Most managers have been taught to put together a team based primarily on people’s knowledge about the process or problem being studied. This single-dimensional approach unintentionally sets up a lot of teams for failure because they have the wrong mix of personal styles and skills. Likewise, it puts individual team members in a position where they often cannot play to their strengths. The result is mediocre teams at best.

To reverse this trend, Max Isaac and Kevin Carson have drawn on their many years of experience and the pioneering research of Meredith Belbin to develop practical guidelines for creating consistently successful teams. This handbook explains Belbin’s theory about team composition, shows how it applies when selecting team members, and demonstrates how it helps people become more personally successful in the workplace.