Draft: Scaling Teams

Outline

Oh no! We are growing!
Cognitive Load
Team Creation
Hiring

Oh no! We are growing!

Grow Wisely

"We could have hundreds of employees if we wanted to -- our revenues and profits support that -- but I think we’d be worse off." - Jason Fried 37Signals

source: fast company - http://bit.ly/1ijF5CU

Grow for a Reason

"Companies should exist to optimize happiness, not money. Profits follow"

- Github CEO Preston-Werner

Grow what/where?

"To Add Growth, Lead Followers – To

Multiply, Lead Leaders"

21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership

Source: http://bit.ly/1fWQfxt

Cultural Osmosis

Good!

CulturedTeamMembers >= (New Hires ^ 2)

Bad!

CulturedTeamMembers <= (New Hires * 2)

Balance

Team Size

7 +/- 2

Behavior = f( Person, Environment )

via Kurt Lewin

http://www.noop.nl/2009/04/the-optimal-team-size-is-five.html

Cognitive Load

7 +/- 2 Objects in working memory

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magical_Number_Seven,_Plus_or_Minus_Two

Tasks

If team member is doing 7-9 tasks/responsibilities at once, time to hire!

AuTonomy needs

Clear Objectives

Focus

Commitment

Passion