Rationalizing Ratios

A couple week back I was contacted by a former associate who was interested in talking with me about something. Not knowing what new venture he got himself into but curious nonetheless I decided to share a cup of joe with him. A great speaker, and a salesman at heart, he was looking for me to invest in his company which sold various health and beauty products. Problem is, I myself, am not a salesman.

During his presentation he introduced a concept which I’ve been fascinated with since then but only have anecdotal evidence and experience to share, but I believe to be very true. He stated that the average person can only manage 2 people at a time. This would go in conjunction with the brain only being able to recall 9 digits at a time, and so on and so forth.

Have you ever played bingo before? As a child I remember being delighted with the game. It was easy, there wasn’t any strategy to it, and you got to play with shiny little plastic gems, Did you ever see a seasoned pro play bingo? They got their dauber, they got their caffeine, they got their strange ability to instantly stamp all 10 bingo cards at once. You can’t blame the logic. You have a 1 in 10 chance of winning...why not add 9 more cards?

Higher education follows this same thought as well in some areas. When I worked at the University of Missouri, their Freshmen Interest Group (FIG) program broke students up into clusters of 15 to 20 students. Each group was assigned 1 student staff member who lived with them in the same residence hall (most of the time the same floor) and taught a 1 credit class on adjust to college life. According to their assessment, FIG students were more likely to persist in college and be successful than non-FIG students.

I remember being a freshmen at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh and being told that all English classes had no more than 25 students in it at time (the number I believe has risen to 32). It was no wonder, part of the experience of literature is a good discussion about people’s interpretations. I can’t see how that would work in a pit class. Truthfully in most of my pit classes I couldn’t really conceptualize how 100 students could feel engaged in such a large group with one tiny professor yelling up at everyone.

What is an effective ratio size? I actually can’t imagine that 1:2 is perfect when it comes to managing people, but it sounds effective. Yet, it also seems too close for any business to have that management structure. What about a pool of writers for a magazine, or artists for greeting cards? How large is too large where the group feels disconnected? How small is too small where the individuals feel micromanaged?

Maybe there isn’t a golden ration. Or maybe it’s too dependant on circumstance and environment. However, there are a couple of things I’ve learned that aid in creating an effective ratio:

Recognize Different Levels of Experience

Not everyone in the ratio is an us vs. them. It’s not a management vs. underling. For management there’s obviously assistants which can help break the ratio down further. However for the larger number it helps to have veterans in there. People who have been around the block, but don’t have that title/responsibility to supervise. They are often the ones who make that “hey we’re in this together” sentiment before the supervisors do.

Empowerment

I’ve seen effective managers, supervisors, advisors take time to empower other leaders. I learned this from my friend Jason who was a National Communications Coordinator (NCC-kinda like an ambassador to other colleges) for our campus. He selected two delegation leaders when he took us to conference. By doing so he changed it from a 1:15 ratio to a 1:7 ration (you see he was at business meetings so the two delegation leaders we then leading a group of 14 people).

Blur & Firm The Line

My favorite philosophy teacher as an undergrad, Dr. Messner, did a great job with this. During discussions in class he put us in a circle and joined the circle. As he held us accountable with turning in papers late, he did the same for himself when returning papers to us (if he was late, he brought treats for us). At the same time we knew through his expectations and initial leadership in class that he was the teacher. Blurring and firming the mythical line that separates the ratio is a helpful way to make the ratio seem to not exist.

I am off in search of this mythical number. Maybe the perfect number does not exist. However, while we try to find an effective balance for all involved, there’s creative ways to bend the ratio. That’s why I’d hire someone to help me stamp my bingo cards.

pb