Span of Management

Definition: The Span of Management refers to the number of subordinates who can
be managed efficiently by a superior. Simply, the manager having the group of
subordinates who report him directly is called as the span of management.

Many factors affect the span of control; some of them are given below.
  Geographic Location: If the team is spread out in different geographic
locations, managers will find it difficult to manage their subordinates, and
the management span will be small.
 Skills of Managers: A skillful manager can manage more subordinates, so
they will have a bigger span of management.
 Employees’ Skills: If subordinates are skillful, they will require less
supervision, and managing them will be easier. Hence, the span of control
will be larger for managers.
 Task Assignment: If the assigned tasks are repetitive and similar, the staff
will be experienced and require less supervision and control. Hence, the span
of control will be bigger.
 Managers’ Responsibilities: If managers have other organizational
responsibilities apart from managing the team, their span of management
will be smaller.

Types of Span of Control

An organization can have two types of a span of control depending on its structure.
 1. Wide-Span of Control
2. Narrow Span of Control
Wide Span of Control

Organizations with flat structures will have few hierarchical levels and a wide span of control.
Here, supervisors supervise many employees.

As there are fewer hierarchical levels, it has a lower cost and is very flexible in adapting to
changes.

The main advantage of this span of control is cost advantage, reduced planning time, and well-
trained subordinates.

The main disadvantage of this type of control is employee management if the amount of
employees is large. Also, sometimes a large number of employees causes confusion and makes
management difficult.

Narrow Span of Control

Organizations with many hierarchical levels will have a narrow span of control. Here, managers
supervise fewer employees.

A narrow span of control is useful with complex work requirements where constant managerial
support is needed.

The main advantage of this control is easy supervision, management, and effective planning and
decision-making.

The main disadvantage of this span of control is its cost. More managers mean more cost. Also,
more hierarchical levels cause delays in communication.

Summary

An organization can have a span of control that depends on its requirements. For simple work
with less supervision, a wide-span network is suitable. However, complex work requires close
monitoring, so this type needs narrow span control.

Big organizations can have both spans of control. For example, the top-level has a narrow span
of control, and the lower level has a narrow span of control.

Characteristics of a wide span of control

 More responsibility. One manager manages many subordinates.

 Short structure. The organizational structure involves a few layers.
 Heavier workload. Managers have to supervise many subordinates.
 More delegates. Managers may seek to reduce workload through delegation.
 Decentralized authority. Managers trust subordinates to make decisions.
 Less level of authority. Decision-making involves a short chain of command to get to the top
level more quickly.
 Common in young companies. They have few employees, and therefore their organization size
is small.

Advantages of wide span of control

Faster communication and coordination. Information from the lowest level gets to the top-
level (or vice versa) faster because fewer layers are involved. It allows for quick coordination
and decision-making.

Higher motivation. Managers delegate less essential decision-making to employees. It can lead
to high job satisfaction and motivation as employees are more involved in making decisions
about their work.

Work flexibility. Managers reduce oversight of their subordinates through delegation. And they
place high trust in subordinates and are expected to act according to their expectations.

Lower costs. Managers supervise more people. So, companies need fewer managers and layers
in the organizational structure.

More delegates. The span of control is wider, and the manager is responsible for more
subordinates. Indeed, it makes their work heavier. But, on the other hand, it should encourage
managers to delegate more because it is impossible to do all the important work on their own.

Job satisfaction. With more delegation, employees can make more decisions on their own. It
can be more effective because they understand the problems in their job better than the manager.
Combined with more autonomy, they have the freedom to manage their working life, leading to
higher job satisfaction.

Disadvantages of wide span of control

Decreased productivity. Managers manage many subordinates, and not all managers have the
quality to do so. That can place a heavier workload, lowering their productivity.

Bad decision. Delegation allows employees to make decisions. However, they may not be good
decision-makers even though they are experts in their fields. In the end, they may make the
wrong decision.
 Losing control. It is difficult to control all the subordinates. Bad decisions by employees can
stress managers out. In addition, individual decisions may not be well-coordinated and tend to be
random and undirected. Finally, it requires more managerial intervention to guide, increasing the
manager’s workload.

Less effective communication. Communication messages may arrive faster, but the quality may
be poor. That’s because managers need to convey it to a lot of people. And not all understand;
each may have its own interpretation.

Narrow span of control

Under a narrow span of control, managers have fewer subordinates to supervise. This is common
in tall structure companies involving more levels or layers.

For example, a company has three levels of authority: directors, division heads, and managers.
The division head oversees three managers. Meanwhile, the manager is responsible for two
subordinates.

Characteristics of narrow span of control

 Less responsibility. One manager manages a few subordinates.

 Long structure. The organizational structure involves many layers.
 Less workload. Managers have to supervise and manage a few subordinates, leading to tight
control.
 Fewer delegates. Managers may try to make decisions independently and delegate less to
employees.
 Centralized authority. Decisions are concentrated at higher levels, where the higher the level,
the higher the decision-making power.
 Longer levels of authority. Decision-making involves a long chain of command, so it can be
slower to get to the top level or vice versa.
 Common in established companies. They have many employees, and therefore the size of their
organization is large.

Advantages of narrow span of control

More control. Managers can supervise better because they supervise fewer subordinates. In
addition, to reduce tighter supervision, they may use a more personal approach, which is more
likely to be done with fewer subordinates.

Better productivity. The manager’s workload is less due to supervising fewer subordinates. In
addition, decision-making is distributed over more layers. That should lead to higher
performance and productivity.
Better decision. Managers take a more dominant role in making decisions than employees.
Thus, they can make better, more coordinated decisions than delegating them to employees.

More effective communication. Fewer subordinates allow for higher quality communication
and feedback. As a result, managers can more effectively convey messages to or accommodate
their aspirations.

Disadvantages of narrow span of control

Lowers morale. If managers supervise too closely, it can demoralize employees. A personal
approach may be effective in some cases to prevent that. But, not all managers have the quality
to do it.

Greater cost. Companies need more managers to supervise fewer employees. Thus, it consumes
a larger cost.

Slower communication and coordination. Communication quality may be good under a

narrow span of control. But, it can take more time to get from the lowest to the top-level (or vice
versa) because it has to go through many layers. As a result, decision-making at the top level
tends to be slow.