Case study #6 : The Bigger the Team, the More Challenges You Can Expect

6 Phases of Growth: From start-up to coordination crisis.

I am a dreamer. I believe people can work together without games and fake culture.

There are many dreamers like me. They start their own companies with a vision of doing it differently. No more corporate gibberish, dress codes, and strict rules.

Just work with a group of friends you can trust and do what you love.

Ahhhh. Nice culture. Friendly relationships. After-work hangouts. When conflict is present, you resolve it without fuss.

Too good to be true? What happens when you start with five friends? You may grow to 20. Then 50, 100, 200, 500?

Welcome to the world of growth and crisis.

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Phase 1: Start-up

Years ago, I joined a company that started as an incubator with a few people.

They had one small shared office and no proper equipment. But they were excited. No hierarchy. They worked closely together on creative solutions as time passed. No one played hard with titles. The founder was on the same level as the others.

The start-up grew through creativity:

• Informal communication

• Loyal staff and a strong belonging feeling

• Group coordination

• Entrepreneur mindset and desire to succeed

Hard work paid off. They quickly grew to 20 people. But the first pains became obvious. 20 is more than five. More discussions and more opinions.

Coordination was messy. Informal communication was hectic, and inconsistencies and quality issues occurred.

It was a typical leadership crisis. The team needed a better structure and a formal culture and process definition.

Greiner's model of growth

What happened in the company was typical. As organizations grow, they pass through different phases. Larry E. Greiner developed a model that illustrates what crisis you can expect in your company.

This model is an oldie from 1973. Organizations nowadays like agile structures, project teams, TEAL, etc. But guess what? The crises haven’t disappeared. If you have teams or different functions, you will always face crises. It is inevitable.

The growth model will help you understand them.