What is the right PM to Eng ratio? I’m the first PM and we have 8 engineers and 1 Designer.

The ideal product manager to engineer ratio can vary from company to company and even team to team, but it usually depends on the company size, product complexity, the skill level of the engineers, and the role scope of the product manager. A general rule of thumb is 1 product manager for every 5-10 engineers. 1:5 - This is common in startups or small teams where the product manager may need to be in the details. 1:10 - As the team and company grows, a product manager may manage larger engineeri ...Read More

The right PM to Eng ratio depends on a couple of different factors, many of which can from my perspective be boiled down to 1) the overall stage and scale of the company and 2) the nature of the product you are working on. Given those dependencies, it also makes sense to revisit this decision at key turning points of your product (or company). Practically speaking, the traditional ‘2 pizza box team’ of 8-10 engineers per PM is a decent baseline to start with. Here are a few example consideration ...Read More

I haven't found a universal formula for the right PM : Engineering ratio. I’ve worked with everything from one developer to much larger teams - both can be effective in the right situation.What matters more is whether the team is structured to work efficiently. Here are a few things I look at when thinking about efficiency: Priority and scope: If a feature is critical or time-sensitive, a larger team may help accelerate delivery. But if it's a smaller or more contained feature (e.g. a single new ...Read More

Every PM dreams of a steady, sustainable flow of work that leads to great outcomes. The tricky part is finding that “sustainable pace.” On one end of the spectrum, you have engineers overwhelmed with work (and on the highway to burnout). On the other, you have engineers waiting for direction because Product or Design has become the bottleneck. I’ve often heard that the “ideal” ratio is 1 PM to 4-5 engineers. That can be true in some contexts, but the real answer is: it depends. A few key factors ...Read More

In my experience, there is no golden ratio or right answer to this question. Many factors determine what the "right" ratio is depending on the industry, org structure, size of the company, and maturity of the company. I have seen PM to Eng ratios from 1PM to 3 engineering all the way up to 1PM for every 20 engineers. Given you are the first PM you are likely part of a start up and if you are within the tech industry 1 PM to 8 Engineers feels reasonable as you get started and need to build and sc ...Read More

TL,DR: Without knowing specifics of your situation, it seems like you have right ration for now. Long version Process don't decide business, business decides processes Dont go by set rules in these things, every situation is diferent Scenario1 : You are CEO/Cofounder of company also playing only PM Your responsibilities include general management, business development and bunch of other things. if you are well funded and/or can afford with cash flow. find a full time PM who shares your vision. r ...Read More

1:10 is what has been used as a rule of thumb in my experience. A PM wears many hats. If you don't have a program manager (pgm/tpm) 30% - 40% of the PM's time may be going into project management activities and you may need an extra PM (or your first TPM) You may be supplementing other functions in the org: marketing, sales, solution consulting, BD. The point here is to assess what are the org needs and what role PM is playing or ought to be playing. It might not be a matter of how many PMs to E ...Read More