A colleague of mine recently passed along an article that focused on Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ two pizza rule. Basically, Bezos says that if a team is so large that two pizzas are not enough to feed it, it’s too large to be efficient. This is a fairly controversial idea, and pizza isn’t an exact unit of measurement, but it’s more the sentiment behind the rule that’s important. It doesn’t mean that large companies are a bad thing, just look at Amazon, it’s an enormous company today. The rule applies to the teams within companies, people focusing their energy on one aspect of the company’s overall goal. 
Group Work
Working in groups isn’t easy. No matter how old you are, compromise is sometimes hard to come by. When one group member is confident in their ideas, they’re far more likely to fight for them. It’s a lot easier to sort things out in a smaller group with fewer opinions. The fewer people that have to reach an agreement, the easier that agreement will be to reach. You need enough team members to complete the tasks at hand, but finding the middle ground between too many and not enough can be difficult. That’s why two pizzas is a nice standard. It’s flexible, but it can’t be ranged too far in either direction.
Engagement
Smaller teams have better engagement. Think of it in terms of a lecture hall versus a small classroom environment. It’s a lot easier to pay attention if you’re one of few, instead of one of many. Smaller teams feel more involved in the projects they’re working on. Each team member feels like their contribution has real value, like they’re an integral part of it. Having a smaller team to bounce ideas off of also helps things come together. The group’s vision is more focused when there are only a few people involved. Mistakes are amplified as well, so group members tend to put more effort into avoiding slip ups.
The Other Side of the Coin
Anyone who has worked in a small company knows that the workload is often higher. Especially in the startup world, employees find themselves taking on tasks that don’t exactly fit their job description. It takes a little while longer for certain tasks to be done by a smaller team, and it requires more hours per person. Employees are still more engaged, and they still have more say over the group’s project, but there’s also the risk of fatigue. Larger teams are simply capable of getting more done in less time. The focus isn’t always there, but the man hours certainly are.
The two pizza rule is a very interesting take on how the size of a team affects productivity and engagement. Jeff Bezos has created one of the most successful companies in the world, so his advice should absolutely be considered. Of course, if you can eat two pizzas by yourself that doesn’t mean you can’t be a part of a team, though you might want to rethink your dietary habits. If you think your team is growing too big, consider ordering a couple pizzas.
