The Span of Control Ceiling

Fri, 25 Sep 2026 09:00:00 -0600

When a reorg removes a layer of managers, the survivors split up the reports among themselves. As the org chart gets flatter in the name of simplification, rarely does anyone check if there’s still room for actual managing before the reassignment goes out.

The concept of “span of control” has an operational ceiling where a manager’s job changes from developing people to routing information between them (depending on what’s being supervised).

Org-Design on David R. Longnecker - Converting Coffee to Code

The Span of Control Ceiling