Less is more

Not all problems can be solved by throwing more resources at them.

A few years ago I worked on a programme with three or four workstreams, with maybe 70 or so people in all. For various reasons, the requirements were relatively fluid, and because the programme was quite large, there was a danger of some design decisions being made without taking the full picture into account.

The master stroke (and I can’t claim responsibility), was to set up a small team, with one person responsible across the programme for requirements, one person responsible for technical design, and one person responsible for build. This team achieved a vast amount in only a few weeks in aligning the requirements, assuring the design, and generally tidying up a lot of loose ends. Like all small teams, everyone in the team knew what everyone else was doing and what they were responsible for.

Once again, a few people in tune with each other was the critical difference.

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