Over the last couple of years, we’ve seen an increasing number of business leaders speak about a ‘great flattening’, referring to the practice of removing layers of management and creating bigger teams.
Enter the ‘mega-manager’, a leader stretched beyond the limitations of what’s generally considered a reasonable amount of direct reports.
Though the buzzwords attached to this trend are new, teams have been steadily growing for a while. Data from Gallup shows the average team size (at least in the US) has increased by 50% since it started tracking this metric in 2013.
Whilst two thirds of managers still look after teams of fewer than 10 people, 22% now have 10-24 direct reports and 13% oversee more than 25 team members.
Aside from the obvious cost-cutting motive, the shift is intended to speed up decision-making and remove bureaucracy. However, creating mega-managers on the fly is likely to have significant consequences without the right support.
In this article, we’ll explore what conditions are needed for mega-management to be sustainable and share our top tips for leading bigger teams successfully.
There’s a relatively sizable body of research to suggest that between 5-7 direct reports is - excuse the pun- manageable.
However, in practice, what’s reasonable is deeply contextual. The ideal team size is likely to change based on:
The level of complexity of the work;
The amount of individual contributor work the manager is responsible for;
The experience level and autonomy of the team members (and manager!);
If you’re asked to step up to a mega-management role, your first port of call should be thinking through the above to see whether you’re being set up for success. Asking the above questions should also help you identify what additional support and resources you’ll need to prepare for the transition.
If you’ve already stepped into a mega-manager role, then one thing is likely to be incredibly obvious: you can’t lead a large team the way you would a small one.
When you manage a smaller team, it’s easier to stay on top of what everyone’s up to. You’re likely to collaborate more with your direct reports or at least be closer to the work. You’re able to get to know your team members deeply and have a clear idea of their personalities and working styles.
When you try and do all of that for 25 people, you will quickly run out of capacity and create chaos. If you try to build the same level of emotional intimacy, you’re likely to burnout, fast. If you try to maintain the same level of oversight, you’ll end up stretching yourself far too thin and creating bottlenecks.
To avoid this, you need to think about the way you manage as a system.
Step 1: share the load
If your team is bigger than 10 people, you’ll need to start thinking about redesigning your org structure. This will likely involve introducing a team lead or leads so you can reduce your overall number of direct reports. Not only will this give you the space for strategic thinking and setting a crystal clear vision for the team, you’ll also be creating investing your time wisely in developing a new set of leaders.
Step 2: invest in team rituals
As your team grows, your rhythms and rituals need to evolve too. We’d recommend introducing a stand-up style meeting to cover the operational stuff, focusing on blockers and priorities.
Unless your team is working on highly discrete tasks, it’s also important to think about rituals to promote peer learning and foster collaboration - think retros or open sessions where people can drop in to ask for support with a particular challenge.
Whilst you might not be able to have a close relationship with every single one of your team members, that doesn’t mean you should ignore the importance of team connection. Appoint at least one social captain to plan thoughtful activities which reduce the chance of cliquey behaviour emerging.
Step 3: maintain 1:1’s - but be strategic about them
Having a bigger team might limit your capacity for 1:1’s, but it doesn’t mean they’re skippable. In fact, you should maintain as much 1:1 connection as you can, for as long as you can, integrating skip-level meetings as well as speaking to direct reports regularly.
Consider what 1:1 cadence makes sense and agree on what’s most helpful with your individual team members. Senior direct reports should be comfortable with less formal check-ins. For new starters, try the reverse. 15 minute daily check-ins can help you integrate new team members quickly and find alignment sooner.
In order to make sure your 1:1’s are as effective as possible, make sure that there is a clear pre-agreed agenda. As your team gets bigger, it’s important to let go of the idea that you need to be a functional expert in everyone’s role. The value you can add lies in coaching through blockers rather than receiving status updates.
Step 4: ask for support
When you’re leading a large team, it can have an outsized impact when you’re overstretched and struggling. That means you need to ensure the support around you is rock solid. It might feel impossible to carve out time to invest in mentorship, coaching and taking proper breaks, but actually, the opposite is true to protect yourself against burnout.
If you feel your number of direct reports is unsustainable, it’s crucial to push back. The data is there to show that higher team sizes can have a negative impact on productivity, happiness and organisational effectiveness.
Finally, it’s important to quickly delegate any remaining individual contributor duties. With a large team, you might be accountable for strategic goals, but to achieve them you’ll need to fully focus on supporting your team.
Organisations creating mega-managers are fundamentally reshaping what the role looks like. To manage large teams successfully, you’ll need to radically shift your approach, focusing on designing a system that works for you and your team.
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