Which law states that adding more people to a late project makes it later?

Which law states that adding more people to a late project makes it later?

• A. Laborit's Law
• B. Brooks' Law
• C. Conway's Law
• D. Putt's Law

Answer: (A)

Brooks's Law states that adding more people to a late software project makes it later. The idea is that when a project is behind, bringing in new developers requires onboarding and ramp-up time. The existing team must spend effort mentoring newcomers and stitching their work into the codebase, which diverts people from actual progress. Plus, as team size grows, coordination becomes more complex and the number of communication channels increases dramatically, leading to more meetings, more integration work, and more chances for miscommunication. All of this overhead tends to offset any productivity gain from having more hands, so the schedule slips further rather than speeds up. This concept helps explain why simply adding people isn’t a reliable cure for delays in complex, interdependent tasks.

Brooks's Law states that adding more people to a late software project makes it later. The idea is that when a project is behind, bringing in new developers requires onboarding and ramp-up time. The existing team must spend effort mentoring newcomers and stitching their work into the codebase, which diverts people from actual progress. Plus, as team size grows, coordination becomes more complex and the number of communication channels increases dramatically, leading to more meetings, more integration work, and more chances for miscommunication. All of this overhead tends to offset any productivity gain from having more hands, so the schedule slips further rather than speeds up. This concept helps explain why simply adding people isn’t a reliable cure for delays in complex, interdependent tasks.