In the last issue Joel Spolsky had an article called “A Little Less Conversation“. It’s up now on Inc’s site and I suggest everyone to read it. I enjoyed it so much I brought it to work to share. I was a bit nervous to do this, because I know I have the ability to side rail a meeting with a joke in no time flat. However, the article is good and really highlights something I think we all know, that the more people you have in a meeting (or keep connected) the less effective it is and shows how it can really slow things down.

But communications costs add up faster than you think, especially on larger teams. What used to work with three people in a garage all talking to one another about everything just doesn’t work when your head count reaches 10 or 20 people. Everybody who doesn’t need to be in that meeting is killing productivity. Everybody who doesn’t need to read that e-mail is distracted by it. At some point, overcommunicating just isn’t efficient.

(emphasis is mine)

Anyhow, I hope everyone reads it and looks at their own teams. The information may be obvious, and I’m sure many either have inherently felt this at work or already knew this information. But it’s good to look around as your team grows and keep this in mind.