■ Research Paper Being, Engaging, Contextualizing and Managing Matrix—a Means for Nonspecialists to Assess Group Dynamics? Simon Bell 1 and Stephen Morse 2 * 1 Communication and Systems Department, Faculty of Mathematics, Computing and Technology, Open University, Milton Keynes, UK 2 Centre for Environmental Strategy, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, UK In April 1999, academics from the Systems Department at the Open University in UK devised a matrix for assessing third‐level systems students—the matrix was based upon systemic practitioner behaviours taught in the course. It was based upon earlier methods that sought to understand and assess student progress based upon evidence of changing behavioural traits rather than the expression of learned responses or ‘right’ answers. This was the beginning of the being, engaging, contextualizing and managing (BECM) matrix. The European Union‐funded research project called Policy Influence of Indicators (POINT) made use of BECM as part of a process for exploring ways in which groups make use of indicators in several domains. This paper tells the story of how BECM was used in the POINT project to gain an understanding of group behaviour by observation of four segregated but linked qualities. Copyright # 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Keywords group dynamics; group work; sustainable development; group assessment; indicators INTRODUCTION The notion of assessing group dynamics as a means for appreciating team work is not new, and the pages of this journal are replete with differ- ent methods for accomplishing this in practice. An oft‐mentioned example is the use of the Symlog methodology (see, for example, Keyton, 1999; Becker‐Beck, 2001; Becker‐Beck et al., 2005; Sjovold, 2007). Symlog has many advantages in providing an ‘inside out’ view of a group both in terms of the individuals’ self‐perception and their perception of the function of the group as a whole, and this can be in terms of the original long‐hand version of the approach or in a simplified form (Bales et al., 1979; Blumberg, 2006). Symlog is a lengthy and powerful * Correspondence to: S. Morse, Centre for Environmental Strategy, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey GU2 7XH, UK. E‐mail: s.morse@surrey.ac.uk Received 29 September 2010 Accepted 14 March 2011 Copyright # 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Systems Research & Behavioral Science Syst. Res. 28, 319 – 339 (2011) Published online 4 May 2011 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/sres.1088