Sizing Engineering Teams

What is the optimal size of an engineering team? How many managers should a manager of managers support? How can we stay on the path of a high performing team?

I had all these questions and a lot more when I first started managing engineers at Concur/SAP years ago. However, at that time I was managing mostly down and I had only one team. As I kept progressing in my career, and I kept educating myself on this topic, I came across An Elegant Puzzle — Systems of Engineering Management by Will Larson that helped me answer most of those questions.

The following post summaries my notes on Will’s approach to sizing teams and high performing teams.

Sizing Teams

Managers should support 6 to 8 engineers

This gives them enough time for active coaching, coordinating and furthering their team’s mission by writing strategies, leading change, and so on.

• Managers supporting less than 4 engineers tends to function as TLMs - It’s a role with limited career opportunities. To progress as managers, they’ll want more time to focus on developing their management skills.
• Managers supporting more than 8 engineers act as coaches and safety net problems - They are too busy to actively invest in their teams. It’s a bad status quo.