Span and control, like all business trends and philosophies, has seen many different perspectives since the 1930s when experts believed managers could optimally handle seven to 10 people under their supervision.  In the 1980s and 1990s, corporate restructuring saw that number increase with some European companies seeing managers handle as many as 30 employees and some American counterparts up as high as 50 plus (Wall Street Journal, March 24, 2008).

Many factors affect a manager's effectiveness in the number of people they can supervise, and I believe that magic number starts at approximately six to eight people, and adjusts from there.  The key to the right number of direct reports is first affected by the mixture of high maintenance and low maintenance employees (Positioning Success, "Managing Impact,: page 42).

Low maintenance employees require little attention from their managers; they are empowered to move forward and understand the correct way to accomplish your organizational goals.  High maintenance employees, however, absorb a great deal of management time, either because they are too linear and need reassurances for every step taken, or they may have a tendency to miss steps and therefore need careful overview.

This mix is the first determining factor to how many people a m,anager can effectively supervise, coach, and successfully support.

The second biggest factor to determining the best span and control design centers on how well employees have been given their marching orders.  Do they have clearly stated goals and expectations?  Do they know what level of output earns them what review ratings?  Do they understand how success is defined?  Do they know they are being held accountable for their productivity and output (Positioning Success, Section 2)?

Before you jump on the latest bandwagon that says managers can supervise much larger numbers of employees than they currently do, make sure you understand these two critical pieces before making any changes to increase teams.  And as you examine these parameters, you might just find that you may need to reduce your team sizes to support organizational success.