The Apprentice: You’re Fired is the great debrief.  Successful businesspeople and renowned comedians reflect on the good, the bad and the ugly of each candidate’s time in the process. Last night, Perween Warsi, Chief Executive of S&A Foods, was using Team Roles to explain why she thought the biscuit task had proved to be Zoe Beresford’s downfall.
However, Warsi’s comments were not focused on teamworking per se, but on using Team Roles effectively in management. She described the diversity you can find in teams: some like to use their creativity and initiative, some like to press on with the job at hand, others want to play a dominant role and make their voices heard. The key, Warsi claimed, was to adapt your management style accordingly, deciding when to coach and mentor and when to adopt a more assertive, authoritative approach.

When it came to the boardroom, two charges stood against Zoe. The first was that she had failed to manage difficult interpersonal chemistry, trying to shout down those who were proving “disruptive” in their efforts to influence the team’s direction.
The second charge, discussed at length, was the quality of the product. Any Team Role combination is suitable for management and this week, a Completer Finisher managerial approach was demanded of Zoe. A Completer Finisher is focused on quality of outcome and takes pride in the finished article: in this case, the taste of the biscuit. Perhaps the biggest challenge for a Completer Finisher manager is to balance their perfectionism with the necessary delegation of tasks and responsibilities to others. These two needs can come into conflict, with Completer Finishers reluctant to delegate work that they feel they could perform to the highest standards.
In Zoe’s team, the phenomenon of different working styles was observed between Tom (who seems to demonstrate some Plant and Completer Finisher attributes) and Melody, who takes a more dominant, generalist approach. Melody complained that Tom tended to focus on the detail and then extrapolate, whereas she herself wanted to establish the bigger picture before taking a closer view. Since neither had authority over the other, frustration and bickering resulted.
Here was a difficult team to manage: one made of headstrong people careering in different directions from the outset, so what could Zoe have done differently? Over in the other team, there were still clashes, but Helen Milligan managed to keep the team onside throughout the task. Team member Jim commented that Helen was easy to get along with because she was a passive character, but perhaps it was more the case that Jim was being so effectively managed that he didn’t realise that he was being managed at all? Helen seemed to adopt the managerial style of a good Teamworker, working well with the other contestants by avoiding aggression, but also making important decisions when it came to the crunch, which is not always the Teamworker’s strongest suit.
So who is tipped to win? The focus of the Apprentice is changing – it's not just about sales and big talk anymore. Alan Sugar seems to be looking for a unique blend of entrepreneurial flair and effective management. Will he find both in the same candidate? That remains to be seen.

By Victoria Brown, Belbin Associates