In layman’s terms this is the classic result of thinking that “someone else will do it, if I don’t”. Studies have also shown that larger groups also have a negative effect on motivation – a phenomena known as social loafing. Put simply, throwing more bodies at a problem becomes an increasingly inefficient solution, as team size grows.
#Icefaces 2016 showcase software
“adding human-power to a late software project just makes it later.” There’s even a name for the delaying phenomenon in the software development world - Brooke’s Law, which states that: Delays emerge from the snowballing time and effort required to keep everyone informed, coordinated, and integrated. A group of 50 people has an incredible 1225 links to manageĮvery steep jump in links also produces a steep jump in the potential for mismanagement, misinterpretation, and miscommunication.A basic two-pizza team size of, say, 6, has 15 links between everyone.Let’s look at how this works as team size increases.Īs group size increases, the links start to get unwieldy The formula for calculating the number of links between people in a group is as follows Management – essentially the task of handling these links, consequently becomes harder. Richard Hackman, bluntly stated, “What he found was that number of links between people within a team increased at an exponential rate as the team size grew. Let’s take a look at the science behind his thinking.Ĭommunication becomes more problematic as team size grows The rule of thumb he coined to summarize his idea was that a team should not be larger than two pizzas can feed. He went on to explain that small teams make it easier to communicate more effectively, to stay decentralized and moving fast, while encouraging high autonomy and innovation. “Communication is terrible” he said, but the way to fix it was not to communicate more. One manager suggested that teams should communicate more with each other, a seemingly reasonable suggestion that Bezos shot down to everyone’s surprise.
A concept popularized by Jeff Bezos, ‘two pizza’ teams is not simply a management fad, but an idea backed by the science behind how people coordinate and communicate within teams.Īs the story goes, the coining of the ‘two pizza’ rule was sparked by a discussion at an Amazon corporate retreat.
Why two pizza teams? Well, simply because it works.
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