Dunbar’s Number: How Group Size Impacts Productivity

 

“…we’re all human, and being human has limits,” says Dave Morin, co-founder of Path, in a recent Bloomberg Businessweek article. Morin is referencing the much discussed Dunbar’s number, which has blossomed lately in management conversations.

The theory behind Dunbar’s number is that social structure and behavior can be related to group size. Through a study of how many holiday cards a household sent, Dunbar discovered that a person can hold about 150 meaningful connections before the number of connections becomes overwhelming and unmanageable. This same number has been found in other social scenarios including companies, hunter-gatherer societies and military units.

Robin Dunbar first became interested in social connection through his interest in the gelada, a monkey species found in Ethiopia. He discovered that the time they spent on social activities actually increased as the group size increased (as did the size of the irneocortex in order to process larger amounts of data).

What does this mean for you workplace? As Jerry Murdock of Insight Venture Partners puts it, “It’s the constraints that make great companies.”In other words, some of the pitfalls as groups grow are the clashing of different personalities, the rise of selfish tendencies and unhealthy competition among co-workers. These constraints can appear insurmountable at times, yet these challenges also make great companies.

Here are three things for leaders to consider as they manage group size:

1. Social theories depend on group culture. Is there competition rising among your co-workers in a dog-eat-dog sort of way? If so, first focus on creating a team culture. Then try creating different team sizes throughout the organization. What difference do you notice just by using these two tips?
2. Allow employees to participate in multiple groups and teams, with some teams assigned and others self-selected. Groups at work can create camaraderie; some can be more serious, while others can be purely social. However, don’t forget that even the purely social groups can have positive effects on organizational culture.
3. Create healthy competition. Facing challenges is one way many create and find meaning, whether through work or sport. Simulate this in the work environment; create realistic challenges and goals  and reward those who participate. Perhaps this may help your employees expand their own Dunbar number among co-workers!

The idea of the Dunbar number is ultimately meaningful connections, but remember we are the ones who assign the meaning to our relationships. Can you help your employees assign meaning to their relationships at work that will ultimately benefit your organization as well? Perhaps it can be done by assigning teams to work on a transcendent task or mentoring others.

What do you think? Let me know in a comment below.