I think working with smaller teams is easier. You're better able to communicate with everyone and ensure everyone is on the same page whereas with larger teams some things may get lost. I went from a large team (working with technical managers, operators/mechanics) to a smaller team of 3 people and while I enjoyed the interpersonal experience, working with a smaller team makes completing actions and collaboration a lot easier. In larger teams, it can also be more difficult to get all team members to agree on actions moving forward due to the amount of people. While it may not necessarily be a bad thing, it can use up precious time having to have long discussions over topics which can work better with a smaller team. To be fair however, I believe team size is a personal preference, and also it's possible to complete large projects with a larger team and some projects require a large team. I believe the experience is a lot more enjoyable in a smaller team however.

I do not necessarily have a preference for a larger or smaller project team. The size of the project team should be determined by the workload needed to complete the project. It is one of the project manager's duties to acquire and delegate these resources to tasks within the project. Realistically, it is not always possible to have enough team members to fill all the roles. Some members might take on additional responsibilities or roles. This is where a diverse project team is beneficial. More experienced team members can share their knowledge with the project team. I also find that large project teams work better with smaller teams assigned to individual tasks.

I only have experience in working in small groups but I prefer it since you know exactly what you are responsible for and what is expected of you. Furthermore, you also know what other peoples responsibilities are and it is generally easier to remember everyone involved in a project when the group is small. I have personally worked with both people from different technical backgrounds and those similar to mine and to me there were no real difference as long the project goal is maintained. I have how ever encountered more push back or need for additional explanation for ideas when presented to people from different backgrounds then mine but I think this maybe because I simply expect a basic level of knowledge about the project at hand that they may have not received. This difference in knowledge usually does not play a large role in the groups that I have been a part of and usually are overcome by simply explaining the idea or problem  at hand.

@terril_vallikalam great post. When I was in my undergrad we started to get flooded with group projects. They were never large groups always small. However, when you think you know someone and you really want to be teammates and that is when you learn that that person's work ethic is very questionable, you learn that you do your task ahead of schedule where the teammate that you so wanted to be a part of your team you find that they are a major problem and is the cause of your team project to be compromised. Smaller group I find are more intimate and the conflicts are more damaging especially if there is only three team members and two of the three are not talking and the project is not going well. Where if there was a larger team and two had conflict it would not affect the team as much as if it were smaller. 

The size of of project teams matter. In my opinion a smaller group can get more things done as they can agree to things faster. More people cause more confusion and you also have to deal with different personalities. However, bringing different backgrounds and different mindsets are crucial to a project group as they can bring different views of a subject. A good mix of age, gender, and ethnicities can make up a good team.

Different sized teams do indeed have advantages and drawbacks. It depends on what the goal of the team is whether or not I prefer to work on a large or a small team.

When I was a part of a grant writing team once, that team was too large for the scope of work and it took a very long time to reach consensus on things. Conversely, I was a part of a large team responsible for producing a national children's literature conference and we wouldn't have been able to do all the necessary work if we didn't have a large number of people. In essence, I believe that team size should be relevant to the scope of work.

In terms of people having different skillsets and backgrounds, that too can have advantages and drawbacks.

In my experience, the success or challenge of consensus in a diverse team points back to the team leader and the culture of the organization. When I've working in organizations where the culture of the organization was respectful, the team work was respectful. Most recently, I worked in an organization where that was not the case, and working together was extremely challenging.

I have often wondered if geographical location has an influence on the outcome of teams? I'm from the south where people are kinder, and even disagree respectfully. I live in a more northern city now, and I have had to altar my approach so that my kindness isn't mistaken for weakness.

Working with a team of various backgrounds can be helpful. A diverse panel of expertise should be welcomed during a project's life cycle as it can bring different perspectives to the table. For example, creating an EHR system will need the input of numerous individuals to meet the needs of the facility.

