5 Things to Know About Right-Sizing Your Project Team

When you start managing a project, there’s probably one thing you consider — and fret over — near the beginning: the size of your team.?

Of course, you’re also considering who will be the best fit for the team, which stakeholders are crucial to the success of the project (and which are not), and which leaders will be making critical decisions.?

But none of the work will be possible without a streamlined team that trusts each other and is capably and reliably moving the work forward.?

Here are several of our guiding principles when we’re figuring out how to size a team for a new project:

There is no wrong size.

There’s no formula or recommendation that will size your team perfectly. However, analysts tend to err on the small side, stating that a team size of around five to seven people is optimal and allows for minimal confusion and communication gaps.?

Katherine Klein, professor of management at Wharton,?says, “My intuition is that by the time you are over eight or nine people, it is cumbersome and you will have a team that breaks down into sub-teams. Depending on the group’s task, that could be a good thing or that could not be right.”

Damian Scalerandi?notes?that “groups of 3 to 8 members tend to outperform bigger and smaller teams. It’s not that you can’t have bigger teams, it’s that if you do, it might be a good idea to group them in sub-teams of 3 to 8 members.”

Experts agree that groups of two people (which are more accurately considered pairs) and groups approaching 10 members underperform compared with teams in the sweet spot of three to eight members.?

And Anna Ilyina?writes?that “an increase in team size from 5 to 7 members almost doubles the communication load, which can have a negative impact on productivity after a certain point. When planning team size, be sure to take the communication load into account.”

For traditional projects, then, consider a smaller team. The mega-projects of today, on the other hand, may require dozens of “teams” with dozens of team members. We’ve led teams of 100 and even 1,000 people. This requires more structure and, yes, smaller groups to work on discrete tasks.?

Whether you’re managing a single team or multiple teams within a larger “program” or project, every team needs a manager, clear lines of accountability, authority, and a clear scope. Whatever the size of your team, make sure you have those elements covered. Ultimately, that’s much more important than the team size.?

Optimize for “project fatigue.”?

To avoid project fatigue — the natural but exasperating lull that sets in about midway through a project — set reasonable benchmarks and assign people with the right sets of skills to complete them. Project fatigue science tells us that project work naturally goes in spurts, like interval training. Through careful planning, team sizing, and task assignments, you can help your team manage the mid-way lull.

And, whatever the size of your team, establish realistic timelines based on professional estimates and team input. The best way to?not?exhaust your team is to develop reasonable project plans and to give them a say in how it’s going to go.

Optimize for autonomy.?

Does your proposed structure —?including team size — result in more autonomous and independent teams? Or less?

To help ensure it’s the former, know your project, the skills required to make it happen, and the strengths and weaknesses of your team members. Then assess the time it will take to do each task and match tasks carefully with team members. If each team member is competent and working toward meeting reasonable expectations, they’ll be more autonomous.

Optimize for accountability.?

Is it clear to each individual what their unique contribution is and when deliverables are due??

A right-sized team will have enough people that each person will have a clear role and responsibilities, which is crucial for performance and accountability.?

At the same time, a right-sized team will be more likely to function interdependently. If the team can function as if everyone’s work is connected — as if the whole team is responsible for outcomes — then they’ll be more likely to perform up to standard and to support other team members. A right-sized team, one with a good flow of communication and trust, will be empowered to make decisions and move the work forward on their own.

We lied. There?is?a wrong size.?

You’ll know if your project team is the wrong size if team members feel adrift, unclear, unappreciated, unimportant, or bored. If your project starts to feel harried or sluggish or, worse, starts to vanish, adding or releasing a team member or members might be the team’s ticket to healthy productivity and, ultimately, a successful project.