Studies of communication patterns in technical teams have confirmed the importance of three roles (critic, erudite and idea generator) identified in earlier Russian work. Interpersonal needs and innovation‐adaptation style preferences were also examined. The results demonstrate that the roles are taken up by team members with differing interpersonal needs and innovation‐adaptation biases. The authors suggest that greater attention to such factors will assist in the design and management of more effective scientific teams, and describe an easy‐to‐apply survey‐feedback method for facilitating team learning and de