Ten advantages of working in small teams

By: Amanda Young

Jeff Bezos has famously said that:

“If you can’t feed your team with two pizzas, it’s too large.”

When a company is looking to work with an agency, a conflict they may face is deciding what is the type of team they would like to work with.  One popular debate companies have is that is it more beneficial to work with smaller or larger teams. 

Stressing the importance of communication, conflict, fluidity and change of direction that a small and focused team can bring, as opposed to large committees that may present barriers of bureaucracy that hurt an end result.

A French professor, Maximilien Ringelmann, even created a theory called The Ringelmann Effect. This theory seeks to prove that members of a team become less productive as the amount of individuals in a group increases.  Another concept that has been created is called Social Loafing.  This concept demonstrates how an individual’s effort towards completing a project declines as the size of the team they are a part of increases. 

Here are 10 Advantages to Working with Small Teams

  1. Flexibility and Speed
  2. Better Motivation
  3. Increased Engagement
  4. Effective Communication
  5. Increased Trust 
  6. More Productive Meetings
  7. More Cohesive
  8. Higher Energy
  9. Quality Over Quantity
  10. Clarity on Expectations
  11. Stronger Focus

Gallup analyzed the state of the workplace in the United States. The analysts at Gallup found that the smaller companies they analyzed have engagement levels scored higher than the ones of larger companies.  Companies of less than 10 employees had engagement levels of 42 percent while larger companies had engagement levels below 30 percent. In addition, the report gathered that smaller teams promote higher customer service ratings, more productivity and less absenteeism with team members. Overall, it is so important that the work of smaller teams is not overlooked.  Smaller teams give companies the benefit of having quick, well thought out project outcomes.