I’m revisiting this excellent article by Mary Poppendieck “Before there was management” which highlights certain key figures: Robin Dunbar’s 150, Steve Jobs’ magic 100. And also the level of satisfaction from belonging to a group according to the size of that group, from the research of Christopher Allen. The entire article -in English- is fascinating and I encourage you to read it, but it’s especially this last point that I want to briefly revisit. Mary Poppendieck includes a graph that summarizes this satisfaction in relation to group size.

We note two “positive” peaks, the first of which corresponds clearly with the expected size of an agile team. There’s no secret (nor coincidence!!!) the “peak” is at …7. However, I think that the proposed graph and especially the scale on the x-axis doesn’t really highlight the risk of having a team that’s too large. That the slope is much more slippery than it appears and the return to satisfaction takes longer to come. So here’s the updated graphic with the unwavering support and assistance of Edouard G.

So remember to organize your teams according to these sizes! I can’t get no! Satisfac…

update: Here is the translation of Mary Poppendieck’s article by Fabrice Aimetti. Thanks to him.