OUR TEAM
Smartt Strategies uses the Belbin Team Roles methodology to help businesses and organizations achieve better results. Though based in Texas, Smartt Strategies has a network of in-house and independent Belbin trainers and consultants throughout the United States. In addition, Smartt Strategies has access to a global network of Belbin trainers who can work with organizations with overseas operations, providing the Belbin experience in a number of languages.
DeeDee Smartt Lynch / President & Chief Resource Investigator
DeeDee Smartt Lynch, President of Smartt Strategies is one of the USA’s leading Belbin Team Roles experts. With over 15 years of experience deeply focused on using Belbin Team Roles, DeeDee supports individuals, teams, and organizations to improve performance based on the approach “maximizing individual strengths IS a team issue.”
DeeDee developed numerous training exercises (such as Belbin Bingo!), handouts, and scripts, along with co-designing the “Count on Me” team role card deck and banner pens. Her customized trainings range from small teams to large team-building events. Clients include the private sector, military, non-profit, and government organizations. DeeDee holds numerous certifications for leadership and team development, including The Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team (authorized Wiley partner). DeeDee co-authored the “Belbin Chapter” for The Handbook of Communication Training: A Framework for Assessing and Developing Competence (2019, published by Routledge/Taylor and Francis).
DeeDee is a Texas native, a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, and has worked in economic development, marketing, event management and in state government.
Mike Lynch / Chief Operations Officer & Chief Shaper
Mike Lynch, Chief Operations Officer for Smartt Strategies also serves as co-trainer. Previously Mike was a senior project manager and design engineer in the nuclear industry for 40 years, in capacities ranging up to Vice President for a $2.4B project. After encountering Belbin Team Roles during the early years of his project management career at BNFL, Mike attributes much of his record-setting project teams’ successes to understanding the necessity for balanced (team roles) teams.
Mike served as a project manager in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, France, and the United States. He authored Smartt Strategies’ Project Manager’s Guidebook, and he co-authored the “Belbin Chapter” for The Handbook of Communication Training: A Framework for Assessing and Developing Competence (2019, published by Routledge/Taylor and Francis). Mike graduated from Liverpool Polytech with a Bachelor of Science in Applied Physics and a Master of Science in Engineering Project Management from Lancaster University.
Cody M. Clemens Ph.D. / Senior Consultant & Resource Investigator/Specialist
Dr. Cody M. Clemens strives to help organizations understand how they can better promote and encourage well-being in the workplace, as well as strengthen team culture and development.
In November 2014, Cody became a certified Belbin trainer with hope of helping teams achieve success. He also co-authored the “Belbin Chapter” for The Handbook of Communication Training: A Framework for Assessing and Developing Competence (2019, published by Routledge/Taylor and Francis).
Dr. Clemens is a faculty member at Ohio University (Athens, OH) in the College of Business where he teaches courses on business communication, leadership, and training and development. Most recently, Cody worked for Marietta College (Marietta, OH) as a McCoy Assistant Professor of Health Communication. While at Marietta, he was awarded the John G. and Jeanne B. McCoy Endowed Professorship of Teaching Excellence (2024) and the Edward G. Harness Outstanding Educator Award (2023). Prior to his career in higher education, Cody worked for Target Corp., where he was an Executive Team Leader of Logistics in Pittsburgh. He assisted in managing a team composed of 158 employees in a store that produced $42 million in annual revenue, and he was responsible for overseeing the entire logistics process.
Cody earned his Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Communication/Public Relations from Marietta College, his Master of Arts in Corporate Communication from Duquesne University (Pittsburgh, PA), his Master of Business Administration from Youngstown State University (Youngstown, OH), and he earned his Doctor of Philosophy in Media and Communication from Bowling Green State University (Bowling Green, OH). Dr. Clemens also holds a Certificate in Leadership Studies from Marietta College and a Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies from Bowling Green State University.