FESCo future

[Elliot Lee]

On Nov 26, 2006, at 12:56 PM, Michael Schwendt wrote:

>> FPCSC will  needs to do what the "Core cabal" and FESCo do now and  
>> thus
>> will have a lot more work to do than FESCo currently does. Thus it  
>> might
>> be a good idea to make FPCSC a bit bigger. I'd say 14, 16 or 18  
>> people
>> (FESCo currently has 13 members).
>
> FESCO's size is insufficient already. FESCO is not as productive as it
> could be if there were more members. Originally, FESCO had been  
> created to
> form a small group of people who could get something done. Over time,
> FESCO has degraded to a collection of people, who fill seats in  
> multiple
> committees and find themselves unable to pursue "FESCO business".

Hey all,

The rule of thumb for efficient team sizing is 7 people +/-. FESCO is  
too big. Part of the reason people feel comfortable slacking on  
"FESCO business" is because they think that with such a large group,  
it doesn't matter if they slack off or not (see http:// 
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_loafing). Adding more people to FESCO/ 
FPCSC will just make things worse.

In addition, FESCO's purpose should be for making decisions that  
can't be made otherwise, not for being obligated to do all the work  
that needs doing. If people outside FESCO are not feeling like they  
can make headway, FESCO needs to get out of the way and empower those  
people, rather than trying to add more responsibilities to a FESCO  
TODO list.

Best,
-- Elliot