When building a new team, do not create an empty team. Instead grow an existing team to a larger size and then bud the two teams off 1. Build diverse teams, in terms of structure and seniority. Ideally you would want a team of Juniors and Mids, with 1-2 seniors playing an advisory. Treat work as an ability to challenge and grow a team. Do not just shunt hard problems to senior / experienced individuals.
While crafting a team, be wary of putting individuals above the team. Be wary of splitting people across projects / teams, the switching costs and project overhead of multiple projects will result in less aggregate work being delivered2.
Team Sizing
- As a rule of thumb, teams should be about 6-8 during steady state 1.
- Experienced leaders can lead approximately 5-7 people
Compensating for different sized teams
- Too small (e.g. three engineers) teams are less resilient and under utilize leadership talent. Consider having a first time manager lead this team or have an experienced lead multiple smaller teams3.
- Too large (e.g. twelve engineers). Engineering leadership time will be pressed, they will likely have to make a decision between focusing on goals vs. focusing on team development. The team may or may not be more resilient, depending on if there is a key person risk3.
References
2.
Northrop, B. The Fallacy of Splitting Time. at https://www.bennorthrop.com/Essays/2022/fallacy-of-splitting-time.php (2022).
3.
Kolyaskin, K. First rule of the team: Size. at https://medium.com/@kolyaskink/first-rule-of-the-team-size-94cdad8bc79e (2022).