Can having too many senior programmers in one team turn out to be a bad thing?Having like say, 4-5 senior programmers in a team of 6-7 people. What is the optimal number/ratio in these kind of situations?Can this lead to too much philosophy and arguments about ideas?Has anyone had such an experience, that can share it with me?
Too many seniors in one team?
team;teamwork
If I could choose I would have 6-7 seniors on a team ( assuming the project needs that many ). The only time I can see this being a problem is if the seniors are only senior in self perception and not work ethic.There is nothing better than working with a group of people who appreciate that every piece of software development is important - the documentation, the planning, the code, the coffee, it all matters and it takes mature ( real senior ) developers to be above nothing and get the job done properly.EDIT: Many other answers have said that too many leaders is a problem - but why is there a perception that a senior must lead? A senior should be mature enough to pick a leader and follow. It is the project that matters - pick / get a role and rock it silly !