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Do you personally like working in small or large teams and do you have to have a strong relationship with them?
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Miguel’s Answer
It depends. I enjoy different aspects of working on both large and small teams, I do not have a personal preference. I like scouting opportunities where I can use my skills to add value and contribute to a project or goal. This helps to make my involvement on teams focused on a particular area and allows me the ability to be selective. The size of the team is not what matters most to me, what matters most is that the work I am contributing is of high quality and that it adds value in the form of continuous improvement and achievement.
Relationship building is critical to working on any team. Everyone brings something special to a team that has the potential to create efficiencies for tasks that impact the end result. Understanding each other's roles and responsibilities provide you with insight on how to make better decisions and leverage each other's strengths to accomplish a goal together. As you begin to bond and form relationships, you may experience stages in the development of your team. These stages were coined first by psychologist Bruce Tuckman and are referred to as "Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing", and are typically experiences that occur when a new team comes together. I hope this helps to answer your question and encourages you to want to learn more about how effective teams come together.
More information on Tuckman's model can be found here (Keep Reading): https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_86.htm
Learn more about the Tuckman model by following this link : https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_86.htm
Read, "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team" by Patrick Lencioni
Learn more about yourself and what talents/expertise you can bring to a team
Practice your craft and continuously work at it.
Build networks of people who have a need for a service that you provide.
Relationship building is critical to working on any team. Everyone brings something special to a team that has the potential to create efficiencies for tasks that impact the end result. Understanding each other's roles and responsibilities provide you with insight on how to make better decisions and leverage each other's strengths to accomplish a goal together. As you begin to bond and form relationships, you may experience stages in the development of your team. These stages were coined first by psychologist Bruce Tuckman and are referred to as "Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing", and are typically experiences that occur when a new team comes together. I hope this helps to answer your question and encourages you to want to learn more about how effective teams come together.
More information on Tuckman's model can be found here (Keep Reading): https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_86.htm
Miguel recommends the following next steps:
Updated
Jamie’s Answer
Hi Ron,
I currently work with a small team that is part of a bigger team.
My team consists of 6 people and our larger team consists of about 50 people. Most of my time is spent working with my small team.
I enjoy smaller teams as I feel it is easier to establish close relationship with a small team. However it is nice to have a larger team to reach out to for their expertise, assistance, etc. if needed.
I currently work with a small team that is part of a bigger team.
My team consists of 6 people and our larger team consists of about 50 people. Most of my time is spent working with my small team.
I enjoy smaller teams as I feel it is easier to establish close relationship with a small team. However it is nice to have a larger team to reach out to for their expertise, assistance, etc. if needed.
Updated
Josh’s Answer
I personally prefer teams in the 4-7 range.
If your team is too small, you can miss out on valuable combinations of different points of view. Also, it can be hard for people to take a vacation or have to take some sick time. If I'm on a 2 person team and I am out, that means our team is running at half capacity and "the other team member" is taking all the load and all the responsibility.
The one caveat is teams that own things running "in production" online. In technology companies it's common for people to have to be on call, where they might get alerted in the middle of the night and have to take care of a problem in a service. If I'm on a team doing that, and wake up calls aren't incredibly rare, I like to have a larger group, so more of us can take on that pain.
Another way to think about team size is "lines of communication". This is sometimes called Brook's Law. This post has a great image: https://www.leadingagile.com/2018/02/applying-brooks-law/ but essentially as you add people to the team the communication channels needed to keep everyone even aware of each other's work and perspectives grow exponentially. In very large teams you can find yourself doing crazy things, like having a meeting to plan for a meeting to make a plan.
If your team is too small, you can miss out on valuable combinations of different points of view. Also, it can be hard for people to take a vacation or have to take some sick time. If I'm on a 2 person team and I am out, that means our team is running at half capacity and "the other team member" is taking all the load and all the responsibility.
The one caveat is teams that own things running "in production" online. In technology companies it's common for people to have to be on call, where they might get alerted in the middle of the night and have to take care of a problem in a service. If I'm on a team doing that, and wake up calls aren't incredibly rare, I like to have a larger group, so more of us can take on that pain.
Another way to think about team size is "lines of communication". This is sometimes called Brook's Law. This post has a great image: https://www.leadingagile.com/2018/02/applying-brooks-law/ but essentially as you add people to the team the communication channels needed to keep everyone even aware of each other's work and perspectives grow exponentially. In very large teams you can find yourself doing crazy things, like having a meeting to plan for a meeting to make a plan.
Updated
Szabina’s Answer
I personally like smaller teams, and really enjoy getting close with my team members. I have a small team, and we work together on a daily basis. We are really close as a team, and not only know each other's general take and perspective, but as you spend more time together you also get to know members of your team by their humor, work style, whether or not they are a morning person, etc, and are able to build a cohesive working relationships that rely on strengths of each team member.
~Sheila
~Sheila
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Rebecca’s Answer
This is a good question. Nowadays, many organizations are in matrix structure. That means you work with different project teams for different projects. If this is a big project, the project team is bigger and vice versa.
For big projects, it is usually more complex and involves subject matter experts from more different areas. This is a good opportunity to learn in the project and other team members. At the same time, it may require more effort to handle the relationships with more team members.
On the other hand, for small project, the project team is smaller. It is easier to establish close relationship with a small team.
Both have pros and cons.
For big projects, it is usually more complex and involves subject matter experts from more different areas. This is a good opportunity to learn in the project and other team members. At the same time, it may require more effort to handle the relationships with more team members.
On the other hand, for small project, the project team is smaller. It is easier to establish close relationship with a small team.
Both have pros and cons.
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Dennis’s Answer
Ron you probably will one time or another find yourself working in both a small Team environment and a larger Team.
Don’t let the numbers throw you off - just be yourself Assertive and Attentive - One can make an impact in either group just plan accordingly and always be as prepared as you can.
Good Luck!
Don’t let the numbers throw you off - just be yourself Assertive and Attentive - One can make an impact in either group just plan accordingly and always be as prepared as you can.
Good Luck!
Updated
Karen’s Answer
Small teams are my preference. Easier if you get to know and understand team member perspectives. Building strong relationships isn't required as long as you show respect by being open to others ideas.
With every good wish.
With every good wish.