What is Span of Control?

Definition: 
A span of control is a concept that describes the number of people that are
managed by someone. It is a chain of command notion where the number of
subordinates are properly identified to understand a manager’s reach.
The larger an organisation, the more management layers it has. As a result, a
hierarchy is born. Multiple people in a department deal with a single superior.
Some departments might only have ten people, while others consist of over a
hundred employees. In both cases, span of control is present to properly
manage all layers of the organisation.
The Span of Control is the number of employees a manager can supervise as
effectively as possible. The addition of new hierarchical layers makes the
organisational structure steeper.
 Two dimensions

• The Span of Control always involves two dimensions:

• Horizontal dimension
• This is the number of direct subordinates a manager actually
supervises. This is also referred to as Span of Control.
• Vertical dimension
• This is the number of levels that are (in)directly managed. It refers
to the extent to which the manager’s wishes trickle down to the
lowest levels of the organisation. This is also known as Depth of
Control. It is mainly aimed at the extent of communication
between a manager and his subordinates in the levels he is
responsible for. Without a good leader, downward communication
can be impaired.
 Factors expert

• Good leadership partially has to do with a manager’s innate talents.

In addition, there are several other factors that play a role. One
example would be the size of the Span of Control and the number of
subordinates.
• It also has to do with:
• A manager’s experience and expertise.
• A manager’s personality and people skills.
• Employees’ experience, expertise and their behaviour towards each
other.
• The nature of the work and the complexity of the assigned tasks.
• The nature of the organisation and the level of communication,
delegating and interaction.
 Assigned tasks

• Initially, it is about assigning tasks, authority

and responsibilities. The more authority and
responsibility an employee has, the higher his
position in the hierarchy of the organisation.
The number of tasks an employee has,
however, has no bearing on their hierarchical
position. It is vital to distinguish between
compound tasks and singular tasks.
 Contd..
• Compound tasks are primarily intended for
inexperienced employees just starting out. They still
require a lot of supervision and instruction and
need to be monitored frequently by their managers.
• The singular task is meant for experienced
employees. He knows the objective, when the task
needs to be completed and he is also responsible
for the entire process. He requires little or no
supervision by his superior.
 Harmony

• Span of Control is indicative of the quality of

leadership. It is also a well-known fact that a
manager with a large Span of Control has a lot of
people under him. The smaller a manager’s Span of
Control, the less subordinates he can lead.
• It is therefore very important for Span of Control
and scope of control to be in harmony with each
other. When one is larger or smaller than the other,
problems arise in leadership method, employee
instruction and teamwork.