### Problem
>Departments and public services don’t work if they are too large. When they are large, their human qualities vanish; they become bureaucratic; red tape takes over.

### Solution
>In any institution whose departments provide public service:

>1. Make each service or department autonomous as far as possible.
>2. Allow no one service more than 12 staff members total.
>3. House each one in an identifiable piece of the building.
>4. Give each one direct access to a public thoroughfare.

### Related Patterns
... all offices which provide service to the public - [[Work Community (41)]], [[University as a Marketplace (43)]], [[Local Town Hall (44)]],[[Health Center (47)]], [[Teenage Society (84)]] need subsidiary departments, where the members of the public go. And of course, piecemeal development of these small departments, one department at a time, can also help to generate these larger patterns gradually.

Arrange these departments in space, according to the prescription of - [[Office Connections (82)]] and [[Building Complex (95)]]; if the public thoroughfare is indoors, make it a [[Building Thoroughfare (101)]], and make the fronts of the services visible as a [[Family of Entrances (102)]]; wherever the services are in any way connected to the political life of the community, mix them with ad hoc groups created by the citizens or users [[Necklace of Community Projects (45)]]; arrange the inside space of the department according to [[Flexible Office Space (146)]]; and provide rooms where people can team up in two's and three's - [[Small Work Groups (148)]] ...

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> [!cite]- Alexander, Christopher. _A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction_. Oxford University Press, 1977, p. 404.
> #APL/confidence/medium
>
> #APL/Town-Patterns/Social-Institutions---Workgroups