Small Team Management/Operating System Resources?

September 14, 2023

by a searcher from The University of Chicago - Booth School of Business in Chicago, IL, USA

Hello Everyone,

I have an LOI in place for a small company with two full-time employees and two part-time consultants. While I've been focused on diligence, I also have (at the risk of getting ahead of myself) been trying to develop a sense for how I'd approach actually running the company, both in the near-term and longer. I'd appreciate any insight into resources on managing very small teams; it seems like a lot of what's out there (EOS, Scaling Up, etc.) are geared more toward companies with at least, say, 10 employees. I intend to see if I can use some things from those sources anyway, if only to lay the infrastructure for future growth, but am hoping that there are some other tools out there. I have started looking into OKRs, for example, which seem very useful even for small organizations, but they don't necessarily seem to be a full-fledged system of management. I don't intend to make sweeping changes for the first 3-6 months, but do want to get a better idea of potential ways forward so I can use that period to determine what might fit. Thanks for any help or insights you can offer.

Reply by a professional
from Northwestern University in Breckenridge, CO 80424, USA

First, congratulations! I agree that I'd spend the first 90 days learning... only changes I'd make are to make their lives better (e.g. better coffee machine or ergonomic chairs - you get the idea :) ). I think a good resource to put yourself in your team's shoes is the book "First 90 Days" (https://www.amazon.com/First-90-Days-Strategies-Expanded/dp/###-###-#### ) it's applicable to any size company and will help you as a manage. Best of luck!

Reply by a searcher
from Texas A&M University in Johnson City, TN, USA

Depends on your industry. In general, you'll be jumping in. It's all hands, everyone should be willing to jump in on any business tasks, including yourself. You'll have greater risks and less support, which is why this size is not typically recommended for many searchers. More standard is to aim larger and try to get something with some levels of management and redundant capabilites of employees. You have big risk of a single employee loss of sinking the ship.

You might be surprised that the remaining employees might desire more change, more quickly!

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