Does size matter?

Jeff Bezos famously said, ‘If you can’t feed a team with two pizzas, it’s too large.’

He’s got a point. The kneejerk reaction to problem-solving is to throw more people at it. That’s usually a mistake. Instead, reducing team-size brings productivity gains. As with military special forces, small teams punch above their weight and people feel they’re really contributing.

So, what’s the right size for teams on large complex projects?

Corporations exist as permanent entities. And, while you get a degree of robustness from having people to hand in a crunch, a project is a ‘temporary organization’.

Whether bringing a drilling rig online or constructing a new windfarm, too many organizations go straight to designing org charts and schedules before even considering the project’s unique needs. The result is a cast of thousands reporting into a hierarchy with no temporary organizational structure.

Instead, when framing your project, focus first on teams (plural) rather than individuals. Then define the expected level of acceptable performance and workload failure boundaries. Then resource the project.

So, does size matter? Yes, but one size never fits all. It’s all context-dependent. Just make your teams small.

So, does size matter? Yes, but one size never fits all. It’s all context-dependent. Just make your teams small.

We disagree with cheapskate Bezos on one thing, though. If we’re involved, we’ll throw in an additional Pepperoni and cheese. At the end of the day, we’re still roughnecks.