what is the ideal span of control — wide or narrow?

Your company’s span of control has a major impact on operations and the employee experience. However, it’s common for large companies to lose track of their span of control as the organization naturally evolves over time. In this article, we’ll explain the impact that a wide or narrow span of control typically has on a company, and give you some reasons to take charge of your span of control so that it supports your operations instead of hindering them.

what is a wide span of control?

In a company with a wide span of control (or span of management, as it is sometimes known), a single manager has responsibility for a large number of direct reports. The definition of ‘wide’ depends on the scale of the company and its business. At some companies, seven direct reports to one manager could be considered wide, while the number may need to be as high as 20 direct reports at another company.

In a company with a wide span of control, a relatively large number of employees report to one manager, creating a comparatively flat organizational structure with fewer levels of management between front-line staff and senior leadership.

The exact definition of the ideal span of control depends entirely on the unique characteristics of the company. The nature of the work, managers’ management styles and even the use of technology all have an impact. However, it’s accepted that a wide span of control works best for companies that look like this:

• employees’ work duties are fairly simple, and have little variation
• most employees and managers are experienced, motivated and comfortable in their work
• managers have few other core duties to fulfill other than managing staff
• digital collaboration and communication tools are well integrated in the organization

One example of a workplace like this could be a large call center, where work is fairly standardized. A wide span of control, with one manager overseeing a team of 10 to 20 agents, would probably work well and promote efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

what is a narrow span of control?

In an organization with a narrow span of control, managers have a smaller number of direct reports. Again, the definition of ‘narrow’ will vary, but three or four direct reports would probably be considered narrow in most large companies.

Organizations with a narrower span of control naturally have a higher proportion of managers to non-managers. This is usually reflected in a more hierarchical structure, with several layers of middle management and more distance between rank-and-file employees and the C-suite.

Again, two companies that look similar on paper can have very different ideal spans of control. The perfect ratio of managers to employees depends on a number of complex factors. But it’s generally true that a narrow span of control is well-suited to companies where:

• employees’ day-to-day work is highly complex and varied, requiring guidance from managers
• alternatively, employee motivation and experience levels are low
• managers have a number of other duties to handle besides managing their direct reports
• employees are very spread out — over multiple office locations, countries or time zones

A good real-world example that matches this description could be a software development team, where a group of skilled software engineers work on complex projects. A narrower span of control, with a manager overseeing 4 to 7 engineers, would give employees the right level of individualized support and guidance, boosting employee productivity and creating a positive employee experience.

what is the ideal span of control — narrow or wide?

Both approaches have their benefits and drawbacks. For example, a narrow span of control makes it easier for employees to get guidance and support from their manager, since the manager’s attention is not divided among a large number of employees. However, it also creates a more complex company structure, which typically leads to a growth in time-consuming administrative processes and more bureaucracy. 

For all companies, the goal should be to find a balance. The precise span of control ratio is unimportant — what matters is whether it allows operations to flow efficiently and decisions to be implemented efficiently. 

get support as you optimize your span of control

If you’re planning on taking control over your span of control and building an organizational structure that works for your company, we’ve created some visual resources to use as you guide your colleagues. They cover the basics by explaining what span of control is and how it’s calculated in a visual way, as well as providing some condensed insights on the risks linked to span of control and the effects of a successful optimization project. All the visuals are created in slide format, so it’s easy to adjust the design to your own brand and add them to your presentations.