# Groups and teamwork: size, skills, decisions, conflict and morale

> How small groups stay alive and fair after a crisis: group size, a skills list, decisions, conflict, a watch rota and trust.

## Quick answer

Aim for 5 to 15 for a household group and 30 to 60 for a band, list every skill and train two people for each, decide who decides what in advance, write decisions down, and share food and work openly and fairly.

*Part of [Day Zero](/day-zero), the plan for an AI-related crisis that gets out of control. [Why it exists](/day-zero/purpose). General information, not medical advice: [how these guides are reviewed](/day-zero/review).*

## Groups and teamwork

People rebuild; machines do not. Most plans fail not for lack of tools but because **a group could not work together.** These are the habits that keep groups together.

## Size

- A **household or family group of 5 to 15** can run a kitchen, a garden and a watch rota.
- A **band of 30 to 60** can specialise: farmers, builders, medics, teachers. It is large enough to share risk and small enough that everyone knows everyone.
- Beyond 150 people, informal trust breaks down: you need written rules, councils and several settlements that cooperate.
- Several small groups that **trade and share** are stronger than one big group.

## Skills

Make a **skills list** in the first week. Every group needs:

1. **Water and sanitation**
2. **Health:** first aid, midwifery, dentistry, herbs
3. **Food:** growing, preserving, cooking, animals
4. **Shelter and fuel:** building, repair, carpentry
5. **Making and repair:** metal, textiles, electrics
6. **Teaching and records**
7. **Peace-keeping and mediation**
8. **Communication and navigation**

**Two people for each.** Cross-train. Never let a skill live in one head.

## Decisions

- Agree **who decides what** before a crisis: one person for watch and safety in an emergency, the group for big decisions (moving, sharing, rules).
- Hold a **short daily meeting** and a longer weekly one. Write the decisions down.
- Rotate roles so no one holds power for long.
- Decide the rules for **sharing food and tools** early and fairly. Perceived unfairness destroys groups faster than hunger.

## Conflict

- Expect it. Tiredness, fear and grief make people short-tempered.
- A **mediator** nobody thinks is on one side. Listen to both, write the agreement, and review it.
- Consequences must be **known in advance, proportionate and applied equally**, including to leaders.
- Care for the people who do not work: children, elderly, sick. A group that abandons them loses its reason to exist.

## Safety

- **Watch rota**, short, shared, with a simple signal. Do not leave anyone alone on watch for long.
- **Strangers:** meet in the open, offer water, ask what they need, and share news. Most people want what you want: safety.
- **Do not rely on force** to solve food problems: trade, labour and agreements last longer.

## Morale

- Shared meals, a rest day, songs, stories, games for children. These are not extras; they are maintenance for the thing that holds everything else together.
- **Honesty** about supplies and danger. People can face bad news; they cannot trust a leader who hides it.
- **Mourning**: mark deaths properly.

## Working with other groups

- **Trade** what you have too much of.
- **Share knowledge** (seed, medicine, repair).
- **Agree** on water, boundaries and paths.
- Exchange **messengers and news** regularly.

## Common questions

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Source: https://www.toswo.com/day-zero/teamwork
Published by TOSWO Research (https://www.toswo.com/research). Free to cite with attribution: https://www.toswo.com/cite