Management Team Roles Inventory

MTR-i ™

Origins

The Management Team Roles Inventory (MTR-i™) was developed by Englishman, Steve Myers.  During the 1990s he developed a model that could be used alongside the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI®), yet could also stand alone as an instrument for team development.

In his own words Myers ‘looked for three things to come together in the development:

  • A strong theoretical foundation
  • A good statistical basis
  • Simplicity and practicality for use with teams.

He achieved all three. 

Like the MBTI®, the MTR-i ™ is based on Carl Gustav Jung’s theory of personality.  This gives a cohesive foundation when using both instruments for team building processes or for individual coaching.

What does it measure?

The MTR-i™ measures what a person actually does within team, irrespective of that person’s personality preferences – and irrespective of their position description or what others think that person is doing.  During the workshop, three factors are compared

  • what the person is actually doing,
  • what colleagues think each other is doing, and
  • the position description for each,

Thereby giving a 360 degree analysis of the individual’s work and the team’s ‘health’ is achieved.

When this process includes the MBTI®, both the individual and the team have an opportunity to assess whether the roles they have taken (or been given) within the team are drawing upon their gifts and skills of personality as well as offering a reasonable challenge to keep the tasks interesting.

 i.e. their dominant and auxiliary preferences and offering a ‘good stretch’ of their skills or whether the role is demanding too much of a ‘stretch’.

What are the roles?

Every skilfully functioning team must attend to certain requirements in order to be effective.  The instrument explores these through eight roles that function within a team:

  • Coach
  • Crusader or Campaigner
  • Explorer
  • Innovator
  • Sculptor
  • Curator
  • Conductor
  • Scientist

These eight roles describe what the person actually does within that particular team at this time. 

Are the roles set in stone?

These roles are not static.  If a person belongs to two or more different ‘teams’ e.g. a workplace team and a committee, they may in fact take on different roles because of the nature of the work and/or the skills of others in the team.

Can I carry out any of the roles?

Particular roles will sit more comfortably and skilfully with different personality preferences and skills.  However, this does not mean that a person cannot, for a time, take on a role that is a large ‘stretch’ for their personality preferences.

How do MTR-i™ and MBTI® relate to each other?
(cf. © S.P. Myers, 2000)

Both instruments are based on C.G. Jung’s personality typology.  They have a consistent methodology and philosophy.  The advantage in this is that together they provide consistent training and development.  They are easily built upon after a team has understood the concepts.

The MBTI®:

  • Reports a person’s personality preferences
  • Is consistent over time
  • Measures personality type
  • Has 16 personality types

The MTR-i™

  • Reports a person’s contribution to the team
  • The role changes in different situations
  • Measures use of Jungian function-attitudes
  • Has 8 distinct team roles

Particular MBTI® preferences will have a theoretical correlation with particular team roles e.g. people with Extraverted Feeling (Fe) e.g. ESFJ, ENFJ may perform more easily in the role of Coach.  People with Introverted Thinking (Ti) may be more suited to the role of Scientist.

Who will benefit from the MTR-i™?

The MTR-i™ has many applications:

  • In the workplace
  • For committee development
  • For families
  • Anywhere people are asked to work in teams or collaborate to achieve an outcome.

MTR-i™ is invaluable for:

  • Individual professional development
  • People looking for a career change
  • Life coaching
  • Team effectiveness
  • Healthy and productive collaboration

How do I find out what I do and what my team does?

MTR-i™ is administered through a questionnaire.  This questionnaire does not evaluate the quality of a person’s performance.  It evaluates what a person actually does in a particular group or team.

For all team members: 
Each member of the team completes a questionnaire for themselves and for each other team member.  This gives a 360 degree analysis of what is actually happening in the team.  The results are then debriefed through group work and in the context of the team’s goals, position descriptions etc.

For individuals:
The questionnaire is completed by the person, she or he may ask team mates to complete the 360 degree questionnaire or she or he may opt simply to look at their own strengths.  The process is debriefed with the accredited professional.

Accreditation

Dr. Barbara Reynolds-Hutchinson is accredited to Bronze and Silver levels of the MTR-i™.  This means that she is authorised to administer both MTR-i™ and MBTI®

A last word

The MTR-i™ is designed to build-up, encourage and make the very best of a team and a person’s skills.  It is non-judgmental and is not designed to be used in any judgmental or punitive manner.  It is about fostering good work, best skills, and competence.

  If you or your company is interested to learn more about either MTR-i™ and MBTI®, please contact me on contactrh@optusnet.com.au or 0412 645 847