{"id":9319,"date":"2024-01-03T17:05:40","date_gmt":"2024-01-03T10:05:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dreamplex.co\/?post_type=blog&p=9319"},"modified":"2024-01-18T16:35:55","modified_gmt":"2024-01-18T09:35:55","slug":"the-power-of-smaller-teams-in-2024-to-combat-vietnams-rising-labor-costs","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/dreamplex.co\/en\/the-power-of-smaller-teams-in-2024-to-combat-vietnams-rising-labor-costs\/","title":{"rendered":"The Power of Smaller Teams in 2024 to Combat Vietnam\u2019s Rising Labor Costs"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Power of Smaller Teams in 2024 to Combat Vietnam\u2019s Rising Labor Costs <\/strong><\/h1>\r\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]\u201cStrength in numbers” is a common belief, and while that holds in many situations, sometimes a larger group can actually slow you down.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nAs leaders, we often measure our success by the size of our teams. \u201cWe have 500 employees\u201d simply sounds better than \u201cI\u2019m leading a team of 10.\u201d<\/span>\r\n\r\nThe prevailing notion suggests that a larger team equals more productivity and better outcomes. However, is bigger truly better?<\/strong><\/span>\r\n\r\nWhile the appeal of a large workforce is undeniable, there’s a growing awareness that a small, well-organized team can outperform larger ones.<\/span>\r\n\r\nAnd as labor costs in Vietnam continue to rise in 2024, doing more with less is a reality many companies face. In our recent <\/span>CEO Roundtable<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, worries about increasing labor costs and finding ways to optimize resources were among the main themes.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”9323″ img_size=”1920×1080″ alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]In this article, we examine the benefits of smaller teams over larger ones and provide practical strategies for maximizing the potential of a compact yet highly efficient workforce.<\/span>\r\n

Small Team vs. Large Team<\/strong><\/h2>\r\nThe research paper titled “<\/span>Large Teams Develop And Small Teams Disrupt Science And Technology<\/a><\/strong><\/span>,” conducted by University of Chicago professor Lingfei Wu, offers valuable insights into the dynamics of team size.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nAnalyzing over 65 million academic papers, patents, and software products, the study finds that smaller teams are <\/span>naturally disruptive, with new ideas and opportunities. In comparison, larger teams focus on developing existing concepts.\r\n\r\nThe research suggests that larger teams, leveraging recent and popular ideas, make an immediate impact. In contrast, smaller teams delve deeper into the past, exploring less popular ideas, and are consequently more disruptive, often succeeding well into the future.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”6883″ img_size=”1920×1080″ alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]A notable revelation from the analysis is that a team\u2019s ability to generate disruptive ideas sharply declines after adding the first few members: “As teams grow from 1 to 50 team members, their papers, patents, and products drop in percentiles of measured disruption by 70, 30, and 50, respectively.\u201d<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”9321″ img_size=”1920×1080″ alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]This chart from the paper presents the disruptiveness versus team size. Despite the common perception that larger teams yield better results, the advantages of operating with a smaller team are evident.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nAsana, the leading project management software company valued at over $4 billion, recently launched a \u201c<\/span>Work Innovation Score<\/a><\/strong><\/span>.<\/strong><\/span>\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nIn an <\/span>interview<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/span>, Rebecca Hinds, a Stanford Ph.D. who led the research efforts, said that cohesion (how well employees work together) and velocity (how quickly ideas and work flow through the organization) are crucial to innovation, the lifeblood of any company. And as we\u2019ve seen from the research above, small teams are better positioned to deliver this.<\/span>\r\n

Small Teams Are Increasingly Effective Thanks to AI<\/strong><\/h2>\r\nAnd it\u2019s only getting better, as small teams are increasingly productive due to AI. Ben Parr, the famed founder of Octane AI, said in <\/span>a recent podcast<\/a><\/span><\/strong> that we can now real businesses with lower costs by using AI for building prototypes and improving products quickly.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nHe even said he believed we would see a billion-dollar company in the next few years thanks to advances in AI: <\/span>\u201cI believe that there will be a billion-dollar company built in the next five-ish years that has one to three people tops because you can automate almost everything else. It’s going to happen.\u201d<\/span>\r\n\r\nVenture capitalist James Currier <\/span>noted<\/a><\/span><\/strong> that thanks to AI, <\/span>\u201cCompanies will be able to develop software faster and better, run sales prospecting, qualifying, and outreach with AI automated systems, and run marketing campaigns with AI optimizations.\u201d<\/span>\r\n\r\nJames rightly points out that the cost of large teams isn\u2019t just in payroll. Secondary costs like recruiting, performance reviewing, culture building, office space, IT, and other overhead all add to the \u2018cost of large teams.\u2019 As business leaders, that will immediately impact our bottom line.<\/span>\r\n\r\nBesides this, smaller teams create benefits, including:\u00a0<\/span>\r\n