Span of control
Tradeoffs between span of control and org depth
How many people should a manager manage?
- Trend in larger companies towards larger teams. In 2026 many larger companies were betting that AI can magically allow for a doubling in team size.
- Bob Sutton on team size. Commentary on Meta’s disasterous attempt to increase team size. Routine work can have larger teams. Moving to larger teams requires clear rules, norms and goals.
- There are real tradeoffs by me. Larger teams are desirable because they flatten corporate hierarchy. But the cost is local effectiveness and retention. Also smaller teams are more innovative.