to what they already know, and acquire more information (using terms with which they are already familiar) to help clarify their observations.

Potential-based team roles (Explorer and Innovator) constantly seek to develop new possibilities. When presented with a situation, they produce something that has greater potential. Explorers explore this potential in the outer world of people, things and situations. When presented with a situation, even if there is a technique that has worked in the past, then it can be bettered, and they may change it to see if it can yield even better results. Innovators create potential in the inner world of ideas and information. When presented with something new, their interest is in taking new and alternative perspectives; or they generate new ideas that have more potential than the original idea/information that was presented.

The table below shows the characteristics of the two types of team roles and some examples of their products.

Products based on structure vs value

The dichotomy of products based on 'structure vs value' applies to just four of the eight team roles: Conductor, Scientist, Coach and Crusader. Conductor and Scientist team roles are based on producing structure and organisation; Coach and Crusader team roles are based on giving value and importance.

Structure-based team roles make logical connections and seek to establish what is true or 'correct'. They then introduce structure and organisation based on what they have found to be true or correct. Conductors introduce structure into the outer world of people and things, identifying the correct way to do things and ensuring things happen in an organised fashion. When presented with a new situation, they will determine the correct process that needs to be used to deal with it, and then implement that process. Scientists introduce structure into the inner world of ideas and information, forming explanations of how things work based on what they have found to be true. Scientists seek to understand the full complexity of new situations, analysing them and developing mental models to demonstrate the relationship between cause and effect.

Value-based team roles seek to create harmony and assign importance so that things 'feel right'. Coaches seek to build harmony in the outer world of people, things and situations. They try to build harmony, forge agreements and build team spirit. When presented with a new situation, they will try to overcome the conflict that exists and find a consensus amongst those involved, in which everyone feels involved. Crusaders build harmony in the inner world of ideas and information, which means that they ensure important ideas are given due attention. When presented with a new situation, they identify those ideas or information that have the greatest value and stress what is important.

Working out your team role

Your team role is determined by the main products that you contribute to the team. Everyone can and does perform each team role, to some degree. However, there are often one or two team roles that you perform more than any other.

To determine your team role, read the following summary table to decide your main contribution (of soft products) to the team:

Longer descriptions can be found at the bottom of this page.

Comparison with your personality preferences

To understand your personality preferences, read Working out your Myers Briggs type.

Your team role reflects the behaviours and attitudes that you are currently adopting within your work team. Those behaviours and attitudes may be similar to your preferences, or they may be very different. Your behaviour in the team is not determined solely by your preferences - there may be other factors in play, such as:

• The role you are expected to play by your boss/employer
• The demands of the job
• The roles played by other team members, and a need to compensate for what the rest of the team lacks
• Your training or education
• The working environment

In general, the closer your work role to your preferences, the more likely it is that you will enjoy work, though this is not a definitive rule. The greater the disparity between your team role and personality preference, the more likely it is that you may be finding the work stressful (also not a definitive rule). The tables below show (a) the closest types for each team role and (b) the closest team roles for each type:

Closest Types for each team role

Closest Team Roles for each type

(Technical information for advanced MBTI users: the above tables are inferred from our research on the orientation of the functions: that the dominant and tertiary functions are clearly oriented in the preferred direction; the auxiliary and inferior are roughly equally split between both orientations; and the tertiary in the opposite direction is the lowest scoring of all the function-attitudes).

Team Role Descriptions

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