Why Small Team Collaboration is Better for Business Acuity

Small Team Collaboration July 28, 2020

Dakota Sheetz

Writer

Introduction

In today's day and age, numerous methods are emerging for businesses to run successfully. Whether it is a remote company depending on the virtual assistants for efficiency, or a large scale company based out of a traditional trendy workspace, workers now have the liberty to choose the best working environment to achieve their goals.

Generally, businesses select one of the two strategies. Some think it is wise to have the support of a large group of workers, whereas others have a staunch belief on the benefits of smaller teams. While it was once considered smart to form larger teams for higher productivity, nowadays job-seekers are more inclined towards tight-knit teams.

Why Small Teams Matter More?

When considering business strategies, one is always tempted to add more people to their team to improve their productivity, and to achieve their goals faster than anticipated. However, according to a study conducted by SixSigma, having small teams and a lean approach leads to better communication, improved work output, enhanced employee morale, and more satisfied clients.

In fact, most business professionals have come to the conclusion that having no more than five to eight members in a team keeps up their morale, boosts their potential, and is the reason for elevated levels of productivity, accountability, and engagement.

This approach is not only applicable to formulating the right team sizes, but it also guides the professionals in pushing their team members beyond their capabilities to enhance the productivity of meetings as well as corporate gatherings. Additionally, smaller teams allow managers and supervisors to focus on each employee individually, establishing stronger relationships.

Having more people in a group means welcoming more conflicting opinions and giving more room to emerging arguments. Even if a team decides upon a mutual agreement, there will always be a member or two who won't be happy about it and lack the needed enthusiasm. Such a company culture gives rise to difficulties in making important decisions because it is not easy to reach a joint consensus.

For this reason, small team collaboration is a great strategy in fulfilling organizational goals. A smaller number means greater understanding and trust, which in turn proves beneficial in getting everyone on the same page through each step of the process. On the other hand, larger teams have been observed to be less coordinated, less flexible, less supportive, and more inefficient.

The Benefits of Smaller Teams

The main logic behind having smaller teams is to keep the company's culture alive by involving less bureaucracy. Simply put, a lesser number of team members will lead to less hassle and more focused approaches to completing business tasks.

Elevated Engagement
According to a report published by Gallup, employees working in smaller teams tend to have greater engagement and are more satisfied with the results of their struggle.

This report found that companies with 10 or fewer employees had an engagement rate of 42% as compared to the larger companies with more than 10 workers having an engagement level of 30%. The reason is that employees feel more comfortable with fewer people around them and are able to interact more efficiently with their co-workers.

The advantages of improved engagement alone are astonishing. Further stated in the report, employees who are vigilant enough of their output experience fewer incidents of absenteeism, ultimately having improved profitability and productivity.

Improved Performance
Another important experiment conducted in this regard is The Ringelmann Effect. This experiment tested the productivity levels of people individually and in groups, as they were asked to pull on a rope. It was noticed that for each person added beyond 5 to 6 members, the individual contributions by the team members became shorter. Simply put, adding more people to a group tends to make it less dynamic.

This research deduced that although larger teams may seem to have a higher proportion of overall output as compared to smaller teams, the individuals of larger groups tend to have lower creativity and productivity than members of smaller teams. Clearly, it supports the notion of small team collaboration for improved performance.

Valued Efforts
Having fewer people in a team enables everyone to perform beyond their potential. Each member's contribution stands out and adds value to the overall goals of the company. Hence, the efforts made by the members of smaller teams are more valued and appreciated as compared to the contributions made by people in larger groups.

On the other hand, the members of a larger team tend to exert less effort as they consider their contribution to be relatively insignificant and feel less responsible for the overall output. This concept is known as social loafing.

So it brings in the fact that individual performance decreases as the group size increases. However, it is more advised to look at the contrary; individual performance increases as the size of the team decreases.

Increased Focus on Individuals
According to Johanna Rothman, even highly experienced managers should not manage more than nine team members. Exceeding this number will challenge the manager's ability to sustain meaningful relationships with his or her team.

This leads to the concept of relational loss. It means that individuals working in a team tend to think they are not getting enough support. This belief is based on the fact that a single manager of a large team would be unable to focus on all of its employees equally.

Smaller teams tend to have improved focus by their boss, and ultimately, perform much better.
Improved efficiency

Smaller teams tend to complete a task in lesser time as compared to larger ones. As discussed above, people working in small teams tend to focus more on giving their all when accomplishing a task.
On the contrary, larger teams tend to quickly lose focus on the task at hand.

Improved Efficiency
Smaller teams tend to complete a task in lesser time as compared to larger ones. As discussed above, people working in small teams tend to focus more on giving their all when accomplishing a task.

On the contrary, larger teams tend to quickly lose focus on the task at hand.

Conclusion

It all comes down to the following important pointers-

Having small teams and a lean approach leads to better communication, improved work output, enhanced employee morale, and more satisfied clients. For this reason, small team collaboration is a great strategy in fulfilling organizational goals. A smaller number means higher understanding and trust, which in turn proves beneficial in getting everyone on the same page through each step of the process.
Employees working in smaller teams tend to have greater engagement and are more satisfied with the results of their efforts. They collaborate and engage more comfortably with each other and experience improved profitability and productivity. They also undergo fewer incidents of absenteeism.
Individuals in larger groups tend to have low creativity and productivity compared to members of smaller teams. Fewer people working together give their best to achieve satisfactory results, thereby improving their performance.
The members of smaller teams realize their responsibility for achieving the company's objectives and push themselves beyond their potential. Their efforts are seen and appreciated by everyone and are more valued as compared to the people working in larger teams.
It is easier for a manager to equally focus on each team member when working with smaller teams.