I've never been on a team larger than 12 people, and they still needed someone solely doing managerial work. I think it's easy to say "my team doesn't need a fu

I've never been on a team larger than 12 people, and they still needed someone solely doing managerial work. I think it's easy to say "my team doesn't need a full time manager". Though the problems I've seen arise as a result of lacking management are slow and quiet. Grouchiness slowly creeps its way in until a group of good (usually the best) people quit with little warning. I can't emphasize enough how much I think a good full time manager is vital to a team's performance and endurance. The role that's being described above is one I would consider a "lead engineer", not a manager. The healthiest role division I've seen so far is when a team has a full time manager, and also a lead engineer or two who are ultimately responsible for making sure the needs of the business are being fulfilled by the engineering team.