Question & Answer: Why are there tradeoffs in choosing a team's size and level of diversity?…..

The team’s size and composition will affect its mix of skills, its access to resources, and its effectiveness in providing communication and coordination across divisions (267). By combining efforts and skills, groups can often outperform individuals on many problem-solving tasks, implying the size of the development team might be related to its potential for success. Large teams have access to more information due to diversity. Different kinds of diversity include functional, organizational tenure, cultural, education, gender, and age. Studies show demographic diversity can increase innovation and performance.

HOWEVER Large teams can create more administrative costs and communication problems, leading to delays. Large teams can make it harder to foster a shared sense of identity, and can increase the potential for social loafing. Average team size in the US is 11, with considerable variance across organizations and across phases of NPD