Span of control definition

8 of August, 2022

The span of control definition refers to the amount of employees directly reporting to a manager or superior. Span of control is one of the cornerstones of management theory. Often in HR, when analyzing your company you will try to calculate the average span of control. This calculation will help you evaluate whether you need to start a recruitment process or not to get more managers. Keep reading and find out how to do it. 

2 types of span of control

You will find two types of span of control definition when measuring the ratio of employees to managers:

Narrow span of control

A narrow span of control refers to the traditional way of seeing managers as having only a few subordinates. The organizational structure in this case is tall as opposed to flat. 

Wide span of control

A wide span of control occurs when one manager supervises many employees. Most big firms use wide span of control because it requires less operating costs. 

Narrow and wide span of controls have their advantages and disadvantages, and when it comes to choosing the right organizational structure for your business, every detail should be measured.

How to calculate span of control

The average span of control is calculated by adding up the amount of direct relationships a manager has with their employees and dividing it by the amount of managers.

Organizational control is measured according to the amount of “subordinates” a manager has. These subordinates are employees not just officially under the manager’s control but that also entertain some sort of working relationship with the manager, where the manager takes the executive decision.

Factors affecting span of control 

The factors that influence this are important for your HR team to know. It helps your HR and upper management team conceptualize and calculate what kind of management you need. The factors in question include:

• The capacity of both the superior and the subordinates. This refers to the superior or manager’s ability to take on many or few directs. A novice manager might have a hard time with just one or two directs to manage but an experienced one will have less trouble. For the subordinates, the more skilled they are the less likely they are to take up the time of their superior. So in both cases their ability and capability has a huge effect on what your span of management will be in your company.
• The type of work or service your organization undertakes. Some tasks require more micromanagement, time, and resources, whilst others allow you to let your employees take control. It is helpful to use a time tracking software to understand the amount of time these tasks take.
• The geographical and logistical factors. With remote working and remote management becoming more and more the norm, this is less of an obstacle than in the old days. But you will still try to cluster your teams according to their geographical area and assess its impact.

What is a manageable span of control?

A manageable span of control refers to the optimal number of employees a manager can manage. Before the advent of modern communication systems and management processes that are less hierarchical, there was an average of about 1 to 4. However, this has evolved considerably, and they may vary considerably according to the organization’s field or environment they are working in.

An optimal span of control depends heavily on what sector you are working in. For example, if the type of work is very difficult and complex, a manager can manage 1-4 employees, whereas, this number can increase up to 20 subordinates for easy and repetitive work. 

Did you find this information helpful? We hope so. Find out more content about human resources at our site Sesame HR.