Multi-pitch climbing with more than 1 partner

Probably a dumb question but I tried searching the forums for an answer and couldn't find what I was looking for so I started a new thread.

I have been leading some multi-pitch routes, and I have 3 people that I climb with routinely, I have always climbed with just 1 partner at a time though and none of my friends are comfortable leading...if there were 3 or 4 of us in a group what is the standard procedure for getting everyone to the top? For example I'm confused about the crowding at belays...making sure everyone is clipped into the anchor and safe?

You have to vary your tactics depending on the route. If the pitches are straight, it's easy to belay both seconds up at once (on separate ropes), stagger them about 30 feet apart. If route traverses and a fall of a follower would result in a nasty pendulum, you do the caterpillar method, the second climber trails the rope for the third, unclipping their own rope and clipping in the third's to protect the climb for them, they don't get belayed up till the second climber is at the belay. This method is much slower. Most of the time I end up belaying both my seconds at the same time. More then 2 seconds will be a real cluster and move really slow.

Edit - Also consider the belays when choosing your method. If it's a hanging or crampe belay and ropes need to be carefully managed, do one second at a time. If it's comfy and you can stack ropes easy, both at once is nice.

OK...that's basically what I figured, it sounded like a clusterfuck to me so I thought it would be best to stick to one follower at a time...it would be nice for everyone to get to enjoy the top-out together but I'll probably wait on that until one of them feels comfortable enough to lead on their own. Thanks for the write up...I'll try to practice sometime and see how comfortable it feels before I actually try it

You can have both seconds climb about 10 or 15 m apart tied into the same rope (if the bottom climber falls it might pull the next one off too), or you can belay them both at the same time on separate ropes, or you can belay everyone one at a time.

With 3 people, the answer is easy. Climb on doubles. I regularly climb on doubles in a team of 3 and we climb basically as fast as a team of two can. Using a reverso in guide mode, you can have both partners climbing at the same time (20 feet apart or so). You have an extra set of hands at the belay to help manage the double ropes. Once you have the technique down for doubles, you can almost always avoid rope drag. AND, you get to double rope rappel, so getting down is faster.

If you choose routes with nice belays that are big enough for three, it can be a lot of fun. Also, places like the Flatirons are conducive to parties of three since the climbing isn't that difficult. I've had two friends rope up close to each other on the Direct East Face of the First because I thought it would be fun for them to be right next to each other as opposed to taking turns. It went great. Other times I have used two ropes or tied off someone in the middle with a butterfly knot and two lockers. But the two half ropes is the best system for anything that is going to challenge your follower's climbing ability and not just be an easy romp. That works really well.