He returned to Cambridge and joined the Industrial Training Research Unit (ITRU) where his wife Eunice was director and he subsequently became chairman.
Belbin combined this job with acting as OECD consultant running successful demonstration projects in Sweden, Austria, UK and the United States.
[3] It was while at ITRU, in the late 1960s, that Belbin was invited to carry out research at what was then called the Administrative Staff College at Henley-on-Thames.
The work which formed the basis of his 1981 classic took several years and, after publication, it was some time before its real importance was recognised.
Tests exist to identify ideal team roles, but this does not preclude an extravert from being a Completer Finisher, nor an introvert from being a Resource Investigator.