@anthonynjit I agree the logic of small teams is that the fewer people working together, the less confusion. For example, fewer moving pieces equals more efficiency. Following are several benefits of smaller teams. Individual efforts are perceived as less valuable when there are a large number of people sharing the same task. Also, smaller teams allow for greater accountability, autonomy, and flexibility. They also tend to outperform larger teams. In what situation would you find a larger team being more beneficial than a smaller team?

Working with a team of various backgrounds can be helpful. A diverse panel of expertise should be welcomed during a project's life cycle as it can bring different perspectives to the table. For example, creating an EHR system will need the input of numerous individuals to meet the needs of the facility

The size of a project team depends on what kind of project it is. Moreover, people must sometimes cooperate with other project teams within a program. Commonly, people need to collaborate with others more than with a group. Therefore, some teams would increase their member for conversation with other project teams. However, I prefer a minor team to work on a project. Having a member profession for conversation can relieve the engineer's burden indeed. However, the information might be misunderstood when the engineer passes the information to another person. This is also one of the reasons that I prefer to work with people who have a similar backgrounds. The misunderstanding of information in the conversation is more severe between people with different backgrounds.

While I understand that the question asks to choose between a large or small team, my answer would be to work in a medium sized team. However, if I had to choose, I would prefer a smaller team to work with. Even though working with a large team is beneficial due to the ability to spread the workload amongst more individuals and have more subject matter experts, it also means that it could be harder form relationships. It could also be harder to be flexible with the project or to even reach certain individuals. In smaller groups, you can build closer relationships and can have more say in the project. The downsides are that the workload could be overwhelming. A medium group would be the best of both worlds, where you can form relationships with your teammates while also not having to take on the workload of meant for more people.

I would rather work in a small team rather than a large one. Within teams, there needs to be constant communication to ensure that each person knows what needs to be done and in what time frame. I believe that in a larger group it can become harder to keep track of everyone and ensure they are up to date with each new piece of information. 

As for team members of different backgrounds and areas of expertise, it would be beneficial to have different viewpoints in a project. But the most important thing is to ensure that there is a known goal and that at the beginning each team member knows what they need to complete and when they need to complete it. It shouldn’t be too much harder to come to an agreement on the final decisions of a made product so long as the team is able to communicate with each other and be able to make compromises for the best outcome.

I prefer working in small teams. Although each member would have more work, I think small teams allow me to develop better and more personable work relationships, which inturn makes doing the work easier. Smaller teams also allow me to take on different tasks, which lets me to develop and expand my skill set. In a large team, I might be tasked with only one thing and it may get repetitive and boring quickly to keep doing that for the duration of the project. This is especially important as a recent graduate, because I would want to experience a little bit of everything before finding what I’m really passionate about or where I want to make the most impact. Working with people that have different backgrounds and different skill sets makes the work more interesting and a learning experience. What makes working in a team special is that everyone has their own way of doing things, and learning from each other makes doing the job much easier and more efficient. Plus, you can always fall back on another team member if your way of doing something is not working or is not suitable for the project.

In my opinion, I don't think that it is harder to get other group members to agree on final product decisions if there is open communication and everyone has a similar understanding. Even if group members come from different backgrounds, communication is key so that everyone can discuss their opinions and compromises can be made so that the project has a semi-clear definition and assignments can be given to those with experience with the topics. Personally, I find that smaller groups are easier to work with because there are less opinions involved but also you are able to have an easier time setting up meetings to discuss the project and to divide up the assignments. Yet when you work in a smaller group, there is more pressure on each of the group members since they might have to deliver multiple assignments in within a short time span. On the other hand, a larger group can allow for more distribution of tasks among the group members but the project might come to a halt due to various different opinions that come from the group. Scheduling meetings for a larger group is also very difficult, especially if members work in different departments, due to conflicts with testing procedures or even conflicts with other meetings.also, I feel like managing a larger group tends to be more difficult because depending on the size, people can get by with not doing any work until last minute since the lead is unable to on top of all the group members and their assignments.